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Sep. 2nd, 2008 03:28 pmFrom the NZ Herald:
Dame Helen Mirren has revealed she was date-raped twice when she was younger, but never reported the crimes.
The 63-year-old actress - who won an Oscar for her performance in The Queen - she said she was too scared to say no and was forced to have sex.
Mirren said: "I was date-raped, yes. A couple of times. Not with excessive violence, but rather being locked in a room and made to have sex against my will.
"If a woman voluntarily ends up in man's bedroom with her clothes off... it's such a tricky area, isn't it? Especially if there is no violence.
"I think she has the right to say no at the last second. But I don't think she can have that man in court under those circumstances.
"I guess it is one of the many subtle parts of the men/women relationship that has to be negotiated and worked out between them."
Argh.
Helen, I'm very sorry you were raped. But there's no such thing as a polite rape, a sort-of rape or a rape that isn't illegal. It's not a "subtle part of the men/women relationship". It's an unsubtle part of the justice system. Either you were raped or you weren't, and obviously you were. Yes, even if you were voluntarily in his bedroom with your clothes off. How depressing that this still has to be said in the twenty-first century.
Dame Helen Mirren has revealed she was date-raped twice when she was younger, but never reported the crimes.
The 63-year-old actress - who won an Oscar for her performance in The Queen - she said she was too scared to say no and was forced to have sex.
Mirren said: "I was date-raped, yes. A couple of times. Not with excessive violence, but rather being locked in a room and made to have sex against my will.
"If a woman voluntarily ends up in man's bedroom with her clothes off... it's such a tricky area, isn't it? Especially if there is no violence.
"I think she has the right to say no at the last second. But I don't think she can have that man in court under those circumstances.
"I guess it is one of the many subtle parts of the men/women relationship that has to be negotiated and worked out between them."
Argh.
Helen, I'm very sorry you were raped. But there's no such thing as a polite rape, a sort-of rape or a rape that isn't illegal. It's not a "subtle part of the men/women relationship". It's an unsubtle part of the justice system. Either you were raped or you weren't, and obviously you were. Yes, even if you were voluntarily in his bedroom with your clothes off. How depressing that this still has to be said in the twenty-first century.
