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Why?. Scottish Executive research (2007) 27% of people think a woman can be at least partly responsible if she is drunk at the time of the attack 26% thought a woman bore some responsibility if she wore revealing clothing
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Why? Scottish Executive research (2007) • 27% of people think a woman can be at least partly responsible if she is drunk at the time of the attack • 26% thought a woman bore some responsibility if she wore revealing clothing • 32% say there should be some burden of responsibility if a woman is flirting • 18% think rape can be a woman’s fault if she is known to have had many sexual partners Amnesty research (2005): • over a third of people believe a woman is totally or partially responsible for being raped if she has behaved in a ‘flirtatious’ manner • 28% believe she is totally or partially responsible if she is drunk • 27% believe she is totally or partially responsible if she is wearing ‘sexy or revealing’ clothing • 25% believe she is totally or partially responsible if she has had many sexual partners Zero Tolerance research (1998) • 1 in 2 boys and 1 in 3 girls thought it was acceptable for a man to force a woman to have sex in certain circumstances
Why? (cont.) • Scotland has one of the worst conviction rates for rape in Europe, with Scottish Govt. figures suggesting only 3.7% of rapes reported to the police lead to conviction • Women continue to be routinely asked questions in court about their sexual history and character
Aims of the campaign The campaign aims to challenge attitudes which attach blame to women who have been raped, and in particular bust the following rape myths: • If a woman engages in some level of sexual intimacy, she has only herself to blame if things go further than she wanted • that some women lead men on by dressing or behaving ‘provocatively’ • that women who drink to excess should take some responsibility if they become victims of sexual violence • that rape is a crime primarily committed by strangers & that married women cannot be raped by their husbands
Origins and development of the campaign This is not an invitation to rape me’ • Created by Charles Hall • Run in LA since 1995 • American campaign featured large no of posters dealing with issues ranging from wife rape to rape of women in lap dancing bars • Campaign took form of posters with supporting materials e.g. postcards & stickers • Has been adapted for Scotland by a creative team coordinated by TINAITRM creator Charles Hall in consultation with Rape Crisis Scotland
Campaign testing RCS received funding from the Scottish Government to develop and test the campaign. Testing included: • 8 qualitative focus groups • Online quantitative survey – 686 responses • Meetings with stakeholders: Police, Crown Office, Learning & Teaching Scotland & rural Violence Against Women multi-agency partnership
Methodology – Focus Groups Groups were conducted in August 2008. A supplementary “sense-check” group was conducted in Jedburgh as the issue of low conviction rates for rape had received high exposure in the media prior to the groups
Public Attitudes To Rape (1) Q4: Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements. Mean Scores Any Agree Women are never to blame for being raped 39% 0.09 Women contribute to rape if they put themselves in risky situations 40% -0.18 Women contribute to rape if they are drunk 26% -0.69 Women contribute to rape if they have engaged in some form of sexual activity 23% -0.71 Women contribute to rape by wearing revealing clothing 20% -0.88 41% disagree that women are never to blame for being raped, confirming that there is a place for this campaign Base: 686
Verbatim comments from the testing (August 2007) • “You aren’t being fair to a man to expect him to stop once he has been aroused” • “Bullseye” - reaction from young man to image of 3 young women drinking • “Women need to take more care of themselves and not put themselves in stupid situations” • “If a woman acts like a slut she deserves to be treated like a slut”
The campaign • Outdoor advertising – posters on 48 sheets & 6 sheets across Scotland • Campaign pack – A4 posters, postcards & information briefing • Dedicated interactive campaign website • Local activity in schools, workplaces etc
Campaign implementation • Campaign launched on 15th October 2008, outdoor advertising started on 20th October for 2 week period • Dedicated interactive campaign website • Campaign facebook site – over 2,000 members • Support local violence against women multi-agency partnerships in using the campaign locally across Scotland • External evaluation carried out into impact of campaign
Campaign evaluation 882 interviews with members of public (including boost sample of 108 BME respondents): • 98% agreed the campaign tackles an important issue • 65% stated it would encourage them to talk about the subject with their friends and family • 61% said that it would make them consider their own attitudes towards rape
Reactions Undermining marriage: “To associate pictures of a Wedding with rape is just the confirmation I needed for taking my beautiful wife and children away from this country” Demonising men: “What a horribly sexist campaign” “This campaign effectively states that ALL MEN ARE RAPISTS ! I resent this abusive feminist sexist slander” Campaign ignores women’s responsibility to keep self safe / not provoke rape: “You wouldn't walk the street with £1000 in cash, because people will get tempted, you wouldn't leave you're front door open. 'The facts' are, that flashing cash will increase the chances of getting it stolen, leaving the front door open will increase chances of burglary, wearing revealing clothes... sadly that is the way it is.”
Reactions (cont.) Women in images all young / glamorous:”Excellent site and campaign however only portrays that women are raped when out drinking or scantily dressed and young. This does not represent a true picture of rape eg. women are raped everyday, young and old, able bodies and disabled and not just when they are going out at night drinking.”
Reactions (cont.) • “Do we need this kind of thing plastered everywhere?” “Possibly. If anything it can only be a reminder to the more basic types regarding the acceptable and unacceptable. It's possibly an effective way of opening other people's eyes to the circumstances surrounding some rapes where the rapist has got off on the grounds that he was led on. Not that that will ever be the most conclusive evidence though, but very often a jury can be subliminally persuaded by the idea that she 'was asking for it, the miniskirt etc'.” (discussion on Celtic message board) • “This campaign is fantastic. It provides a much needed challenge to prevalent women blaming myths about rape and I'm sure that it will provoke lots of heated discussion and debate. Hopefully some attitudes will be changed but it will certainly, at the very least, make people think. Thank you for putting it out there”. • “Thank you. Just thank you.”
Future directions… • Secured further £155,000 from Scottish Govt to run further campaign • Poss launch March / April • Theme of challenging notions of “asking for it”
