Deserving?

• In a survey carried out in February 2010 for the Scottish Government 17% of people questioned believed that a woman is to some degree responsible for her rape if she was wearing revealing clothing
• 64% believed that the victim bears some responsibility if they drank to excess or blanked out, according to the Wake Up To rape research published by Havens in 2010
• 3% of rapes reported to the police currently lead to a conviction
• 20% of the broad cross-section of the Scottish population (700 interviewees) who took part in research carried out by progressive on behalf of Rape Crisis Scotland in August 2007 believed that women contribute to rape if they wear revealing clothing

This was entirely consistent with other findings:

• Research conducted by Amnesty International in 2005 found that 27% of people believed a woman is totally or partially responsible if she is wearing 'sexy or revealing' clothing
• A survey of 986 Scots carried out by TNS System three in February 2008 for the Scottish Government found that 27% thought that a woman bore some responsibility if she wore revealing clothing
• Almost a quarter (23%) of the broad cross-section of the Scottish population ( 700 interviewees) who took part in research carried out by progressive on behalf of Rape Crisis Scotland in August 2007 believed that women contribute to rape if they have engaged in some form of sexual activity
• Research conducted by Amnesty International in 2005 found that over a third of people believe a woman is totally or partially responsible if she has behaved in a flirtatious manner
• A survey of 986 Scots carried out by TNS System three in February 2008 for the Scottish Government found that if a woman was flirting  before being sexually attacked, 25% of adults under 24 believe she should be held at least partly responsible, but among the 65 and over, that rose to 50%
• In 8% of reported rapes the assailant is a stranger
• In 54%  of reported rapes they are partners or former partners
• Scot's Law has only criminalised rape within marriage since 1989
• In a 2005 poll for Amnesty International 28% of people said that a woman was totally or partially responsible for being raped if she was drunk
• In a 2005 poll for Amnesty International 34% of people said that a woman was totally or partially responsible for being raped if she had previously flirted with a man
• In 2006-2007 922 rapes were reported in Scotland but only 65 made it to court

(Walby and Allen, 2004).

Myhill and Allen (2002) extrapolate that their figures would produce an annual incidence for rapeof 61,000 in the year before the survey (UK figures)

• one in four women have experienced rape or attempted rape in their lifetime
• the vast majority (91%) told no one at the time