Can a drunk woman give consent?

How on earth does someone know how many drinks someone else has had?

Nobody is saying women should modify their behaviour and men don't need to. It has been said more than once in this thread that people should take sensible precautions in life. It shouldn't need to be clarified again.

I can imagine the reaction if I were to tell a woman she has had more than two drinks and I therefore cannot be certain she now knows her own mind.

If a woman is so drunk that she is incapable of saying no then she is probably incapable of being an active participant, which would elicit the same response as a no. I think you would have to be pretty far gone to not be able to say no. If she appears to be an active and willing participant then why on earth would the other person have any reason to think otherwise, and especially if his judgement was also impaired by alcohol. People have to be adults about things and be responsible for themselves. People do have sex and regret it in the morning, but you are treading on dangerous ground if you call it rape.

This is something I happened to read by chance today.

The majority of the women in society fear rape - no woman is allowed to ignore it. The majority of children are taught to be afraid of 'strange men' who offer us sweets, lifts, etc. We are taught as adults to keep our doors locked, not to be alone, not to look or act in any way that might 'bring rape upon ourselves'. Perhaps the most obvious situation in which we are taught to be afraid is when walking home alone at night. The threat of violence is a total intrusion into women's personal space and transforms a routine and/or potential pleasurable activity (for example, a walk in the park, a quiet evening at home, a long train journey) into a potentially upsetting, disturbing and often threatening experience.

40% of adults who are raped tell no one about it. 31% of children who are abused reach adulthood without having disclosed their abuse.

Only 15% of serious sexual offences against people of 16 and over are reported to the police and of the rape offences that are reported, fewer than 6% result in an offender being convicted of this offence.

From the Rape Crisis (England and Wales, 2010)

absent, being brought up to fear anything is bad. I was told not to go off with strangers (NOT strange MEN). I wasn't taught to be afraid - I was taught to take sensible precautions (which doesn't mean I always did so). That wasn't rooted in fear though.

If people are bringing their children up to be afraid of men then that is a very sorry state of affairs and goes back to what I was saying about some people feeling society is getting a bit anti-men.

72% of statistics have been made up. The other 48% of statistics simply don't add up. If 40% of adults who are raped haven't told anyone then how do we know?

'The threat of violence is a total intrusion into WOMEN'S personal space'. Really? Surely it's an intrusion into anyone's space. I think the risk of violence from men is actually greater for men.

'The majority of women in society fear rape'. Really? Are the majority of women walking around terrified that they are about to be raped?

spooky I'm not up to date with stats about unreported rape, but over the years anonymous questionnaires about abuse experiences have consistently shown results that compare across the globe. Likewise, there are repeat disclosures from sex offenders, both anonymous and via lie detectors and psychometric testing, that support the estimates of unreported rape.

2014 Statistics from The British Crime Survey reveal that 89% of rapes go unreported, and 38% of victims don??t tell anyone.

They are probably a reasonable reflection of the reality then.

Putting the numbers aside, I am still not comfortable with the suggestion that children are brought up to fear men - to view them as a potential threat. That's tremendously damaging to all.

I agree with that view Spooky, it's pretty awful to have children fearing all men.I also agree that there is far more man/man violence about.
I Have never gone around fearing rape either, but am aware it can happen, as can mugging or having my house burgled.We cannot live in fear, and should not either.