SURVEY OF NORTHERN IRELAND STUDENT ATTITUDES TOWARDS RAPE

Early day motion 2336, tabled 23 October 2008 by Mark Durkan (Social Democratic and Labour Party). Signed by 28 members.

That this House notes with concern the findings of a recent Amnesty International Survey, Violence against Women: the perspective of students in Northern Ireland, that suggest almost half of University of Ulster students believe that a woman is partially or totally responsible for being raped if she has `behaved in a flirtatious manner'; believes that these findings evince the existence of a blame culture towards women who suffer sexual violence; rejects any suggestion that women's alcohol consumption, perceived behaviour or choice of clothing should be considered as contributing factors to rape; is alarmed at the finding that one in 10 students consider violence `acceptable against a girlfriend who nags, flirts with other men or refuses to have sex'; welcomes the campaigns undertaken by Amnesty International and student unions to confront unfair and inaccurate attitudes towards rape victims and to ensure universities and relevant agencies tackle the problem of sexual violence; and urges the Government to support work by student unions, police, universities and specialist services working with the victims of sexual violence to challenge these disturbing attitudes and break the cycle of sexual violence against women.

Signatures by party: Labour 15, Liberal Democrat 5, DUP 4, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Conservative 1, Independent 1.