A quarter of all Europeans think there are certain situations where rape can be ‘more acceptable’ – for example if the victim is drunk, scantily dressed or has invited a man to her home.
Because I’d really rather worry about translation there.
The shocking figures, which include wild variations between different countries, are included in a report on gender-based violence, commissioned by the European Union.
Are they really saying “more acceptable” or “more likely”, “more understandable” ?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Maybe those ‘Europeans’ they asked were all Muslim..?
It’s here:
http://ec.europa.eu/COMMFrontOffice/publicopinion/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/instruments/SPECIAL/surveyKy/2115
The relevant data is on page 62.
One thing the EU does do extremely well is translation – usually it is top notch. And here I would not worry too much about translation because the question isn’t just “can yo fuck dat bitch”, it was about a range of circumstances in which sex without consent might be justifiable.
The large number of woolly circumstances is going to bias the number of positive respondents up, I find the method a bit disingenuous. If you had asked “is rape ever acceptable” you’d probably have got under 5% yes, which is in the range of expectedness for thickos, pranksters, and genuine rape fans.
Looking for a few translations of the survey but it seems the report is only available in English.
Even more interesting, the question itself is (in English):
“Some people believe that having sexual intercourse without consent may be justified in certain situations. Do you think
this applies to the following circumstances?”
I don’t know about you, but I would think I am being asked if there are people out there who believe it’s fine to have sex without consent with someone who is drunk, provocatively dressed, etc. To which the answer is always going to be, yes, there is at least 1 person out there who believes that.
BiG; good point. Badly worded question then.
Of course, if I was a cynic I might suspect that the ambiguous wording was in order to get s ‘shocking’ result that gains publicity for the report and lends support for yet more monitoring & control of the people by the political class.
Oh, wait, I am a cynic.
Unsurprising is the word.
I was on a training course in Paris decades ago on which was a lady with a penchant for wearing see through summer frocks with black bra, stockings and suspenders underneath.
At breakfast and lunch she would have a quick bite to eat then parade in front of the floor to ceiling windows.
When, on the last morning of the course, after the booze up the night before, she alleged she was raped, we were unsurprised.
Re BiG @ 9:27am
I’d imagine that’d fail to match the number of women who would genuinely desire to be raped.
So a null.
I can’t work out how to read the report on my phone, but I’m wondering what the respondents are considering consent here. A nudge and a wink or a signed and witnessed list of acceptable acts?
BiG’s entirely warranted pedantry aside, I think it’s clear people thought they were being asked ‘is this rape?’ rather than ‘is rape OK here?’ and answered accordingly.
@Dave, that’s “pendantry”, not “pedantry”.
[Calls for vapours while clutching pearls]
Well, obviously rape is unacceptable. But, as Louis C. K. observed, what if you really, really want to have sex with someone and they won’t let you?