If you’re a guy, you obviously can’t defend yourself. If you’re a girl, you shouldn’t have gotten so drunk and worn such a revealing top.
When will the stigma surrounding rape victims finally come to an end?
Over the last decade, 35 students in Sheffield have reported being victims of rape. But with research suggesting that between 75-95 per cent of rapes in the UK are not reported, it is impossible to know how many students have suffered in silence.
Since 2000, only three rapes with a male victim have been reported by Sheffield students, yet the real number is bound to be much more. It’s hard to estimate because male rape is still stigmatised and its victims are often marginalised or forgotten.
It happens. But it is still a taboo subject in the 21st century.
While rape on women is becoming increasingly talked about, there is still very much a notion that people who get raped are in some way to blame.
In the case of male rape, the guy is a wimp who wasn’t man enough to defend himself. In the case of women, the girl was drunk and shouldn’t have worn such a short skirt.
We talk a lot about it, and as a result the number of reported incidents has been increasing drastically in recent years. Yet 30 per cent of the British public still think that a woman is partially or completely to blame for being raped if she was drunk.
With a public opinion like that, it is unsurprising that many sexual assault victims choose not to report the crime to the police.
It doesn’t help that many sexual assaults and other crimes take place during, or after, a night out. Given that you are more likely to find students in clubs or bars rather than libraries, it is no wonder so many are victims of serious crime.
Being drunk puts you in a more vulnerable situation, while making any crime committed against you far less likely to end in a conviction.
Cases where the victim was drunk are much harder to prosecute, with sexual assault proving the most difficult.
Many jurors believe that silence is consent, even when that silence is due to the fact that the victim is so out of it he or she can no longer speak.
The University of Sheffield boasts to prospective students that the city is one of the safest in the UK.
But as the budding first years arrive fresh-faced and excited for freshers’ week, the sad reality is that one out of three will become a victim of a crime during their studies here.
I know I will probably sound like your mum saying this, but stay safe. Or at least try to. There are many easy ways not to put yourself in vulnerable situations.
Don’t walk home alone late at night; don’t drink too much; and if you do, make sure there will be someone to take you home.
My top tip for girls is: put a fiver down your bra at the beginning of the night. If you’re hammered you won’t remember it’s there. But you will when the clock turns three and find yourself stuck alone.
Should all your friends still be there, you’ll probably end up finding that fiver on the bedroom floor the next day.
In which case it’ll be a welcome contribution to your hung-over take-away.
Win-win, as they say.