ICM Poll Shows Widespread Ignorance Of Extent Of Rape And Low Conviction Rates

West Midlands Amnesty International is calling on people in the region to support Amnesty International’s ‘Stop Violence Against Women’ campaign after the organisation published a new ICM opinion poll showing that a third (34%) of people in the UK believe that a woman is partially or totally responsible for being raped if she has behaved in a flirtatious manner.

The poll, ‘Sexual Assault Research’, published yesterday (21 November), shows that similar “blame culture” attitudes exist over clothing, drinking, perceived promiscuity, personal safety and whether a woman has clearly said “no” to having sex.

For instance, more than a quarter (26%) of those asked said that they thought a women was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was wearing sexy or revealing clothing, and more than one in five (22%) held the same view if a woman had had many sexual partners. Around one in 12 people (8%) believed that a woman was totally responsible for being raped if she’d had many sexual partners.

Similarly, more than a quarter of people (30%) said that a woman was partially or totally responsible for being raped if she was drunk, and more than a third (37%) held the same view if the woman had failed to clearly say “no” to having sex. Changes in the law relating to consent mean that an alleged rapist must prove that they had taken reasonable steps to ensure that the other person had consented to sex. The poll exposes worrying a gap between the law and public attitudes.

West Midlands Amnesty International spokesperson Simon Ware said:

“This poll shows that a significant proportion of the public is disturbingly inclined to blame women themselves for being raped. After hearing about this shocking new poll we want local people to support our campaign to press the government for more action to combat rape and change underlying attitudes to sexual violence.”

The poll also shows that the vast majority of the British population has no idea how many women are raped every year in the UK, with 96% of those polled saying they either didn’t know the true extent of rape or that they thought it was far lower than the true figure. Only 4% of respondents even thought rape numbers exceed 10,000 per year when the true figure is likely to be well in excess of 50,000. (1) Six out of seven people either said they didn’t know that only 5.6% of rapes reported to the police currently result in conviction or believed the conviction rate to be far higher. (2) The average estimate was of a 26% conviction rate, nearly fives times higher than the actual rate.

Simon Ware added:

“In addition to uncovering disturbing attitudes over women being ‘to blame’, this poll also reveals the scale of public ignorance of the shockingly high numbers of women raped every year in the UK as well as the dreadfully low conviction rates

“The government has an international duty to prevent this gross human rights violation yet it’s clear that the government’s policies on tackling rape are failing and failing badly. These findings should act as a wake-up call to the government to urgently tackle the triple problem of the high incidence of rape, low conviction rates and a sexist blame culture.”

ENDS

Note to editors
ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,095 adults aged 18+ by telephone between 7-9 October 2005. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of adults. ICM is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Further information: www.icmresearch.co.uk

(1) The British Crime Survey 2001 indicates that there were at least 47,000 female victims of rape in England and Wales in 2000. This figure did not include Scotland or Northern Ireland and did not take account of legislation (Sexual Offences Act 2003) broadening the definition from anal/vaginal penetration to include oral penetration.

(2) Home Office Research Study 293: A gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases (February 2005).

Amnesty International media information:
Simon Ware, Regional Media Officer
 media@wmai.org.uk
07799 512 906