MORE than 12,000 rapes were recorded over the past year. But no-one really knows how many rapes are committed because only a fraction of sex attacks on women are ever reported to the police.

And is it any wonder given the findings of an Amnesty International opinion poll this week?

The survey found that a third of people in the UK believe that a woman is partially or completely to blame for being raped if she has behaved in a flirtatious manner.

More than a quarter believe that wearing sexy clothing or being drunk makes a woman at least partly responsible if she ends up as a rape victim.

They are statistics which shame our society and reveal a deep ignorance of the seriousness of rape and the impact it has on victims for the rest of their lives.

No matter how much a woman flirts or how sexily she dresses, she has an absolute right to say "no".

If the Amnesty International figures are correct, there needs to be a widespread educational campaign to change the culture towards women in this country.

It needs to be directed at the criminal justice system, which has to find a way to encourage more women to feel able to bring rapists to justice.

And it has to start in schools so that boys understand that rape can never be justified by the despicable "she was asking for it" defence.