Rape Myths: Is Elite Opinion Right and Popular Opinion Wrong?

Abstract

England and Wales have recently experienced wide-ranging rape law reform and a galloping rape reporting rate but no comparable increase in rape convictions, leading many erstwhile law reformers to turn attention to attitudes. In essence, their argument is that reform has proved relatively ineffective because a range of agents hold 'rape myths'. Despite the broad consensus that this approach has attracted, I argue that the regressiveness of current public attitudes towards rape has been overstated. The claim that rape myths are widespread may be challenged on three grounds: first, some of the attitudes are not myths; secondly, not all the myths are about rape; thirdly, there is little evidence that the rape myths are widespread. To a troubling extent, we are in the process of creating myths about myths. This process functions to close down, not open up, the possibilities of a productive public conversation about important and at times vexed questions.

Stalking Victims, Victims of Sexual Violence and Criminal Justice System Responses: Is there a Difference or just ‘Business as Usual’?

“…she was asking for it), their demeanour, being drunk or alone out at night, that women enjoy or lie about being raped as well as beliefs exonerating perpetrators (e.g. he didn't mean it) that justify and facilitate men's violence against women (Lonsway and Fitzgerald, 1994) The validity and usefulness of rape mythology has been recently questioned on the basis of whether 'rape myths' are in essence a mixture of facts, (morally wrong) opinions and attitudes rather than widely held, false beliefs (Reece, 2013;Conaghan and Russell, 2014).…”

Different Functions of Rape Myth Use in Court: Findings From a Trial Observation Study

“…It has been widely recognized that false assumptions about rape and sexual assault are dangerous in the legal context as they have the potential to influence decision-making (Ellison & Munro, 2009a;Judicial Studies Board [JSB], 2010;Temkin & Krahé, 2008). Although Reece (2013) has recently criticized this view, her argument has been robustly challenged (Conaghan & Russell, 2014). The purpose of the research on which this article is based was to find out whether the use of rape mythology could still be found in modern rape trials and, if so, to examine the nature of its use and attempts made by trial participants to combat it.…”

Revisiting the Classics: women in control? The role of women in law enforcement: Frances Heidensohn

“…Although as Heidensohn says it is too simplistic to locate explanations in terms of patriarchal oppression alone (similarly she is of the view that gendered oppression is too simplistic a view of female victimisation and subsequent analyses have developed these ideas, see e.g. Reece, 2013). She does insist that gender divisions are central to social control embedded within which are the rules about gender appropriate behaviours.…”