Washington
(ANI):
English
actress
dame
helen
mirren
has
been
slammed
for
the
comments
she
made
that
date-rape
cases
should
not
go
to
court.
Mirren's
remarks
have
now
come
under
the
criticism
of
home
office
minister
Tony
McNulty,
who
said
the
actress'
comments
were
'profoundly
disappointing'
and
'very
unhelpful'.
"No
means
no,
means
no,
and
that
needs
to
be
the
message
as
clearly
as
we
can
in
terms
of
rape," Contactmusic
quoted
him
as
telling
the
BBC.
Her
suggestions
have
also
been
attacked
by
campaign
groups,
with
Ruth
Hall
of
Women
Against
Rape
claiming
that
Mirren
exacerbated
the
situation
for
women
who
are
'already
having
trouble' in
dealing
with
such
incidents.
"When
you
have
gone
back
to
somebody's
house
for
instance,
which
you
have
every
right
to
do,
when
maybe
you've
had
something
to
drink,
you
are
still
entitled
not
to
be
raped,"
she
said.
Solicitor
general
Vera
Baird
said
that
being
raped
'makes
women
feel
guilty
and
ashamed,
whether
they
have
encouraged
the
man's
sexual
interest
or
not'.
She
rubbished
Mirren's
suggestion
that
date-rape
cases
should
be
solved
between
the
two
parties
involved
rather
than
taking
it
to
court.
"All
women
are
entitled
to
say
no.
A
man
who
goes
on
despite
that
commits
rape,
a
crime
that
can
be
seriously
damaging
and
which
is
not
justified
by
any
amount
of
earlier
sexual
interest
she
may
have
shown
in
him," she
added.