Why the NUS is right to criticise the Know Your Limits campaign
28th July 2014
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An online petition is gaining thousands of signatures after calling for an 'appalling and victim-blaming' NHS campaign poster to be removed from Home Office website.
The poster, which originally ran in 2006 and has been online for eight years, was part of the ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign and suggested that one in three cases of rape happen when the victim has been drinking. The poster is still available online, and has been spotted on the walls of many NHS hospitals and clinics.
The continued presence of this campaign has led to the launch of a petition addressed to Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt, and has garnered over 18,000 signatures since it was set up five days ago.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with warning someone of the potential dangers they may face if they get drunk, just as it is right to warn someone to place a lock on their bike if thieves operate in the local area. However, this poster has been poorly executed and skirts very close to the victim blaming line.
But this issue is to do with more than just a poster from eight years ago. It is about what it represents. The NUS is active in promoting women’s rights and gender equality. This poster isn’t the worst example of victim shaming by any means, but the fact that such a public organisation is making a stand shows a shift in attitudes towards rape and victims of rape.

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