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[KittyMoran]

Hi everyone,

This may seem off topic for the Shadowbox but given AFP's outspokenness on sexual/gender violence and grass roots movements I thought this would be a good place to post about this.

I'm putting together a campaign called No Blame No Shame, to end victim blaming in cases of sexual/gender violence. A recent study showed that over a 3rd of people in the UK believe that a rape victim is partially or wholly responsible for the attack if they are drunk. The amount of rapes being recorded by charities and the police is rising but the conviction rate is falling. In the UK it is less than 6% of crimes reported to the police, bareing in mind that most cases of rape aren't reported to the police this means just a tiny fraction are resulting in conviction. Recent studies have found that there is a rape in the UK every 6 minutes, in the US it is every 90 seconds. There is a rise in the number of attacks around Christmas time. For many reasons it is time to act. Now.

The campaign is setting out to do that most difficult of things, change people's minds. It will take the form of 3 videos and a performance/launch night in Cardiff, Wales. The videos will then be put on YouTube and forwarded by the ever increasing number of charities and organisations who are getting involved. Each of the videos will look at victim blaming from a different perspective and will aim to educate and raise awareness around the world.

There are many many ways that people can help out. Those in the UK can help out with the practical side of making the videos, check out the website to see what's needed. And everyone can help out by spreading the word, on Facebook, Twitter, via their Uni's women's group etc. The aim is to get as much awareness raised for the charities as possible, without costing them any of their very limited resources.

I just started this on my own because I couldn't take reading one more article about a rape case collapsing because the victim was being held responsible. Since then the response I've got has been overwhelming and deeply moving, people have been so enthusiastic, it shows that many people want these attitudes to change. Together we can make a massive impact on the world, and make it a better, safer and fairer place. So please check out the website www.noblamenoshame.org.uk, like the facebook page, and please get in touch if you think you can help out.

Thank you all so much for reading.
Kit.

[lentower]

I'm very glad to see this post, websight, and movement.

Posting about this is entirely appropriate on the sbox.

Thank You.

[Captain Oblivious]

I told my boyfriend the stats about people thinking rape victims are responsible and he said "36% of people need to get raped". While perhaps an exaggeration, it really is just ignorance about rape that make people think so. Ignorance about basic humanity.

[slyvia k]

i thought roisin's bf meant it as ''the 36% that thinks women called rape on themselves needs to get raped so they can stop talking bullshit''?
sadly some people just don't GET things unless they happen to them or someone very close to them...

thanks for sharing the link anyhow, will check it out, and good luck.

[Mr. Leave Me Alone]

No one deserves it even if they're talking bullshit. It's one of the most horrible things.

[KittyMoran]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say a big thank you for the response so far. It's really great to see you all posting and feeling as passionate about this as I do. It really gives me the warm fuzzies

Marmoset - Your point about drinking is absolutely spot on, an expected consequence of getting drunk is something like being under the temporary delusion that your good at kareoke, not being the victim of a violent and violating assault which you are then held responsible for. The very basics of justice and humanity seem to be ignored so often in the cases of rape.

If any of you want to get in touch you can do it via the website or e-mail me direct on kitty@noblamenoshame.org.uk. Please let others know about the campaign, men, women, organisations, universities, anyone and everyone. This isn't a "women's problem", this is humanity's problem, and it's quite a hill to climb so I'll take all the help I can get

Thanks again. You rock!

[Tiervexx]

A recent study showed that over a 3rd of people in the UK believe that a rape victim is partially or wholly responsible for the attack if they are drunk.

I had heard stats like this before and it's very disturbing.  I am worried that it might not be feasible to "educate" people out of this idea because people are very good at thinking their way out of their moral convictions once it becomes convenient for them to do so.  Many horny men are empathetic enough not to rape someone to intentionally terrorize them but will look for any excuse to believe that the victim "deserved" it or secretly wanted it.  And examples of this mechanic are not just found with rape.  Many thieves can list all sorts of reason why the victim "deserved" it.

That said, I do think that trying to change people's minds is a worthy effort even if it does not workout.  Maybe it would be a good tactic to try to confront men with the fact that they believe the victim deserved it out of convenience?

...but what I'd really like to see is for law enforcement to get better at prosecuting this kind of thing.