Why do so many women think rape is a woman's fault?

More than a quarter of those polled for Amnesty as part of its Violence Against Women campaign believed that women were responsible if they wore sexy clothing; 28 per cent thought they were "partially responsible" if they behaved in a flirtatious manner; and one in 12 thought a woman was wholly responsible if she was known to have had many sexual partners.

More women (5 per cent) than men (3 per cent) believed that a woman was "totally responsible" for being raped if she was intoxicated. No wonder prosecuting barristers tell apocryphal stories about how time and again it's the middle-aged female jurors who deliver a "not guilty" verdict in rape trials

Part of the reason for the toughness of some of the sisters also - ironically - gives clues as to how, even in these sexually permissive times, the defending barrister in a rape case will assiduously attempt to "prove" that the woman who alleges rape is of "loose" character.

Flirtatiousness, skimpy clothes and alcohol have a direct root in the traditional theory that the one aspect of masculinity a man can't handle is his lust. Women of a certain age were reared on the idea that the simple flash of a cleavage could unleash a monstrous appetite over which a man had no control. (Some judges are still fond of the idea, and would love to dish out probation for some convicted rapists if they could do it without a public outcry.) As a result, it is allegedly the woman's duty to act "responsibly".

Academics Beverley Skegg and the late Sue Lees, author of one of the seminal books on the subject, Carnal Knowledge: Rape on Trial", have both written on the importance of respectability: being seen to do the right thing. (Unlike males who are expected to be sexually adventurous.)

Arguably, it may be older women who are the most critical. They have been reared from childhood to be aware that they are always under scrutiny. They have taken pains to hold off the booze; dress carefully and walk in the light (and tragically, some will still get raped, not least in their own home), so they take much less kindly to those who act like "slags" (the double standard again) and believe that the onus is on men to behave. An attitude that may be right in principle but which may also encourage them to take crass and risky decisions.

These expectations of how "good" girls comport themselves also explain why so many rape victims feel shame and guilt and blame - again emotions easily twisted in a court of law.

Kate, for instance, is a divorced primary school teacher, aged 42. She has two teenage boys. She recently broke up with a man she'd been seeing for a year. Last month, her sons were staying with their father. She went to bed early because she had a cold.

In the early hours, she woke to see her ex-boyfriend by her bed. He was very drunk. He tried to force her to have sex. She ran downstairs. He followed her into the kitchen took a knife, bashed her head, and threatened to cut her throat. "I'd never seen him like that ever before. People talk about drink and women - for me the real danger is what booze does to very ordinary men."

Her ex-boyfriend raped her vaginally and anally. He wept, apologised, and then left. "Before he went, he brought a duvet from downstairs, he said to keep me warm. I was lying in the kitchen, bleeding and paralysed with shock." Kate chose not to report the assault. "He had my keys. He was an ex-boyfriend. He looks smart and pleasant. It was my word against his. I wouldn't have stood a chance. I should have changed the locks but I just didn't think. I blame myself for being so stupid."

Women, like men, also know that consent is notoriously tricky, especially when there are rarely witnesses to the alleged assault. In addition, they are aware that sex may not only be intimate and pleasurable, it can also be predatory; about anger and submission and conquest - just like rape. So when does aggressive seduction end and rape begin?

It's a paradox that while very few rapes end in a conviction (5.8 per cent of reported rapes last year) - once a man is sent down, he is publicly disgraced. If he's sent down as a result of a false allegation, his life may fragment as thoroughly as the lives of many survivors of rape.

On Wednesday, Justice Roderick Evans instructed a jury to acquit rape suspect Ryairi Dougal, "even if you don't agree", after a 21-year-old student said she had been so drunk that she couldn't recall whether or not she had given consent. The prosecution dropped the case after the woman's cross-examination, saying that "drunken consent is still consent". "Binge drink women may lose right to claim rape", read one newspaper headline which, on the eve of 24-hour licensing, must have prompted some sexual predators to believe that Christmas had come early. Dougal, a security guard, claimed they had had consensual sex.

The Sexual Offences Act 2003 states that a person asleep or otherwise unconscious will not be taken as having consented. In such a case the onus is on the accused to raise "reasonable" evidence of consent. Labour MP Vera Baird QC, has called the prosecutor's decision "outrageous". She has asked the director of public prosecutions and the Lord Chancellor to look into the case.

What the Amnesty survey also revealed was an alarming level of ignorance about rape. Only 4 per cent thought that the number of women in Britain raped exceeded 10,000 per year when the true figure is estimated to be more than 50,000. The average estimate for the conviction rate for rape was five times higher than the actual rate - which is one in 20 cases.

It's not difficult to see why young women who break the rules of self-preservation - drink to oblivion and get in a stranger's car - appear to some to be "asking for it". (Conversely, one might equally ask why some men believe they have a right to "take advantage".) At the same time, we live in a dangerous Alice in Wonderland culture in which soft-porn semi-violent magazines are mainstream male entertainment, and for many young people, sexual coercion is increasingly seen as part of adolescent "courtship".

The Edinburgh based Zero Tolerance Trust surveyed 2,000 young people aged 14 to 21 in 1998. One in two boys and one in three girls said it was acceptable to hit a woman. Forced sex was seen as even more acceptable than hitting. One in two knew someone who had been sexually assaulted.

So will a constructive debate on rape emerge from the past week - or will we witness a reinforcement of old prejudices? These have traditionally focussed on female behaviour instead of the acts and motives of those who do the violating.

The truth about rape, of course, is that whether women "ask" for it or not, it happens. The "justice gap" is widening. In the 1970s, a third of reported rapes resulted in a conviction. Now, more women are reporting sexual assault, including rape, but the conviction rate has dropped dramatically. In 2003, 11,867 rapes were reported; 1,649 went to trial and only 629 resulted in a conviction. However, there is cause for optimism. The little reported aspect of the Amnesty International survey is that the majority of the public believe only one person is to blame for rape - the rapist.

If a woman is drunk, 60 per cent thought she was not at all responsible for being raped; if she'd had many sexual partners, 68 per cent thought she was not at all responsible for being raped; alone and walking in a dangerous area, 69 per cent said she was not at all responsible.

Public opinion has altered considerably, so why do 80 per cent of cases never get beyond the stage of police investigation? Can it really be down to a surfeit of drink-addled young women allegedly sending out confusing signals to young men unable to decipher today's sexual semaphoring? Or is rape a complex jigsaw puzzle - one in which the pieces are dangerously failing to fit together because members of the justice system have yet to shed their prejudices about female behaviour and arrive at the public's clearer-eyed view of who is to blame?

The Haven, opposite the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, is one of London's three sexual assault referral centres (Sarcs). It opened in July last year, and has seen 900 women, children and some men - of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. Some have been raped by someone they know (up to 80 per cent of assailants are known to the victims) or by multiple assailants.

A woman comes into a "one-stop shop". Forensic evidence is carefully taken and advice given on emergency contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. Long-term support and counselling are also offered. Staff act as "expert witnesses" in court and data is collected to inform policy. Dr Beata Cybulska is Haven's associate specialist in forensic gynaecology. She says younger women and alcohol and "drug facilitated" sexual assault is a growing issue. But just as women with mental health problems and learning difficulties are often at greater risk because their attackers know they are unlikely to be given their day in court - it may also be the case that binge drinkers are becoming a new target for predators.

"As a forensic physician I also examine suspects," she says. "They are average guys not psychos. They are often upset and puzzled that an allegation has been made. We need to know more about what goes through the minds of such men."

The three Havens work closely with 32 Sapphire units established by the Metropolitan police to handle sexual assaults. "Some police officers are very sound," Dr Cybulska says, "but others have become disillusioned and sceptical because of the poor rate of conviction.

"I give evidence in court regularly. If there are no injuries and you aren't a virgin and you enjoy a drink then, often, the jury just doesn't see rape. We need a public education campaign. We need to monitor the quality of the prosecution and improve the gathering of evidence."

Marion Winterholler is manager of the Haven at St Mary's hospital Paddington. It has just hired an outreach worker to raise awareness in schools about the misconceptions around sexual violence. Educating boys and girls about the importance of boundaries and respect is vital. "A lot of the public still has this perception that rape is about sexual attraction," she says. "It's not. At the core, it's about power and control. Women may put themselves in a vulnerable situation but just because money is in the bank, that doesn't give anyone the right to rob it."

Of course, some women can and do make false allegations - for example, to hide infidelity or excuse behaviour they'd rather forget. But the numbers are tiny. According to "A Gap or a chasm? Attrition in reported rape cases", a study commissioned by the Home Office published this year, around 3 per cent of 3,500 reported cases of rape constituted false allegations.

What the study also found was that while some police were very supportive - disbelief was also common; the CPS (which has improved its standards recently) dropped cases sometimes before they had been adequately investigated; facts were misinterpreted; investigations petered out; women were inadequately informed and had to wait months and months before the case came to court; prosecution barristers were often poorly briefed and a number of the women believed they had been torn to pieces.

"The past 10 years has seen a phenomenal change in the police in terms of them being sympathetic to victims", says Linda Regan one of the report's authors. "But it hasn't done much in terms of beefing up investigations."

In the past three years, rape has been pushed higher up the political agenda. In 2002, a Rape Action Plan was initiated which has led to the creation of 520 specialist rape prosecutors and several other measures, including allowing the previous convictions and conduct of the alleged assailant to be known to the jury.

In the 1990s, Sue Lees monitored the courts for months and established, for instance, that one man who had two previous convictions for rape had been acquitted of "date rape" for the fifth time and the jury, of course, couldn't be told. The Plan is now being reviewed and a second report will be published in the spring. Earlier this month, an interim report said that investigation of rape was "patchy"; up to 90 per cent of cases went unreported and fewer than 10 forces in England and Wales have dedicated rape investigation teams.

"At present, we've got a criminal justice system that isn't a system and it's certainly not about establishing the truth," says Linda Regan. "We won't know for at least another five years whether all these new measures have an impact."

Some are now advocating a different tariff for different types of rape - longer sentences for stranger rape; less for the 70 per cent and more cases where the assailant is known (sometimes only for a few hours). That misses the point: rape is a crime. How it affects an individual varies hugely - familiarity doesn't always make it easier to bear. After all, the punishment for robbery isn't reduced when a thief steals from his mother.

Thirty years ago, Ruth Hall helped to set up Women Against Rape. In spite of the views of one in three in the Amnesty survey, she argues that a lot has changed since the 1970s. Rape in marriage is now an offence, and if a conviction can be secured, sentences are often lengthy. "Unfortunately though, the criminal justice system itself continues to be the obstacle to justice. It continues to display profound sexism. Rape happens every day, everywhere. If the police and prosecutors and judges won't do their jobs properly then we need to give them to those who will."

In London, a woman enters what looks like a run-down bank. Inside, the colours are warm and soothing, terracotta, yellow, blue. This is a rape crisis centre. Like many around the country, it has a waiting list for counselling and struggles for funding.

"If you talk to young men," says 'Kate' one of the psychotherapists, "many don't seem to realise how for some women rape can destroy their lives. It damages trust; it takes away belief in themselves and it can undermine good relationship they've had with partners. A young man may say, 'Hey, it's what most of us do normally anyway, it can't be that bad.' We know it is."

ONE WOMAN'S STORY: NICOLA, 34

We had gone out for my sister's birthday, and this man came as a friend. We had been brought up with his girlfriend and we'd known him for years. It seemed like a normal night out. He never gave any impression that he was remotely interested.

When we left the pub everybody came back to my house. I got them drinks, and then took myself off to bed. I had had a lot to drink, but I remember everything. I heard somebody come into my bedroom and at first I assumed it was my husband. When I realised it wasn't, I told him: "I don't want this." I tried everything. But it escalated and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Then my sister came in and interrupted him. He ran out of the house and my husband ran after him. When he came back, I phoned the police but the Crown Prosecution Service said I had waited too long, an hour. They said I had waited until I had sobered up and got my story straight.

It just wasn't a situation where you pick up the phone immediately. It's not something you plan. Everything was so mixed up. You have to compose yourself and think: "Has this really happened to me?"

The case went on for a year, then they dropped the charges. It was a nightmare. The police said: "We know he did it", but because I'd had a drink they wouldn't get a conviction. They said I'd have been better being raped by a stranger.

I feel sickened that people think a woman is responsible for being raped if she has been drinking. When you are adults, you have a right to go out in what you want to wear and have a drink. It's not right that women have to be careful or they may be raped.

I didn't have a drink for a long time after it and I still don't invite people to my home. It has affected my life a lot. My husband and I are still together but it hasn't been easy.

I did take an overdose. I was so devastated that CPS made me feel cheap. My friends were all very good, but I still didn't leave my house for more than a year. You feel as if you have tattoos on your head saying, "I have been raped" and "Liar".

Interview by Katy Guest

CAN IT EVER BE RIGHT TO BLAME THE WOMAN?

Hilary Freeman 'COSMOGIRL' AGONY AUNT

When I saw the results of the Amnesty survey I had to check my calendar to remind myself I am living in the 21st century. What message does this send out to young girls - that if they wear a short skirt or have a few drinks they cannot say no to sex? And what about boys? Are they now to think that if they get a girl drunk enough it doesn't matter whether or not she consents? These attitudes are degrading to men as well as women. It's utter rubbish that a man is incapable of controlling his sexual urges once aroused. Sexual frustration or disappointment are not life-threatening. Any man who finds himself with a woman so drunk that she may not remember whether she consented is obviously taking advantage of her. But most scary of all, some of the people questioned in the survey will make up the jury in rape trials. If these are common attitudes, no wonder the conviction rate is so low.

Jeanette Winterson AUTHOR

In English law we do not accept power of attorney or changes to a person's will if that person is deemed to be incapable of making such a decision. Being blind drunk at the time of sign-over of property, goods or authority would stand as a robust defence in court against the consequences of such actions. Why is it not a defence against rape? No one who is sozzled out of their brains can consent to anything. The judge who called drunken consent, 'consent', is of the 'punish the woman' school. Taking advantage of another's incapacity is a low-grade act, whether you rob them or rape them. That's what should be punished, not the victim, however stupidly he or she has behaved. Violence is never acceptable, and rape is violence against women. A short skirt, a Wonderbra, and too much to drink doesn't mean a woman is saying 'yes' to every dickhead who fancies her.

AUTHOR

I am of the third who believe women must take some responsibility. Otherwise you will end up infantilising women. If we take the position that women do not have responsibility, where men become big and frightening ogres, women will become pathetic wimps and passive idiots. Saying women should take responsibility empowers them. I don't believe there should be a charge of rape; people ought to be accused of violence instead. If you haven't actually been threatened with violence, then it is hardly not consensual. We are told to take preventative measures by the police for security, locking doors, keeping valuables out of sight. Why shouldn't women also put their valuables away? So in other words, don't go walking down the street with your tits out, pissed and winking at the boys, if you want to be safe.

Beryl Bainbridge AUTHOR

Years ago, in the 1950s, when I was young and new in London I was chatted up in a pub by a man who I think may have spiked my shandy with some spirits. I ended up back at his flat, where he attempted to rape me. I said, 'Hold on, let me just go the loo, and then I'll do it with you,' grabbed my shoes and stockings and ran out of the door. I went to the police station to report it but, because I was under 18, the police wanted to contact my parents, so I withdrew the complaint. But, I thought it was my fault for going home with a strange man. In those days you knew what a man was after. Now everybody knows so much about sex, they must know the possible consequences. God knows why people get so annoyed when men try to take advantage, when that is part of the game. When it comes to violent rape, it's a terrible thing. But if you go back willingly to someone's house, it's a form of consent.

Sam Doland Du Vaux PRODUCER 'HOLLYOAKS'

I am really shocked by the Amnesty survey and it has given me more conviction about the storyline about rape that we are running in Hollyoaks. We set out to show both sides of the story, the boy who is experimenting with drug rape, and the experience of a woman who wasn't raped by being dragged down a corridor. From the chat forums on the show, which featured 16- to 24-year-old viewers, it was apparent that many didn't know what GBH was. But boys and girls in the chatrooms empathised with the female character in Hollyoaks. For me, rape is a black-and-white issue. 'No' means no, and if someone is not compus mentis after they have been drinking, say, or if they are unconscious, then they are not able to give proper consent. So it's a man's responsibility to acknowledge that.

Lisa Jardine ACADEMIC AND AUTHOR

I read the survey results with dismay. It is quite shattering to discover that attitudes that we thought were dead and buried are apparently out there among the public at large. I believed that the right of a woman to wear what she wants, and to refuse a sexual approach if she wants - whether or not she has had a number of sexual partners in the past - had been established for all time in the 1970s. As for the trial judge's comment on 'drunken consent', it is appalling in its blanket ignorance of the circumstances surrounding many rapes. What about the fact that there is good evidence to show that attempted rape is often preceded by drink-spiking or some other efforts to incapacitate the victim?

Interviews by Katy Guest and Joy Lo Dico