RAPE. This week, the BBC tackled the elephant in the room.

It’s something that makes people uncomfortable because it could all be a bit Close To Home. Sexual consent is seen as being a grey area, with consent classes even being taught in universities now to clear up any confusion.

Most of us know someone who might have been taken advantage of after a lot to drink, or who has been pressured into sex with blackmail or threats.

Sexual consent means so, so much more than saying no. A reluctant yes is the most grey area, as is saying nothing.

The traditional idea society has of rapists hiding in a bush and jumping out on an unsuspecting, unknown, victim are the tiniest percentage. The overwhelming majority of victims know their rapist, which only adds to the guilt, confusion, and pressure from society to keep quiet.

In scenes shown on BBC3 on Monday night, a group of teenagers were gathered together to watch a fictional drama about an incident at a party, in which a tipsy teen climbed into bed with his sleeping ex-girlfriend and started kissing her, before forcing her to give him oral sex.

She didn’t say anything at all. She just lay there. Later, in court, she said she “just froze”. By the end of the programme it was pretty clear he had forced himself on her.

The drama was shown in instalments so the teens didn’t get the full picture until the end. The first instalment wasn’t particularly clear but to be blunt, it was difficult to show what happened in detail.

For any sane person it had been crystal clear from the first part of the drama, when the drowsy victim was awoken by her ex kissing her, and she had no reaction whatsoever.

Even by the last instalment some of the teenagers seemed to have sympathy with the rapist, with some describing him as a “nice guy” whose “life would be ruined”. Such is the basis of many serious crimes – a moment of madness, but the damage is done.

To add more fuel to the fire, BBC3 brought in a man who had been falsely accused of rape – also a terrible, but thankfully incredibly rare thing. The CPS said two years ago that it was a “misplaced belief” that false accusations of rape were commonplace.

Later, BBC3 introduced a rape victim who had never reported the crime to the police. By balancing the two, it gave both sides of the argument – but failed to point out that the two sides are completely disproportionate. An estimated 85,000 women and 12,000 men are raped in the UK each year but the conviction rate is just over 1,000. Only around 15,000 of these rapes are actually reported.

Even more depressingly, the courtroom scenes showed a female defence barrister grilling the traumatised victim about her flirting throughout the evening, her sexual history, and her history with her ex. Some of the females seemed to think her history with her ex somehow lessened the crime.

Sadly, the girl teens were as lacking in understanding as the boys. One said: “We’ve all been in a situation where someone is pressing for sex and you think, oh, OK, can’t be bothered, whatever.”

There seemed to be an ignorance among most of them, with one bespectacled youth in particular failing spectacularly to grasp the idea of consent.

It’s unlikely, but I hope I never, ever find myself at a party with him.