Women's advocacy group alarmed by results of British rape survey

Dec. 6 (UPI) -- A new British survey has revealed perhaps some unexpected opinions, from both men and women, when it comes to rape.

The survey by End Violence Against Women asked a number of questions to British men and women about what does and does not constitute rape.

The poll shows that while awareness of rape has increased since the #MeToo movement started last year, there are serious misunderstandings of what's considered rape in society and in the court system. More than a fifth of British women, for example, said if a woman flirts on a date and then cedes to a man's wishes for sex, without consent, it's not rape.

"There is a crisis in the way the justice system deals with rape and sexual violence," End Violence Against Women said in its survey. "Despite increasing numbers of women reporting rape to the police, the rates of people charged with and convicted of rape are falling. There have been some recent investigations revealing worrying findings about juries' reluctance to convict some defendants of rape."

The group surveyed 4,000 people in Britain for the poll.

Other findings include:

- A third of respondents say it's not rape if a woman is pressured into sex but there's no physical violence.

- A third of men and 21 percent of women think if a woman flirts on a date, it's not rape.

- About 1 in 10 are unsure or think it's typically not rape to have sex with a woman who is asleep or too drunk to consent.

- Removing a condom without the partner's consent is not understood as rape. Nineteen percent said it's never rape and 21 percent said it's not normally considered rape.

- 24 percent said in most cases, sex without consent between two married partners is not rape.

The group said the results raise concern about people with similar ideas serving on a jury in a rape or sex assault case.

"This could explain why it's hard for juries to make fair decisions if they don't understand or agree with our laws on rape," EVAW co-director Rachel Krys told BBC News.

The number of defendants charged with rape fell 23.1 percent in Britain and Wales in between 2017 and 2018.