It’s ludicrous to compare rape to a car accident

I WISH to respond to the letter from Micheál Ó Fearghail headlined ‘Behaviour can increase risk of rape’ (April 11).

Firstly, it was not my understanding that the purpose of publishing the survey (Irish Examiner, March 26-28) was to reduce the incidence of the crime of rape, but to reflect the attitudes which exist in our society.

I did not feel the majority view was “brushed aside”, as Mr Ó Fearghail claimed. I think the majority view was very clear. However, the fact that a large percentage of those surveyed consider that a victim should in some circumstances accept some responsibility only shows that our society is sadly lacking in understanding the incidence and nature of the crime of rape.