Loose but Reasonable Women

On the daytime chat show Loose Women, a celebrity guest, the Pretenders’ singer Chrissie Hynde admitted she had been sexually assaulted when she was 21. She said she took “full responsibility” for the assault and added “If I’m walking around in my underwear and I’m drunk, who else’s fault can it be?” I’ve no reason to doubt Ms Hynde’s sincerity or judgement, but I was surprised at her analysis of the revelation and I suspect members of the Loose Women team were too.

It therefore seemed perfectly reasonable for Loose Women to conduct a poll. After all, was Ms Hynde’s sentiment after being sexually assaulted very rare, or more widespread than we realised? The question for the poll also seemed reasonable considering it referred to Ms Hynde’s revelations; “Is it ever a woman’s fault if she is raped?”. The opposite, “Is it never a woman’s fault if she is raped”, meant that a majority ‘yes’ would have implicitly questioned Ms Hynde’s integrity, suggesting she may have been misguided in some way, which would have represented an even more leading question.

Rape Crisis, with their premise that responsibility for rape always lies with the perpetrator, called the poll “ill-considered, insensitive and insulting”. Ofcom received 74 complaints and Loose Women may face an investigation from Ofcom. I sincerely hope they don’t investigate, as the poll and its results certainly don’t justify an investigation. But they do warrant careful analysis.

Although a clear majority voted ‘no’ with 88%, it seems very interesting, and perhaps unexpected, that 12% – or more than 1 in 10 women (and I’m assuming they are mainly women) – voted that it could be the woman’s fault. That alone should make both Rape Crisis and Ofcom take note. A ‘no’ vote of something like 99% would have perhaps confirmed that firstly the Rape Crisis premise of rape always being the perpetrator’s fault is very firmly in line with women’s thinking, and secondly that the Loose Women poll question was just being provocative. The results suggest otherwise on both counts.

It seems that provocative statements should be under some sort of scrutiny, but questions? Questions are the picks and shovels that open up the buried truths, and as such they should be cherished and given every benefit of any doubt.

No need for a related burning question of the day, Loose Women have already done it.