Kerre Woodham: Women who make false rape complaints let the team down
I hope they throw the book at the 23-year-old woman who’s been charged after making a false rape complaint against a Wellington taxi driver.
Women like this half-baked tart really let down the team. It is a dreadful accusation to make against someone and to make a false complaint casts suspicion on all genuine victims of sexual violence.
Detectives spend thousands of precious hours every year investigating stories of rape that turn out to be false complaints made by women whose motivations are varied. In some cases, they are troubled souls. Others are duplicitous slappers who can’t deal with the fallout from their own behaviour. But perhaps the most contemptible are those vindictive cows wanting revenge on a boyfriend or ex-partner.
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And what about the lives ruined by these false complaints? Remember the young Waikato law student who was charged with rape, and was cleared only after his parents conducted an exhaustive and expensive investigation to show that there was no way he should ever have been charged with the crime?
From memory, he wasn’t even in the city at the time of the alleged attack. Charges were dropped but not before he’d been named and shamed at the university and his parents had spent thousands of dollars. As for the woman, she was never named and fled the country, leaving others to clean up the wreckage from her vicious lie.
tonyf:I definately remember that story. I think it made it on to 20/20. The sad thing was that the on campus feminists appeared and tried to justify the womans actions. I also had a friend at Waikato Uni falsly charged with rape, which was later recanted.
The courts have done a great job in sending a clear message to offenders that rape is one of the most serious crimes you can commit in this country. The average jail term dished out for rape has gone up considerably over the past few years. So now it’s up to women to take responsibility for their own actions.
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Not all men are rapists. And not all women are victims.
For the full story go to the NZHerald
Thank you Kerre. A well written article, and very timely.
Being falsely accused of a crime as serious as rape is a life sentence.
The damage of a false accusation causes incredible financial, emotional, and psychological harm.
It is excellent that other women are seeing this and are horrified at the horrendous repercussions of such a crime.
As a partner of a falsely accused male, and a mother of children devestated by these hideous claims. I applaud you.
Tougher sentences are not only needed but long over due.
Comment by rejected — Tue 23rd August 2005 @ 9:09 pm
I look at my young children and try to imagine their teenage years. I know I have to protect my daughter from the coercian that can lead to date-rape, from spiked drinks and from pregnancy. But as a woman I feel I have the skills to do that job.
My wee boy, a bundle of glorious energy is another thing. It’s hard to imagine him as a teenager, all hormones and attitude. The young men of today have a whole new set of problems, not just getting into the traditional issues of drink, cars and tagging. But the problems of false complaints.
I don’t know how often it happens but I do know mothers of teens who report that girls will blackmail a guy into dating them using the threat. And they think this is how you get someone to like them!!!
The boys must think it’s a real threat because it’s working, and that’s evil!
Comment by Sarah — Tue 4th April 2006 @ 11:27 am
This appalls me. I was raped several months ago, and have not had closure as police have still not found the bastard.
Flase claims are upsetting, do people not realise what sort of intense trauma it is to go through the aftermath of a rape, let alone make it all up?
The absolute devastation that it causes is enough to make one wish it wasnt true, and to hear of people “faking it” gives pure disgust to those of us who are trying to come to terms with the real thing.
I have spent the last few months in a private hell, hiding most of the pain away so i can get on and deal with my life, and i cant even contemplate how awful it would be for someone accused of this who hasnt laid a finger on the complainee.
People need to remember that rape is real. Its not just a 4 letter word that can be abused. There are real feelings, real emotions and real lives on the line.
Anyone who decides to take the piss out of it for there own advantage is nothing but lowlife.
Comment by Juliet — Mon 4th December 2006 @ 3:22 pm