What's Wrong With This Story?

See if you can spot the problem here:

Police have been stopping cars as part of an operation to find witnesses after a woman was brutally raped in Fife [Scotland].

The victim was attacked by three men in a disused quarry at Orebridge near Thornton on Hogmanay.

Detectives from Fife Constabulary said the assault was totally unprovoked. They have been trying to trace the men, who were all aged between 20 and 30.

An incident bus has been set up close to the scene and officers have been trying to jog the memories of drivers.

Did you find it yet?

If not, here's a question to ask yourself, which will also serve as a helpful hint: Exactly what is it a woman could do that would constitute provoking three men to gang rape her?

Actually, that's a pretty damn good question for the detectives from the Fife Constabulary, too. Given that they felt compelled to specify that this rape wasn't provoked, it would necessarily follow that they believe that some rapes are. Possibly, it was merely a trick of the reporting (Q: Was this attack provoked? A: Absolutely not. Translation: Detectives said the assault was totally unprovoked.), but based on Scotland's shamefully dismal less than 4% conviction rate on rape cases, and the British penchant for victim-blaming (which is as bad if not worse than our own), I wouldn't be remotely surprised if it was, in fact, not a misrepresented sentiment.

For the one billionth (or so) time, let me break down the stupidity of victim-blaming and expose it for the despicable rape apology that it is: Left to my own devices, I never would have been raped. The rapist was really the key component to the whole thing. I was sober; hardly scantily clad, I was wearing sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt; I was at home; my sexual history was, literally, nonexistent—I was a virgin; I struggled; I said no. There have been times since when I have been walking home, alone, after a few drinks, wearing something that might have shown a bit of leg or cleavage, and I wasn't raped. The difference was not in what I was doing. The difference was the presence of a rapist.

Enough blaming the victim. Enough.

(Thanks to Shaker Lynsey for the heads-up.)