What were you up to in 2017? It was around 7 years ago, not too long ago really, and remember that COVID has already been around for 4 of those years. Picture yourself living in your life a couple of years before the pandemic. What were you up to? Who did you spend time with? What did you talk about with your mates?
I’d like you to picture that in 2017, you had a group of around 5 friends whom you saw semi regularly. You talked about work and life and relationships and you all had your own attitudes towards sex. Now consider the following statements, which are findings from a 2017 survey on attitudes towards violence against women.
Statement 1: 42% of participants agreed that ‘it was common for sexual assault accusations to be used as a way of getting back at men’.
This means that at least 2 people in your figurative friendship group in 2017, thought that people reported sexual assault, purely to get back at their boyfriends, husbands, partners.
Statement 2: 33% of participants believed that ‘rape resulted from men not being able to control their need for sex’.
This means that at least 1 or 2 of your friends believed that if someone were raped, it was because the man just couldn’t possibly stop.
Statement 3: 1 in 5 were unaware that non-consensual sex in marriage is against the law.
This means that at least 1 of your friends would not know that if their partner imposed sex upon them without their permission, they would have just been a victim of crime.
7 years ago was not very long ago. Have our attitudes changed during that time and if so, in what way?
Relate Sexology offer training programs for leaders and their teams to address issues related to sexual harassment in the workplace. For more information, please visit: www.relatesexology.com
