When a woman is raped, who’s to blame? A study carried out by Amnesty International UK which looked in to rape and the issues that surround it found that one in three Britons held the women responsible for the rape.

The study found that 34% of respondents felt that if a women was being flirty then she was asking to be raped, similar to this response were the 26% of respondents who stated that when a woman was wearing sexy clothing then she was partly to blame if she was raped. Things like getting drunk, being flirtatious and wearing ‘sexy’ clothes, walking alone in areas which aren’t busy, were seen as a women asking to be raped. Failing to say no clearly when consenting to sex is also seen as the women’s fault.

It has been reported that approximately 80,000 women are raped every year in the UK, the publics attitude does not reflect these figures at all, instead the assumption is that most of the women were not raped but maybe just regretted having sex. The effects that rape has on the victims is clearly being ignored, the shock, mistrust and possible long term effects on future relationships etc are simply not highlighted enough in today’s society, a society it seems, which is still very sexiest in its attitudes.

It is pretty clear that a lot needs to be done by the government to raise awareness amongst society about sexual violence against women, and the effects that sexual violence has on its victims. No matter how they dress, or how much they drink or flirt, women still have the right to say NO to sex, no matter if they shout it out or simply state it once. As members of society we should remember that no one asks to be raped.