RAPE STUDY REVEALS BLAMING OF VICTIMS

From the frat house to the jury room, victims of date rape who
voluntarily used drugs or alcohol prior to their assault are judged
more harshly than those whose drinks were deliberately "spiked" by
their attackers, says a University of Windsor researcher.

Doctoral student April Girard, who wrote the report in conjunction
with her project supervisor, psychology professor Charlene Senn, said
the results of the four-year study that surveyed 280 male and female
undergraduate students showed the "she-was-asking-for-it" mentality
still persists on campus and in society. Voluntary drug use by a
woman, Girard said, "decreases perceptions of her worth as a crime
victim."

While her paper, The Role of the New Date Rape Drugs in Attributions
About Date Rape, to be published in the Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, found that while the perpetrator is still held responsible
for the sexual assault, his actions are "marginally excused" in cases
where the victims voluntarily may have drunk to excess or taken
illegal drugs before the crime was committed.

"Women's voluntary consumption of drugs prior to a sexual assault
reduced perceptions of perpetrator responsibility and blame and
increased blame to the victim compared with other situations," the
paper's conclusions state.

"Our attitudes remain harsh on women who behave in a way society does
not approve of," said Senn. "It remains a real obstacle to justice....
We have to do more education to make sure our criminal justice system,
the police and judiciary are not operating from those biases as well."

The participants, who were canvassed about their own sexual
experiences, alcohol and drug use and beliefs in rape myths, were
asked to read various scenarios involving sex assaults and rate based
on percentages how much each person's actions were responsible for the
outcome of the incident.

In one scenario, the victim and the attacker are sober. In a second,
the victim and the perpetrator have both been drinking the same amount
of alcohol. In a third, the perpetrator is surreptitiously mixing the
victim's drinks three-times stronger than his own. In the next, the
victim has been slipped the date-rape drug GHB. In the final scenario,
both are taking drugs.

In all the scenarios, the participants assigned the highest blame to
the perpetrator. However, levels of blame for the victim increased in
the scenarios where they consumed drugs voluntarily. In the
involuntary drug scenario the perpetrator was assigned 91 per cent of
the blame. Results varied but In the voluntary drug use category, the
perpetrator was given 79 per cent of the blame.

There was no significant spread in response depending upon the gender
of the participant. However, Girard pointed out, the men were more
likely to subscribe to "rape-acceptance myths" such as a victim is
more responsible if she wears provocative clothing.

Senn added that "in a very tiny minority" of cases, some participants
blamed the victim 100 per cent for a rape if she had been voluntarily
using drugs before the attack.

"Unfortunately, the results didn't surprise me," said Girard, a
doctoral psychology student. "It lives up to stereotypical attitudes.
'She was wearing provocative clothes, what was she doing out at
night?' So it's not surprising that people would question her drinking
and not conclude a rape is a rape is a rape."

Girard said she came up with the idea for the study because of stories
related to her by female friends. She said one friend even ended up so
intoxicated she had to be taken home from a Windsor bar despite being
the designated driver and drinking only water that night. She
suspected drugs were slipped into her glass.

"I thought she shouldn't have to stand guard over her drink just to
ensure she's not sexually assaulted," said Girard.

Unfortunately, she added, the lesson she learned was, fair or not,
young women still need to be vigilant in bars.