Half of young people believe sex attack victims must fight back for it to count as rape, CPS survey finds
by roboPCSO
Half of young people believe sex attack victims must fight back for it to count as rape, CPS survey finds
by roboPCSO
14 comments
Almost half of young people believe a victim has to fight back for it to constitute rape, a study has revealed.
More than 3,000 adults took part in the survey for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with the attitudes among 18 to 24-year-olds raising particular concern.
There was widespread confusion around the legal definition of the crime with 49 per cent of respondents admitting they did not understand the issue of consent.
Only 53 per cent of younger adults recognised that it could still be rape if the victim did not fight back, while a similar number thought a man could not be guilty of rape if he had been drinking or taking drugs.
Only about a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds understood that if a person said online that they wanted to meet up and have sex they did not have to go through with it, rising to 54 per cent in the wider population.
Only two thirds understood that a rape victim did not always immediately report the offence to the police.
A third of respondents correctly identified that women rarely made up rape allegations.
Baljit Ubhey, of the CPS, said: “This survey, the largest of its kind for many years, shows that while public understanding of rape has grown over the last 20 years, there is still more to do as a society to dispel prevalent false beliefs about this offending.
Misconceptions in the digital age
“Our specialist prosecutors know more than most that rape, and its impact on victims, can be commonly misunderstood. It is crucial we stay up to date with any evolving misconceptions in the modern digital age, so we can provide accurate information and address any harmful assumptions head on as we make our decisions and contextualise these behaviours for a jury.
“We are determined to ensure justice for as many victims of this life-changing crime as possible. These findings will be used to update our training and guidance for prosecutors and advocates, so they are armed with the tools they need to build robust cases focusing on the actions of the suspect, not a victim’s credibility.”
Baroness Newlove, the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales, said: “This powerful report echoes what survivors tell me: that harmful ‘myths’ and misconceptions persist in our justice system, with serious consequences for survivors and justice.
“These assumptions also play a part in contributing to excessive and unjustified requests for private victim data in rape investigations.
“Yet as this important research underscores, these misconceptions are not set in stone; they can be dismantled over time, and that requires government and justice agencies, like the CPS, to lead the way.
“Victims deserve a system that respects and upholds their rights – and challenges harmful stereotypes.”
Huge barrier to justice
Andrea Simon, director of the End Violence Against Women Coalition, said: “We welcome this significant piece of research on understanding and addressing rape misconceptions, which form a huge barrier to justice for survivors.
“While it is encouraging to see some progress in the public’s understanding of consent and the reality of rape, it’s hugely concerning to see how attitudes towards women’s credibility remain deeply rooted across society, with so few correctly identifying that women rarely make up rape allegations.
“We’re particularly worried to see such a stark regression in attitudes among young people compared to older generations.
“The blurring of our online and offline lives has not only created new forms of sexual violence but new ways to blame victims based on our behaviours online. It is clear that the rapid, unchecked spread of online misogyny is also driving sympathy for perpetrators and misconceptions about sexual violence among young people. This work is an encouraging start to addressing these harmful attitudes,” she added.
Considering it took so long for rape within a marriage to be recognised, I’m gonna say older generations aren’t paragons of virtue either.
As with most things, education is the answer
Nothing like empowering the rapist/would be rapist…
I feel like people are being wilfully ignorant at this point. That “consent is like a cup of tea” animation has been used in school settings for a long time now to help young people learn the issues around consent at an early age. If you make it to 18 without understanding it it’s because you don’t want to understand it.
https://youtu.be/pZwvrxVavnQ?feature=shared
Fight back is a pretty gross requirement. Half as well? I don’t want to assume it was just men saying that, but I also find it hard to believe any women would agree to that statement either
But I do think this “enthusiastic yes” thing opens weird doors.
Like yeah, on paper it’s great. If your partner isn’t enthusiastic about it, you should stop. Seems obvious to me.
But in reality we’ve created this scenario where “no means no, but yes can also mean no, so anything can be rape”. Good luck getting convictions when that’s what’s being pushed
Part of me feels like the survey likely pooled from London, which has a large foreign born population ([around 40%](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/internationalmigrationenglandandwales/census2021#:~:text=London%20has%20remained%20the%20region,had%20a%20non%2DUK%20passport)) who [generally lean heavily on the younger side](https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/age-groups/latest/#:~:text=7.7%25%20of%20people%20from%20white,15%20to%2024%20years%20old) and whose views on subjects like these are probably much more conservative.
I can’t substantiate that because they don’t provide information on those surveyed.
I’ve supervise a teen whose mum literally had to warn other girls parents to get their kids away from her own son. When one girl dumped him he simply refused to accept it an got so looney the Police had to be called in. And you know, there was absolutely no explaining anything to him. He would cry to me and it was all about himself, absolutely no awareness that other peoples feelings might matter. Pretty scary if I am honest. And guess who he liked….Andrew Tate…Would also compare himself to Patrick Bateman.
I’m surprised by this, I thought consent was a hot topic with the younger people but it looks like they’re way below the average here.
I had a dig for the raw data and wasn’t able to find it but there are more stats on the CPS site, there showing 74% of people taking part in the survey correctly knowing it can still be rape if there’s no resistance, vs only 53% of 18-24 year olds as mentioned in the article.
CPS page for the interested: https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/more-do-tackle-rape-misconceptions-and-lack-understanding-consent-cps-survey-finds
Initially, I thought this must be a wording issue on the question asked. But reading the whole thing, these people legit believe consenting once online is enough and they can’t back out. Wtf? I need to know what percentage of these are “imported” cultural values in 2020’s
That half of young people probably got their opinion from their backward parent with the same opinion anyway.
This country is so fucked.
Although seeing some comments on rape stories, I’m not surprised by these numbers.
Is a slap enough? Let’s be real though, there are people who are into roleplay of being seduced, taken, and dominated, and consent and “No” are not always as clear-cut as they’re portrayed in the kink-adverse media.
Given the insanely high barrier to prosecution for sexual assault, it’s really no wonder. What happens to them if they’re wrong about this? Nothing. They just continue on with their lives like it’s normal.
They’d feel the need to learn pretty quickly if there was a reasonable chance of being punished.
Parents, families and schools have failed them on a topic they should be clear on.
Sad.