
My preparations so far have included WAR’s 60-page-long Self-Help Guide for survivors of rape & sexual assault & their supporters. Turning to the section on ‘Consent, Drink & Drugs’, on p.31 we find this:
If you are sure you didn’t consent but are unable to remember clearly what happened before you went to sleep, make clear that, at the time when the man penetrated you, you were asleep or unconscious and unable to consent. [WAR’s emphasis]
The first section, up to ‘went to sleep’, begs the question of how a woman can be sure she didn’t give consent to sex, when she cannot remember clearly what happened. Leaving that to one side, the remainder of the advice is shocking, and amounts to recommending to women that they pervert the course of justice, a criminal offence.