'Name and shame rapists online,' urges Germaine Greer

Germaine Greer claimed a website may be a better way than the law to make rape allegations

Germaine Greer sparked a row last night by suggesting rape victims should name and shame their attackers online instead of reporting the sex crime to the police.



The controversial academic, now 71, has spent years campaigning for the law on rape to be changed to boost the number of convictions.



But Professor Greer, now an academic at Warwick University, yesterday claimed a website may be a better way than the law to make rape allegations, in a move likely to anger campaigners and victims' organisations.



Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival she said yesterday: 'I wish there were an online rapists' register and that it was kept up to date, because we know the courts can't get it right.

'When I say that to people, they get so scared, and say 'Oh you can't. What about privacy?'

'Years ago I knew we would never get convictions in a court of law for date rape, so I suggested women kept an online dossier, so if a woman had a date with a guy and he did something to her, or frightened her, and she asked him to stop and he didn't, then instead of going to the police she should put him online.

'Other women could check this dossier, look up a guy and see that he has form. Then she can say no, or if she does go, goes knowing it's a high risk strategy.'



It is 40 years since Germaine Greer shot to fame with the publication of The Female Eunuch, when she was just 31, a bible for feminists which became an international bestseller.

In 1995 she claimed in an article that she was raped at the age of 19 when she was a student in her native Australia, but had not reported it.

It is 40 years since Germaine Greer shot to fame with the publication of The Female Eunuch, a bible for feminists

The conviction rate in Britain is currently 6 per cent, one of the lowest in Europe. She added: 'I don't think a sexual bully should go to jail for seven years but a couple of months' community service wearing a t-shirt with the word 'rapist' on it would be good.



"As it is we get nothing. They are still walking around and doing what they have done the whole time. 'There is always one guy, say at a university who gets through lots of girls like a knife through butter.'



Greer spoke out in response to a question about a website set up by a female student encouraging women to rate their sexual partners. She said she did not regard the idea as 'very female at all'.



The feminist writer added: "It's a website where you talk about what it's like to get off with someone in terms of the size of his tackle. That's not what women are interested in.



"What I suggest is that women keep an online diary and put on it if a man goes too far. Others can then check his 'form'. "You want to be able to say 'avoid him because you will come out of the encounter feeling dirty'."



Greer claimed such a register would prevent rapes and sex assaults taking place more effectively than the legal system, which simply locks up a small minority of men who are convicted, she said.



