ALMOST 8 per cent of male students in an American survey reported that they had perpetrated acts which met the legal definition of rape, although less than 1 per cent admitted rape.
The same survey found that almost 45 per cent of women students reported some form of sexual victimisation, ranging from unsolicited sexual contact through attempted rape to actual rape.
Prof Helena Carlson, of Clark College, Portland, Oregon, said that the survey at her college high-lighted the need to educate young men and women on the danger of "miscommunication in sexual behaviour".
Ninety per cent of the women who said they had been assaulted knew the perpetrator. Yet society viewed acquaintance rape as less grave than stranger rape, and the level of proof sought from the victim was much higher when she knew the perpetrator.
Women blamed themselves for the attacks in over 50 per cent of cases, reflecting society's view that women somehow invited the attack, she said. Victims of sexual assault suffered from low self-esteem and depression, although this was not the case when the assault was attempted rather than realised.
In the same session, on "Violence against Women", Dr Kate Gillen, from the University of Teesside in England, said that a survey of Teesside students' attitudes to date rape revealed that misinterpretation of both verbal and non-verbal communications emerged as a major cause.
This was exacerbated by alcohol, she said. However, alcohol was cited more often by females than males. Men also offered the explanation that date rape resulted from them being "out of control".
Alcohol reduced men's doubts about the use of violence in sexual relationships, she said. In response to a comment from Prof Carlson, she said that men also used alcohol as an excuse to engage in violent behaviour which they had already planned.
Prof Carlson said that programmes aimed at changing the behaviour of male perpetrators of violence against women had only limited success. "They don't work. Jail works", she said. The only assaults which could be dealt with by counselling, rather than prison, were attacks on women by their partners in the home.