In 1982 a UK documentary called “Police, a Complaint of Rape” aired, which focused on the experience(s) of a woman who claimed she’d been raped by three men. The program included footage of the officers (including a woman) who were investigating the case, interviewing her in an extremely hostile manner, and starting from the premise that her claim was false.
In the interview the woman making the claim is questioned about why she didn’t report the incident to the police sooner, with one officer trying to dissuade her from taking the claim further by telling her how nasty the experience in court will be.
The program provoked a public and political outcry, concerning the way that law enforcement handled rape cases, and treated those who’d been victimized.
Two notable documentaries made later in the decade (“One in Four” in 1986, and “Rape: The Price of Courage” in 1987) also highlighted the systemic failure of the police to believe those who’d been victimized. Both showed how rape myths were being perpetuated within the UK police force, and how in the 1980’s, society and law enforcement saw “rape”, as an attack in a dark alley, by a stranger. This often meant that those who were sexually assaulted didn’t have the “language” to properly communicate what had happened to them to those in power.
The 1980’s were also a time where several popular movies, and TV storylines, failed to recognize issues of consent concerning sex:
1. John Hughes’ film, “Sixteen Candles” (a 1984 Teen Romance/Comedy), includes a subplot where the main character, Jake Ryan literally hands over his drunk, passed out girlfriend to another male character, with the line, “have fun”. Although, not explicitly shown, it is strongly implied that she is then raped, whilst unconscious.
2. In “Revenge of the Nerds”, a group install a CCTV camera, into a Sorority house to record, unaware and non-consenting members as they walk around naked or partially clothed etc. This is done as a “power” play born out of revenge, which the movie celebrates .
3. In the first Police Academy movie (a comedy, from 1984), there is a scene where a male cadet sneaks into the women’s dormitory and is caught by a female recruit, who initially refuses and resists his advances, but then gives in to them. This message of male persistence, in the face of resistance, being rewarded, is a common Hollywood theme i.e., “the Graduate” (1967), and “Say Anything” (1989), which contains a famous/infamous scene where a male character holds up a boombox playing music outside a female character’s bedroom window, in an attempt to win her back after she breaks up with him.
4. A 1980’s storyline of the US soap opera “General Hospital” saw a character who had been previously raped marry her attacker/perpetrator; an extremely unrealistic storyline that shows rape as resulting in a “positive” outcome.
In the next section we will look at how some rape myths, were dealt with in the 1990’s by various pieces of legislation, as society and the criminal justice system, started to come to terms with certain realities concerning rape and sexual assault.