How can that police chief DARE implying that women might be responsible for their own behaviour? What a vile thing to do suggesting that it is maybe NOT all the man's fault when a slapper wakes up in the morning in a strange bed or with a stranger in her own bed and can't remember whether the sex was consensual or not! Or whether there HAD BEEN sex in the first place or not. How unspeakably cruel not to understand that going to the police crying rape following such a situation might be a tad embarrassing. How callous to reveal that some of those
Picture: Phil Wilkinson, The Scotsman
Women told 'drink less' to avoid rape
KATE FOSTER
CHIEF REPORTER
A POLICE chief sparks controversy today by suggesting the number of rapes in Scotland could be substantially reduced if women drank less.
Neil Richardson, assistant chief constable of Lothian and Borders Police, bases his claim on new research which identified victims' alcohol consumption as significant in a third of attacks.
The senior officer said ''a lot'' of the 1,100 rapes a year could be prevented ''by people not allowing themselves to be in a vulnerable position''.
Richardson - who stressed he was not blaming women - spoke out after a study of more than 120 rapes revealed alcohol intake was a major factor in 40 cases.
Detectives concluded that the women were more likely to be targeted in the first place and less able to prevent the attack.
Even though 13 of the 124 women claimed their drinks had been spiked with ''date rape drugs'' the research found no evidence of any such substances having been used.
Richardson said: ''In many cases the women reported being victims of date rape drugs but analysis shows it was far more likely they have just fallen victim to alcohol.''
[...]
But rape support and alcohol workers insist women should be able to drink without fear of being attacked.
Sandy Brindley, national co-ordinator of Rape Crisis Scotland, warned that Richardson's comments might make women reluctant to come forward if they are attacked while drunk.
She said: ''Women should be able to drink and not worry about being raped. Far too often reports of rapes focus on the woman's behaviour and the perpetrator becomes invisible.''
[...]
Elsewhere in the city, a 25-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, told how last year a friend woke to find a man she met in a nightclub sexually assaulting her.
Although the friend had taken the man back to her flat, she had refused to have sex with him before passing out from too much drink. When she came to, she found she was being raped but was too afraid to stop it, unable to recall if she had consented while intoxicated.
[...]
Prosecuting rape cases involving alcohol has become a particular problem as victims can often not remember giving consent or even having intercourse.
[...]
I specificaly liked: ''Although [she] had taken the man back to her flat, she had refused to have sex with him before passing out from too much drink. When she came to, she found she was being raped but was too afraid to stop it, unable to recall if she had consented while intoxicated.'' That translates to: When that rag bag awoke from her drunken stupor she found a man she didn't know being in the process of fornicating with her. She had forgotten whether she had consented so she wasn't sure whether she should interrupt him or not.
And then she confided in a string of sympathetic and equally intelligence- and attitude-challenged girlfriends who told her that she had been ''raped'', one of whom passed this gem of a story on to the (female) ''chief reporter'' of a politically correct fishwrap like the North British Person.
Which, of course, printed it uncommented.
And nobody laughed.
Don't get me wrong. My generation, myself included, had our fair share of stupid, unsavoury, unhealthy and even dangerous behaviour. But then we took a shower, were ashamed of ourselves and had learned a lesson.
But shame has gone out of fashion. Nowadays, we have victims.
Hat tip: The Sage from Texas, my friend Syler, who pointed me at that!
