“One in three reported rapes happens when the victim has been drinking.”
That’s the slogan from a series of posters that are papered on hospital and school walls around the United Kingdom.
It’s also the slogan that has thousands of people around the world talking.
Take a look:
The anti-drinking campaign, “Know Your Limits,” was created by the United Kingdom’s National Health Service more than seven years ago, but the posters are still around today. And now they’rez gaining more and more attention due to the way they seem to be trying to scare people off drinking with the threat of sexual assault.
A petition on Change.org has called the posters “a blatant and appalling case of victim blaming.”
The petition, which has more than 100,000 signatures, suggests the UK Government is placing responsibility on rape victims – rather than those who commit the crimes.
The petition coordinator Jack May explained, “Of course we don’t want people to drink so much they make themselves ill, but threatening them with rape by implication is not the way to do it. Of course we don’t want anyone to endure sexual assault and rape, but making them feel like it’s their fault if they do, is so far out of order.”
In response to the poster, one British blogger ‘neverjessie’ decided to alter the posters so that they more accurately reflected her stance on the issue.
She wanted to emphasise the point that rapists cause rapes – nobody else.
This is what she created.
The altered poster itself started to go viral, and neverjessie was so overwhelmed by the response – both positive and negative – that she wrote a blog post about the reaction.
“It would be irresponsible not to acknowledge the risks associated with drinking, going home alone, and generally being a woman,” she explains. “Women mitigate against these risks every single day: when we say “text me when you get home safe”; when I wait outside the pub for my friends to arrive rather than sitting inside, alone; when I get my friend to text me while I’m on a date to make sure it’s all ok… We check and modify our behaviour every single day, in ways men are not required to. We shouldn’t have to, it’s exhausting and I resent it.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health reportedly told The Huffington Post UK that the NHS would not be apologising for the posters, because that particular campaign is “no longer used” – although the posters are still visible.
“This campaign is no longer used. Posters have not been in stock, or available on websites for several years,” the spokesperson said. “The problem is an issue for surgeries and hospitals displaying the poster. If they are still up after six years they should not be because the campaign has been refreshed since.”
What do you think about the posters? Are they victim-blaming?
Top Comments
Is it fair? No, absolutely not. It is however a fact that life is not fair. If you are walking through a jungle you protect yourself. The same goes in social situations. It's unwise to make yourself vulnerable by drinking to excess. I absolutely support women's rights to feel safe and go where they want, when they want but the cold hard facts are its not possible. A rapist is a rapist just as a wild animal is what it is. I will be teaching my girls to protect themselves by not making themselves vulnerable. Yes, it makes me angry every day but its a fact of life.
seriously? your response to someone being raped is just 'aw life isnt fair'? you must be great at comforting people who have had something bad happen to them. shut up.
Really? That's how you read my response? I said its not fair that women can't walk anywhere they want safely. Learn to read or maybe you're a troll?
Rape in any shape or form is not acceptable. That's a given. It is never the rape victims fault. That's also a given (at least in the countries that respect human rights). This poster is talking about the risks of drinking beyond your limit and the repercussions that might come out of it. This is NOT victim blaming.
I'm a strong feminist, abhor rape but I would be a negligent mother if I don't enlighten my daughters about the higher risk of rape and god knows what else if they are intoxicated!! (whilst also teaching my son that rape is a crime full stop)