Rape Crisis Scotland

City centre rapes - how can we respond?

Strathclyde Police have announced that 2 young men have been arrested in connection with one of the recent rapes in Glasgow city centre. Many people have been shocked at the age of those accused of dragging a woman into a lane in Glasgow city centre and raping her. What it is that could lead to men as young as 14 and 16 carrying out such a horrific crime, and what can we do about it?

Police are describing the number of recent city centre sexual attacks as a ‘spate’. There is something about the brazenness and seeming randomness of the attacks that really brings home the fact that rape is a crime which could happen to anyone. Reaction to stranger rapes such as these tend to fall into two categories – advice to women about how to keep safe, and calls for safety measures such as more CCTV, increased police presence on the streets and gating of lanes. In response to one of the lane rapes, the police advised women not to ‘go off on their own’ on a night out. Fair enough, but how are you supposed to get home if you don’t happen to live with every person you ever socialize with?

Safety measures such as gating lanes after 10pm are definitely worth considering. There are practicalities which would need to be worked through – some of the lanes have pubs or clubs in them – but it is generally the quiet deserted lanes which rapists are using, so there is no reason why this can’t be implemented in a sensible way. Lots of women feel uneasy walking past the lanes in the city centre. If there is a way of improving women’s sense of safety in the city centre, while at the same time limiting the opportunities for rapists to carry out their attacks, then it seems like madness not to do this.

We need to be clear, however, that measures such as advising women not be alone in town, or gating the lanes, are not really addressing the fundamental problem. If someone is determined to rape, and they see women in pairs or a group, they’ll find someone else who is one their own. If the lanes are gated, they’ll find somewhere else. To reduce the actual incidence of rape, we need to look at what it is that creates the mindset of someone who is prepared to commit this kind of crime.  Where does a 14 year old get the idea that it might be acceptable to rape someone? We are not going to tackle this unless we are willing to look at the impact of easily accessibly violent pornography. The average age for young men to access pornography is 11 years old. It would be naïve to think that accessing images of women being raped and humiliated – and linking these images to sexual arousal – is not going to have an impact on young men’s views of women and of what ‘normal’ sexuality is. Most parents would be horrified if they were aware of the kind of images young people are accessing online. If we don’t address this issue, our fear is that we are going to see increasing numbers of young men carrying out these devastating crimes.

Tell us what you think – what steps do we need to be taking to make women feel safe in the city centre – and to make sure we actually are?

There have been 3 comments so far

1. LM

   22 Dec 11, 10:22pm

   Two more were in the press this week; what has struck me is the police and press making such a big deal about the rapist who attacked to women in Glasgow earlier this week is that he was "smartly dressed" (what? do other rapists walk round dressed in rapist uniform or something???), and the rape apologists saying that it happened in the red light district, so, it's not strictly rape. depressing.

2. C

   23 Apr 11, 2:04pm

   Well said, Pam. The TV show (the sex education show.Stop pimping our kids!) Has raised similar points to the ones you did. I don't believe we, as women need anymore 'how not to be raped' education. What we do need is to see perpetrators prosecuted, and victims supported rather than further victimised. Young men and women need to be free to enjoy a night on the town, and dress how they choose. Those who are still, legally children (ie the 14 year old mentioned above) should not be roaming the city centre streets in the early hours, tHey should be in the care of a responsible adult (not a 16 year old). It makes me wonder how young people of 14 and 16 have got to the point of committing such a violent crime. While I'm relieved to see that they have been caught, I dread to think of the precursor to this.

3. Pam

   01 Apr 11, 3:19pm

   We have to educate young BOYS , Not just young Men that rape is wrong, ... no excuses, .... not ever. We need positive male role models who advocate mutual respect and who can connect with the young boys and men and who can be direct about how they might feel if someone violated their mother or sister or indeed them. They need to understand the reality of the crime not the fantasies played out in porn mags or films or internet porn. We must start educating earlier and make positive connections with men who are in a position to reach out and educate other men or boys. We must also fight for better legislation regarding rape victims and challenge the BLAME culture that is so often the experience of rape victims, particularly women victims. What a person wears is NOT an invitation to rape and does not mean that they are "up for it" or "gagging for it". We also need to tackle the global accessibility of on-line porn along with the porn mags and the porn industry in general. Women have a right to walk the streets late at night and be safe. The taxi driver who raped and murdered a young woman recently is proof that we have not tackled women's safety issues but more alarmingly, we have not tackled men's attitudes about the right of respect for women which we MUST do and do it now.

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