Posted by Kromey at 7:40pm Sep 18 '09So, I'm currently being ripped a new one on the Current Events board because I'm outraged about a claim of false rape that put 4 men through hell and, if the past is any guide, will most likely result in, at most, a slap on the wrist of their accuser.
It's like we're to believe that false claims of rape are so rare we should be happy when they occur. But are they?
Other studies have produced different results, but they fall between one-third and 60%. And in case recanting isn't good enough for you, what does DNA have to say about the subject?
But all this certainly flies in the face of the famous 2% figure, repeated over and over by seemingly everyone.
False accusations of rape are a significant problem, people. So what is the law doing to combat it? Virtually nothing:
Okay, big problem, very little being done about it, men's lives ruined. But another huge effect of this problem is on the real victims of rape:
To say nothing of the impact to the credibility of real rape victims.
And that's why I'm enraged by this recent story of yet another false accusation of rape.
Bibliography:
False Allegations: Wrongful Accusations of Rape
False Rape Accusations Are Not Rare
False Rape Accusations May Be More Common Than Thought
What Percentage of Rape Accusations are False?
....And that was just half a minute of Googling....
It's like we're to believe that false claims of rape are so rare we should be happy when they occur. But are they?
In a study that span[ned] nine years, sociologist Eugene J. Kanin's findings were that in the United States, 41% of rape allegations are false. Kanin discovered that most of the false accusers were motivated by a need for an alibi or seeking revenge. [...]
These findings are not exceptional. The U.S. Air Force studied over five hundred rape accusations in 1985. More than 130 of the accusers admitted, either just before they took a lie detector test or after they had failed it, that no rape occurred. A more in depth investigation by independent reviewers established that 60% of the original rape allegations were a sham.
Linda Fairstein is the head of the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit. She states there are a concerning 4,000 reports of rape each year in Manhattan. Of these, about 2,000 did not happen.
Other studies have produced different results, but they fall between one-third and 60%. And in case recanting isn't good enough for you, what does DNA have to say about the subject?
According to a 1996 Department of Justice Report, of the roughly 10,000 sexual assault cases analyzed with DNA evidence over the previous seven years, 2,000 excluded the primary suspect, and another 2,000 were inconclusive. The report notes that these figures mirror an informal National Institute of Justice survey of private laboratories, and suggests that there exists "some strong, underlying systemic problems that generate erroneous accusations and convictions."
But all this certainly flies in the face of the famous 2% figure, repeated over and over by seemingly everyone.
[T]he two percent figure appears without citation or with only a vague attribution to "FBI" sources. Although the figure shows up in legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act, legal scholar Michelle Anderson of Villanova University Law School reported in 2004, "no study has ever been published which sets forth an evidentiary basis for the two percent false rape complaint thesis."
In short, there is no reason to credit that figure.
False accusations of rape are a significant problem, people. So what is the law doing to combat it? Virtually nothing:
In a small town north of Toronto a woman gave York Region Police a blood stained pair of underwear stating that her ex-husband sexually assaulted their daughter. DNA evidence proved that the woman cut herself and put her blood on the garment. She was fined $25 for public mischief.
[...]
On April 24, 2007 TimesOnline reported that Aftab Ahmed, 44 of Bradford, England was cleared of a false allegation. A teenage girl accused the cab driver of rape in January 2006. Mr Ahmed stated, "The accusations have destroyed my family. It has impacted on myself, my wife and my children. To be accused of rape is the most serious crime in my religion of Islam." Aftab Ahmed lost everything as a result. The adolescent girl was sentenced to only four months detention.
Okay, big problem, very little being done about it, men's lives ruined. But another huge effect of this problem is on the real victims of rape:
Men are not the only victims of women who make false allegations. Women who are the real victims of rape, are further victimized by those who make false accusations. Words and actions by a false accuser rob the real-life victims of rape of badly needed services. These women abuse police, prosecutors and victim group resources, taking time, money and resources away from those who truly need and deserve help.
To say nothing of the impact to the credibility of real rape victims.
And that's why I'm enraged by this recent story of yet another false accusation of rape.
Bibliography:
False Allegations: Wrongful Accusations of Rape
False Rape Accusations Are Not Rare
False Rape Accusations May Be More Common Than Thought
What Percentage of Rape Accusations are False?
....And that was just half a minute of Googling....
added on 7:45pm Sep 18 '09:
Lots more to read on Google.
False accusations of rape - Kromey