Date Rapes

The underlying premise held by the politically correct establishment, fuelled by decades of feminist misinformation, is that all men are potentially dangerous sex maniacs. Such propaganda places women in constant fear of being raped by a knife wielding, sex crazed attacker, should they be foolhardy enough to venture out after dark. The fact that many women do, in reality, dread this scenario has more to do with the publicity given to feminist exaggeration, allied with sensationalised newspaper reporting, than to actual reality. Cases of violent rape by strangers are extremely rare and comprise only a small proportion of rape cases reported to the police. Such vicious, selfish and unprovoked attacks rightly attract long prison sentences for those convicted. Advances in DNA analysis have greatly increased the chances of detection. However, in the overwhelming majority of rape cases the accused is known to the woman making the charge, in tabloid speak they are 'date rapes'.

It is difficult not to agree with Peter Hitchens' view that rape 'is a subject that can no longer be discussed rationally. Normal rules of rebuttal and consideration of the opposing person's position simply do not apply.' For many decades the feminist agenda on rape has been swallowed wholesale by the political establishment in Britain. This has had the effect of demonising men whilst simultaneously infantilising and sanctifying women. Reform of the law to reflect a better balance between the interests and concerns of both sexes on this matter should now be a priority.

In recent years only about 6-7% of rape complaints have led to a conviction, despite the woman being granted anonymity, unlike the male defendant. The feminist narrative dictates that if a woman accuses a man of rape, he must be assumed to be guilty, and that it should be for him to prove his innocence, an inversion of the traditional legal presumption in the UK. But juries, all of which would have included women, have reached a different conclusion on the putative guilt of men in a significant proportion of date rape cases brought to court, an outcome that has caused much concern to the liberal political establishment. In the words of the late Lynda Lee-Potter 'For too long there has been the myth that every woman who shouts ‘rape’ is a victim. Sometimes she’s a vindictive, plausible liar.' Harsh words, perhaps too harsh, but they do remind us that there is more than one view to this question and that sexual relations can sometimes be a very murky area.

So the victims of rape exaggeration are not just women, for whom a persistent climate of fear has been created, but also innocent men who can spend long periods in custody and have their reputations, careers and marriages shredded by false and malicious rape accusations. They could also find themselves debarred form many jobs requiring CRB clearance. Beneficial changes to the law on rape and other sexual offences would be to prohibit secret accusers in court cases, and to introduce a more robust scrutiny of those making allegations. In the final analysis these cases are one person’s word against that of another, and juries have often shown an unwillingness to convict in such circumstances. For a charge to be pursued, in cases were the alleged victim and attacker are known to each other, there would need to be evidence of signs of force being used plus a requirement that all complaints to the police are made within a week of the alleged attack, so that the evidence remains fresh.

There are plenty of steps that women can take to avoid date rape. Firstly, women should avoid getting drunk, since this reduces inhibitions to engage in the kind of sexual activity they may be reluctant to participate in when sober. Secondly, women should be a lot more careful about the kind of men they find themselves alone with, whether accepting invitations to the man's place, or by allowing them into their own home. Thirdly, sexual intimacy should be the culmination of a relationship. So women should spend some time in getting to know and trust men before placing themselves in a situation where they could be at risk of unwanted sexual attention which might lead to rape. In keeping with today's prevailing culture of casual fornication, too many women behave licentiously and are thus easy meat for predatory men, left to repent at leisure what they agreed to in haste.

If these precautions are followed women would be much better protected against rape than through the vindictive agenda of radical feminists. Women should stop behaving foolishly and recognise the need to take more responsibility for their behaviour and their own protection. In a free society it should not be for the state to police the bedroom activities of grown adults, who should themselves take responsibility for the consequences of their own actions.