“Jo from Horfield you have a valid point, but like everyone has said were not saying it was her fault, men shouldn't just take advantage just cause they're stronger and they shouldnt act like animals! But, Its clear how dangerous it is out there so why not take caution and make sure your not in such a vunerable situation like she was! Why would you ever walk off with a strange man and not thinking about the fact that he might be a complete animal which in fact he turned out to be!!”

“I think we are all in agreement with the point that this should not be allowed to happen. No one has the right to inflict anything on anyone without their absolute consent. However, I think that everyone is in agreement that we are responsible for ourselves and anyone who thinks that someone else should be made repsonsible is sadly mistaken”

“Also, how is suggesting that the woman had a certain amount of culpability in any way suggesting she deserved it and that the man is innocent, you know, just being a man.

Who is actually suggesting that "men cannot control themselves"?

Jo from Horfield, the problem with your "implications" is that you are simply irresponsibly missing the point and perpetuating the myth that women need protecting by men. You may not see this, but this is exactly what YOU are implying.

No man, no matter what, has any right to so much as touch a woman without her consent, no more than any woman has the right to touch a man without his consent.

Good luck in getting EVERY man and EVERY woman to agree with you. You'll be sorely disappointed.

The key to this is simple: accept that you are responsible for your actions and constantly question the motivation of others, especially people you don't know. Bad things will still happen, but not nearly as much.

And, just so you know: if I see a drunk man run blindly out into the street and get hit by a car, I don't blame the car or the driver. Nor would you.”

“Right. If I am drunk on the centre and a drug dealer approaches me and offers me drugs, and I go with them into an alley and am then mugged, everyone will tell me that it was ME that was at fault for being foolish. We cannot control the actions of others but we can control our own.

Jo in Horfield: Normally, they do not publish the mental state the victim is in, as it is seen as largely irrelevant. Experience, however, dictates that the girl was indeed drunk and even you would be surprised if she was stone cold sober.

Experience also dictates that when you are drunk you are inclined to do things you normally wouldn't do, like sit on the ground outside of a club at 3.30am and then simply go off with someone you do not know to a property you do not know. Jo, learn about the news: had this been her property it would have said so. Had the person known her, it would have said so.

She did not deserve to be physically or sexually assaulted. However, she certainly could have done things differently. How this is not crystal clear to you is beyond me.

You are suggesting in fact that women have more rights than men. If women cannot be held accountably for their actions like men can be, what kind of world would we live in?

This incident wouldn't have happened if:
a). the man had not been a rabid dog (deserving to be put down), or
b). the woman had not been so irresponsible as to put herself in this situation.

Going back to my original comment that we cannot control others' actions, but we can our own, how can you find fault with this logic?”

“Tina, Keynsham...so that makes it "OK" or "just a part of modern life" does it? Have you ever heard of the suffragettes or female emancipation or EQUALITY? Hmm...maybe you're just one of those double standard types who only squeals about equality when it suits you?”