News

Briefing on Proposed Amendment to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill

Rape Crisis Scotland urges MSPs to support an amendment to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill which would improve human rights protection for complainers of sexual offences. A copy of our briefing can be found here.

'Secret shame' - new postcard

In spite of the fact that the only person who is EVER responsible for sexual violence is a perpetrator, one feeling that many survivors are left with following an assault is shame.

It is this, coupled with a fear of being judged and/or disbelieved that so often results in survivors remaining silent, feeling unable to speak to anyone about what happened, to seek support, or report to the police.

Rape Crisis Scotland is honoured during the 16 Days of Action to present a new A5 postcard featuring a poem by Angela McCrimmon which we feel so well expresses so many of these feelings, and to reinforce that all of us can play a part in supporting survivors. The first of these is by collectively placing shame right back where it really belongs – with perpetrators.

Please feel free to circulate this. If you would like to receive hard copies of the postcard, please contact info@rapecrisisscotland.org.uk.

Young voices preventing sexual violence at the Scottish Parliament – 4th December 2015

Scottish Social Attitudes survey

The Scottish Government has published new findings on attitudes to violence against women from the Scottish Social Attitudes survey. The full report is available here.

Only 3 in 5 people in Scotland think a woman is not at all to blame for being raped if she wears revealing clothing (58%) or is very drunk (60%), new findings from ScotCen Social Research’s Scottish Social Attitudes survey reveal.

The report on attitudes towards violence against women, commissioned by the Scottish Government to address a gap in current evidence, explores in detail the attitudes of people in Scotland to violence against women and shows that as many as 5% thought that the woman was entirely to blame for being raped if she was very drunk.

Social divisions on victim blaming
The findings also reveal stark contrasts in attitudes to rape between different social groups:
• Age: Younger people were significantly less likely to blame the victim for being raped – 70% of those aged 18 to 29 years old thought a woman wearing revealing clothing was ‘not at all to blame’ for being raped, compared with 38% of those aged over 65
• Education: 65% of people with degrees thought a woman who was very drunk was ‘not at all to blame’ for being raped, compared with 46% of those with no formal qualifications
• Income: 70% of those in the highest income group thought a woman wearing revealing clothing was ‘not at all to blame’, compared with 50% of those in the lowest income group The research also covered the attitudes of people in Scotland to a range of other issues including:
• Revenge porn: 88% said that they thought an ex-boyfriend posting naked photos online was ‘very seriously wrong’, while 87% thought it would cause ‘a great deal’ of harm.
• Domestic abuse: a higher proportion felt it was ‘very seriously wrong’ for a man to get angry and slap his wife (92%) compared with a wife slapping her husband (81%).
• Prostitution: 34% of respondents thought paying for sex was ‘always wrong’, while 10% thought it was ‘not wrong at all’.

Susan Reid, Research Director at ScotCen commented: “Today’s findings show that although most people in Scotland feel that violence against women is wrong, views vary considerably depending on the circumstances. For example, in certain contexts more people feel that a rape victim is partly to blame. Changing people’s attitudes is essential to eradicating violence against women and girls; this report highlights how far we still have to go.”