THE Police and Crime Commissioner and the Notts Police Chief Constable have both rejected criticism of a poem which a campaign group said trivialised rape.
The poem, posted on the Notts Police website, was based on the accounts of victims and attackers and was designed to raise awareness of the crime.
But Cathy Saunders, from the Nottingham branch of Women's Aid, said last week the poem was a disgrace and should be withdrawn.
Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: "It has attracted a lot of high-profile publicity – I welcome it.
"I don't accept criticism that it was a negative campaign.
"For far too long we have had victims having crimes like this as the scourge of their lives."
Chief Constable Chris Eyre added: "If anyone was caused offence I apologise – but if one less woman suffers abuse then it will have been worthwhile. It's about putting the message out there.
"It's a message I see all too often when I wake in the morning and look at my (police issue) Blackberry and see reports coming in from officers of another woman who has been violated."
The poem, called the Nightmare Before Christmas, includes the lines: "She had been attacked but wasn't sure how or where."