On air: Can a woman’s behaviour make her more vulnerable to rape?

Earlier this week, media attention was drawn to a British rape victim who was due to receive 25% less compensation because she had been drinking before she was raped. In her case, the verdict was overturned. The Ministry of Justice has since said that “a victim of rape is not in any way culpable due to alcohol consumption”. But 14 other rape victims in the UK during the last year had their compensation reduced because they had been drinking.

So can the way a woman behaves be a factor in rape? Are women “inviting” rape by the way they dress or act? If a woman signals in some way that she’s available, does that mean she’s “asking for it”, or is this just an excuse?

Talking points 14 August

Hello, it’s Karnie on the early shift today..Thank you to Will in Canada and Laura in the US for looking after the blog overnight.

I understand from the rest of the team, you are quite keen to talk about: Are rape victims ever to blame? (I’ve been away for a bit, but have been filled in on what the rest of them have been working on for today). Helen wrote: Are women “inviting” rape by the way they dress or act? If a woman signals in some way that she’s available, does that mean she’s “asking for it”?

Life’s a beach…

Mark writes..

It is a hard job but someone has to do it. James and I went to the beach volleyball in search of a story about……well, armed conflict of course. Russia were playing Georgia in a women’s match and it was felt it might be a bit of a story, and our sports correspondent was poolside for Mr Phelps entering Olympic history. So we were asked to go.