Surely not? It would be like putting Old Nick in charge. In no time at all we will have horned goats in the Commons and the MPs will be ravishing virgins in the corridors of power..... Oh hang on - they already do that as well as stealing large amounts of money. Still, having Beelzebub answering Prime Minister's Questions will be a pretty awful thing.
..................
Also in the Daily Telegraph today, we have Bryonie Gordon complaining about research which shows women are at little risk from having drinks spiked with date rape drugs. She says that such research is useless since they are nevertheless frequently raped while drunk.
I disagree. Perhaps Ms Gordon, the revelation that drink spiking is almost unheard of and is a widespread myth used to excuse total loss of self control through common drunkenness, might actually encourage some to take responsibility for themselves, and to stay sober.
Only a savage would make light of rape, but girls who get so drunk as to be unable to stay in control, have voluntarily placed themselves in peril - a very stupid course of action. This needs to be made clear and not excused. Taking note of this would be of great benefit to them.
As for those accused of taking advantage of people in such situations, while 'No' always means exactly that, the states of being 'drunk' and 'sober' are more of a continuum than a clear line, so how are males to judge, unless a girl is almost comatose? Is the lady who is exuberant and lascivious after three glasses of Chardonnay 'drunk' and out of bounds, or does she become so only after four, or maybe five, or is it more? Is she only 'raped' when she reconsiders an unwise liaison next morning, even though the night before she was an active participant?
These are complicated matters of fine judgement and are in practice acted on by people often young and somewhat under the influence of alcohol themselves. Cases like this are worlds apart from the savage, wicked and ungodly acts traditionally described as rape, and it is no surprise that juries find it extremely hard to convict those accused when cases come to court.
..................
A medic was recently overheard reassuring a very confused girl in a hospital casualty department saying, 'Yes my dear, and which of the fifteen tequilas was it that you think was spiked?'
No comments:
Post a Comment