Today’s Bad Science covers a particularly offensive bit of poor science reporting where preliminary results were misreported as suggesting that “women who drink alcohol, wear short skirts and are outgoing are more likely to be raped”.
The study has not yet been published and more worryingly showed none of the things claimed in the article published in The Telegraph, which raises the question of where such a disturbing spin came from.
The British Psychological Society put out a press release which mentioned none of the main claims of the newspaper article, but still seems a little unwise considering that the research was only in its early stages.
Link to Bad Science on ropey reporting of the study.
A few years ago, a judge in Spain sentenced that a girl victim of sexual harrassment had somehow instigated it by wearing a too short skirt (http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/TRIBUNAL_SUPREMO/Tribunal/Supremo/confirma/sentencia/Lerida/caso/minifalda/elpepisoc/19900524elpepisoc_2/Tes/). I guess that’s called a visionary (and a damn retarded, in my opinion). The offender just got a 250 euros fine.