Nobody knows how many rapes are unreported. Research carried out by a Metropolitan police officer, Det Insp Ian Blair, concludes that the effects of rape on victims are more severe than those of almost any other crime, and those effects are likely to affect the woman's willingness to report the crime and her ability to give evidence. Does society condone the crime by making the victim herself feel guilty? Is rape really a crime of violence, not sex? How often are rapists strangers to their victims? How can the victim best be helped?
Barbara Toner , author of The Facts of Rape;
Denise Robertson of the Birmingham Rape Crisis
Centre; and Det Insp Ian Blair , author of Investigating Rape, answer your questions. In the Chair Jenni Mills Producer LIZ MARDALL for the Woman's Hour unit Lines open from 8.0 pm
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