Britain: Unlikely Venue, Barbaric Acts

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Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has denounced it as a "uniquely barbaric act." Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane says the trend is an "incredible perversion." Indeed, many Britons, who have long regarded their country as a citadel of order and civility, were shocked at the findings of a recent government report showing that in 1985 the incidence of rape increased by 29% in England and Wales. Worse, it climbed by 56% in the City of London. One cynical police official called rape Britain's "biggest growth industry."

London Police Commissioner Sir Kenneth Newman responded by seeking an additional 3,000 officers. A row on the subject has even erupted in the House of Commons, where Tory Backbencher Winston Churchill wants to ban violence and sex on television. Says Dr. Gillian Mezey, who has studied rape in London's riot-torn Brixton neighborhood: "In places like Brixton, where there are no jobs and terrible housing, women are just easy targets of aggression."