The double-standards and minimisation of rape

Two posts I have read today regarding sexual violence. Louise at the F Word highlights the perception of sexual violence is minimised, while riddled with sexist double standards and moral judgements.

While Unity at Liberal Conspiracy looks at the stats on rape, reporting, criminal justice system and the cuts in service provision for women who have been raped (argues that there is a possibility of using the impending Equalities Bill and anti-discrimination legislation in getting councils and the government to provide and prioritise these services).

I found both posts very interesting and useful because they highlight the ever present double-standards prevalent in this society and also that sexual violence is still semi hidden. That majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone the woman knows and trusts i.e. a partner.

While reading the book Rape: a history from 1860 to the present by Joanna Bourke, I was constantly struck by the similarity of the myths connected to rape.

We may have moved on historically and made political gains but the myths surrounding rape still exist and pervade this society. As Bourke reiterates, only 5% of rapes ever end in conviction. Do we even know the true figure of how many women experience sexual violence?

But this does impact on a woman by internalising the feelings of self-doubt, self-loathing, and disbelief perpetuated by the myths and perception that exist. At the very core, “it was all my fault”.  I know, I have experienced it myself and for many years tried to push it at the back of my mind yet it persisted, gnawed away at my own very being and eventually found a voice and the courage that could articulate that brutal and violent experience of rape.

And yet…and yet with societal pressures and conditioning, even with my political insight and feminism it seemed so contradictorily and hard to admit to a crime done against me and to state the simple fact: “It was not my fault”. Now I just feel angry and that’s more powerful, for me, as opposed to the silence and self-blame. But that’s just me and my own experience.

Unity mentions 3 members of the Welsh assembly admitting in a questionnaire that they had been raped but didn’t report it. Why? It is still an uphill struggle for women to report rape and sexual assaults. There are numerous obstacles from the idea of “grey rape” where a woman is in a situation where she never intended to have sex but wound-up being forced into it, “because until that point, they’d been a willing participant” to “sexual familiarity”, where the woman knows the attacker, is treated with more leniency and is used in mitigation. And up until 1994 there was the misogynist Corrobation Rule where a judge would warn a jury in a rape case of a woman’s dishonesty and that she may have a tendency to lie. Research was carried regarding this rule and it was shown that juries were annoyed by being told this and the judge’s warning actually backfired.

There is a major problem with reporting, evidence gathering and conviction rates for rape. We are seeing an increase in blaming the woman ‘cos she was drunk, ‘cos she had been a willing participant, and so on.

And rape crisis centres are disappearing due to lack of funding and other support centres that deal with sexual violence are being starved of funding. There are, shamefully, 50% less rape crisis centres now than in 1985! These centres are a lifeline for many women to get practical help and support. And a safe place where a woman is listened to.

The excuses piled onto women who have experienced sexual violence, reflects dominant sexist ideology that women still “ask for it”. It also creates ambiguities that aren’t there and de-politicises rape as well. We need to move beyond this and stop this incessant “woman blaming”.