Rape myths shape how we respond to sexual violence. What are they and what impact do they have?

NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced significant changes to the way sexual assault trials are conducted, including moving to curb “rape myth questions”.

This is a pilot program in a suite of potential reforms the NSW government says will reduce the trauma victim-survivors of rape and sexual assault experience at trial.

What are rape myths? Rape myths are a set of false beliefs that minimise, erase or justify men’s choice to commit sexual violence.

These myths are often centred around an idea of “real rape” - a script that lists all the conditions that must be met before a rape can be taken seriously.

It is only then, according to this script, that everyone can believe the person who says they were raped and demand accountability from the person who committed the rape.

This script says rape is only “real” when the victim is a young, conventionally attractive and morally unassailable woman.

The textbook victim is violently attacked at night in a public place by a man she does not know.

He is immediately recognisable as a monster , motivated either by uncontrollable lust for her beauty or by deviant desires that instantly mark him as separate from “normal” and “good” men.

He uses physical force to penetrate her.

She screams, fights back and receives visible physical injuries.

After the rape, her attacker flees, and she immediately reports the rape to police, where her story is taken seriously, her injuries are documented, her attacker is identified, and the case quickly proceeds to trial.

Whenever she is asked, no matter what the circumstances, she can recall every detail in its exact chronological order.

She is tearful but not wildly emotional, numb or angry.

Alcohol and drug use are also embedded in rape myths.