[Note added 23.10.16: We’re delighted to observe that the ‘hits’ on this blog piece have gone through the roof today. We recommmend that new visitors to this site check out a blog piece we posted today, Rape Myths and False Rape Allegations. Excellent articles by Janet Bloomfield, Hannah Wallen, and Jonathan Taylor.]

At 9pm tomorrow evening I shall be involved in a radio discussion with a woman representing the British organisation Women Against Rape – WAR – which was founded in 1976. The discussion will be in connection with the Ched Evans case, and whether it was appropriate for the court to allow evidence of the woman’s sexual history to be presented to the jury. I plan to publish a blog post tomorrow afternoon informing followers of this blog what the show is, along with a phone number so they can contribute to the phone-in (21:15 – 21:30).

My preparations so far have included WAR’s 60-page-long Self-Help Guide for survivors of rape & sexual assault & their supporters. Turning to the section on ‘Consent, Drink & Drugs’, on p.31 we find this:

If you are sure you didn’t consent but are unable to remember clearly what happened before you went to sleep, make clear that, at the time when the man penetrated you, you were asleep or unconscious and unable to consent. [WAR’s emphasis]

The first section, up to ‘went to sleep’, begs the question of how a woman can be ‘sure’ she didn’t give consent to sex, when she cannot remember clearly what happened. But the begged question underpins WAR’s ensuing recommendation to women that they pervert the course of justice, a criminal offence.

WAR are encouraging women to ‘make clear’ – to the police, presumably – they were asleep or unconscious when they were penetrated, and therefore they were ‘unable to consent’, although they are ‘unable to remember clearly what happened’. In plain English, women are being encouraged by WAR to lie in order to ensure that the man in question will be charged with rape, and if convicted – a strong possibility – serve a lengthy prison sentence.

How many innocent men are languishing in British prisons today, as a result of WAR’s advice? How many have languished there in the past? How many have been unable to secure paid employment after release, become homeless, committed suicide?

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