Some alternate figures...

Posted by blood roses at 11:29pm Sep 18 '09
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For example, in a multi-site study of eight
U.S. communities involved in the Making a
Difference (or MAD) Project, data were
collected by law enforcement agencies for
all sexual assault reports received in an 18-
24 month period. Of the 2,059 cases that
were included in the study, 140 (7%) were
classified as false.

Clark and Lewis (1977) examined
case files for all 116 rapes investigated
by the Toronto Metropolitan Police
Department in 1970. As a result, they concluded
that seven cases (6%) involved false
reports made by victims.

Grace, Lloyd, and Smith (1992) conducted a
similar analysis of the evidence in all 348
rape cases reported to police in England
and Wales during the first three months of
1985. After reviewing the case files, reports
from forensic examiners, and the statements
of victims and suspects, 8.3% were determined
to constitute false allegations.

The largest and most rigorous study that is
currently available in this area is the third
one commissioned by the British Home
Office (Kelly, Lovett, & Regan, 2005). The
analysis was based on the 2,643 sexual
assault cases (where the outcome was
known) that were reported to British police
over a 15-year period of time. Of these, 8%
were classified by the police department as
false reports.

Finally, another large-scale study was conducted
in Australia, with the 850 rapes
reported to the Victoria police between
2000 and 2003 (Heenan & Murray, 2006).
Using both quantitative and qualitative
methods, the researchers examined 812
cases with sufficient information to make an
appropriate determination, and found that
only 2.1% of these were classified as false
reports.

So yeah, 2% is low... 7-8% seems more accurate... and I believe 7-8% is in line with false reporting for other crimes.

As for this:
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."

That doesn't state how many of those were false reports as opposed to the wrong person being suspected. Stranger rapes are more likely to be prosecuted than acquaintance rapes, but in the case of a stranger rape it's much more likely to arrest the wrong person.