Claim many unclear on what constitutes rape

An “alarming” proportion of British adults remain unclear about what constitutes rape, despite the rise of the #MeToo movement, a campaign group has said.

The End Violence Against Women (EVAW) coalition said results from a YouGov survey of nearly 4,000 people highlighted why access to justice is “beyond the reach of many victims”, with “worrying findings” on rape myths.

The research found one-third (33%) of Britons said it would not be rape if there was no sexual violence committed, while 21% of female respondents said it would not generally be considered rape if the victim had flirted on a date, even if she had not explicitly consented to sex.

Rachel Krys, EVAW co-director, said society was “failing to respond to the call for help” prompted by the #MeToo campaign, the international movement which has sought to expose and shame sexual harassment.

Only 89% of respondents said it would be rape to have sex with someone who was asleep or too drunk to consent, with 5% saying it was not usually rape, and 1% saying it was never rape.

Nearly a quarter (24%) said nonconsensual sex within a long-term relationship was not rape.

One-third of men think a woman cannot change her mind after sex has begun, the figures suggest.

The figures, taken from 3,922 male and female respondents of varied ages and political persuasions within Britain, also suggested people over the age of 65 were more likely (35%) to think nonconsensual sex within a long-term relationship was not rape, compared with 16% of those aged 16-24.

Ms Krys said: “These figures are alarming because they show that a huge proportion of UK adults, who make up juries in rape trials, are still very unclear about what rape is.”

Campaigners have called for an independent review of how the police and courts tackle rape

Ms Krys said: “This research shows that confusion and myths about rape are still very common, and this could explain why it’s hard for juries to make fair decisions if they don’t understand or agree with our laws on rape.”

Figures in the Crown Prosecution Service’s Violence Against Women And Girls report of 2017/18 highlighted a 23.1% fall from the previous year in the number of defendants charged with rape. The CPS denied altering rape prosecution advice to boost conviction rates and take “weak cases” out of the system.