Who are the real victims for false rape conplaints?
A 17-year-old New Zealand girl was arrested this week after falsely claiming that she was dragged off by three youths and sexually assaulted at knife point, The Rotorua Daily Post reported. (“Calls for help, not charges,” January 8, 2009.) The news report explained that this was the second alleged false sexual assault claim local police have dealt with since November.
Men’s activist Glenn Sacks has written a good post on this article giving Dr. Kim McGregor’s usual response that “international research showed 2-3 per cent of all sexual abuse allegations made were false.” She also believes the women needs therapy and not arrest.
How many times have we heard this before???? There is no consideration for the 60-85% of false claims police have stated to occur.
Also quoted is Louise Nicholas, who notes that “it didn’t help sexual abuse victims making legitimate complaints, particularly those who feared not being believed.”
Ms. Nicholas also suggests that “there could be underlying issues surrounding the false complaints which needed to be resolved,” and that “there needed to be more services available to help women who had been sexually assaulted as the current services were stretched.”
Glenn also gives his view stating that counsellors routinely insist that false rape reports are not a serious threat to men.
The only threat posed by this crime, they often say, is to (hypothetical) victims of rape who, because of the falsehood, may be deterred from coming forward. They do not mention the threat, just proved imminent, to (real) victims of false rape accusations, men and boys whose lives are often destroyed by these lies. Some counsellors go so far as to suggest that false rape accusers are not criminals at all
If only it were as simple as speaking to counsellors about the problems men face with charges and how our prisons are filling with men convicted for false rape.
This is much grander than at counsellor level in New Zealand.
NZ has a Taskforce on Sexual Violence that was set up by the Labour Government in March 2007. It is chaired by the Justice Ministry’s chief executive Belinda Clark and its members include the heads of government agencies including Minister of Education, Minister of Women’s Affairs and Minister of Police.
Louise Nicholas and other activists had gained the support easily from the Human Rights Commission (check this link out!!) which is under “Feminist Governance” and the Law Commission who pressed for an inquiry into the way rape trials are held. In a report released June 2008 it says it was worried about the process after hearing evidence that complaintants are effectively put on trial themselves.
The new group is modelled on the highly ineffective family violence ministerial group and its supporting Taskforce for Action on Violence within Families, but the issues are different and require targeted action.
What does the Taskforce do to address the problem
The Taskforce will operate from July 2007 to July 2009.
16. Improve reporting and conviction rates for sexual violence.
17. Represents 70-80 of the organisations, individuals and academic experts working in the sexual violence sector.
18. Taskforce’s work programme provides expert advice and a community perspective to all aspects of Taskforce work.
19. Fifteen work programme initiatives span the six priority areas: prevention, early intervention, recovery and support services, treatment and management of offenders, system responses to sexual offending, and system responses to victims.
20. The Taskforce work programme also includes work to identify and consider alternative models.
23. The Taskforce makes recommendations to the Government on future actions to prevent and respond to sexual violence in New Zealand. All with the backing of Women’s affairs, Human Rights Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Police and other Ministerial departments.
Australia also has a Taskforce on Sexual Violence as well as a Taskforce on Family Violence. When legislation was introduced to Parliament a FEMALE politician stated that women should sign a contract before sex to combat false rape allegations.
On ABC Radio this morning, Ms Bressington confirmed she thought men should carry sex contracts if the current Bill passed both houses of Parliament.
“(The Bill) opens the door to more false allegations that are already occurring. Men will have no defence from women falsely crying rape,” she told the ABC morning show.
“This Bill makes men guilty until proven innocent and they will have no defence.”
When quizzed further about the contract idea, she said she was serious because it would prevent men being falsely accused.
Fellow independent MP Kris Hanna, who has been pushing for new consent laws for years, said the Bill’s intention was to prevent men being able to claim consent was given in ridiculous situations – such as when a women was unconscious or blind drunk.
“We are trying to encourage reasonable conduct,” Mr Hanna told the ABC. He said juries “usually come up with a common-sense result” in the types of cases Ms Bressington was referring to.
I wonder how the judiciary system will determine ‘blind drunk’ and how lawyers will argue over what alcohol consumption is acceptable for ‘consent’. Will it be the same as the level of alcohol assumption allowed for drink driving? After all, you are not considered safe to make rational decisions over a couple of glasses of beer.
And I wonder how juries can make common-sense decisions when the judiciary system is being forced to increase conviction rates.
.
And from the Dompost, from Christchurch:
> Woman accused of false rape complaint stays anonymous
> > New 11:02AM Thursday Jan 15, 2009
> >
> > A judge decided today interim name suppression for a 33-year-old woman
> > accused of making a false gang-rape complaint can continue.
> >
> > Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders said he had examined
> > information from police, and medical evidence provided by the woman’s
> > defence counsel Michael Starling.
> >
> > Judge Saunders said the documents related to the woman’s “fragile mental
> > state”.
> >
> > “I am satisfied there is a basis on which I can continue the interim
> > suppression order through until the matter is heard,” he said.
> >
> > He remanded the woman on bail for a status hearing on March 9.
> >
> > Mr Starling earlier told the court that his client continued to maintain
> > she had been raped in the incident that allegedly began at
Christchurch’s
> > Corsair Bay on November 16.
> >
> > Four teenage youths were questioned as part of the police investigation,
> > which included asking members of the public for photographs that had
been
> > taken at the bay on that day.
> >
> > The youths were all charged with stealing a variety of items worth $870
> > from the woman and have mostly been remanded for the diversion scheme
for
> > first offenders.
> >
> > But since then the woman has been charged with making a false rape
> > complaint.
> >
> > She is also charged with having a knife in her possession, without
> > reasonable excuse at the Central Police Station when she was arrested a
> > month after she alleged she was raped.
And a letter from the Rotorua post:
I suggest that false complainants face the same range of sentences as those
they accused would have been subjected to. People calling to decriminalize
the practice of false complaints fail to recognize the harm done to accused
individuals and to the image of men generally. This causes deep social
damage. Would we tolerate white supremists spreading lies about other
races? Of course not. Why then are we so ready to tolerate men being
unfairly denigrated?
Regardless of the reasons someone made a false complaint, it is a violent
attack against victims who can experience serious stress-related illness
and community suspicion that can often never be healed. There is no more
justification for failing to prosecute false accusers than for doing so
with rapists, whose offending will equally reflect underlying psychological
problems.
Further, on 8 September 2008 The Waikato Times reported Dr Kim McGregor as
stating that false complaints had been measured between 2% and 10%, and one
wonders why she now reports only the lowest estimate as fact. The actual
rate is impossible to measure accurately because only the accuser
ultimately knows the truth (and even some of them will not be sure). Many
more complaints are never proceeded with because there is no good evidence
the crimes occurred, and it is likely that many of those were deliberately
false but that could not be proven.
Finally, the argument that claimed low rates of reporting sexual abuse
means we should overlook false complaints is invalid. The two issues are
separate. There is no evidence that decriminalizing false complaints would
affect the rate of genuine complaints. And the harm caused by false
complaints is not affected by the rate of reporting genuine crimes.
All this this week ;-(
Comment by Alastair — Thu 15th January 2009 @ 11:00 pm
Thanx Alistair for adding another.
Just looking at how many of these Ministries are run by women under National..
Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Police
Minister of Corrections
Hon Anne Tolley
Minister of Education
Minister for Tertiary Education
Hon Georgina te Heuheu
Minister for Courts
Minister of Pacific Island Affairs
Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control
Hon Paula Bennett
Minister for Social Development and Employment
Minister for Disability Issues
Minister of Youth Affairs
Hon Pansy Wong
Minister for Ethnic Affairs
Minister of Women’s Affairs
Edit: Oops. accidentally submitted before I was finished.
The men are in the business, transport, fisheries, technology and science, communications, immigration plus, plus.
http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/Cabinet/ministers/ministerial-list.pdf
Comment by julie — Thu 15th January 2009 @ 11:43 pm
It’s not as bad as Labour Julie. The Ministry I would love to get rid of is with all due respect the ministry of womens affairs. I believe that any woman worthy of her salt will rise in the ranks unaided. (Look at your self, though you will probably not agree)
Just looking at the database, of the 23 recorded cases I have, 18 are anonomus. Some are to under 16 yo’s
Presently assembling these is 75% my own work, hence I miss a few. Leigh in Aotea Harbour is staunch for more, beyond that its random.
If you can get to a post 2000 version of MS Access I will send you a copy of the whole database. I am reconstructing a bit presently to check for multiple offences by one female. (Using accesses relational feature) and adding a field to store links.
It is NZ cases only.
Thanks – Alastair
Comment by Alastair — Fri 16th January 2009 @ 3:43 am
I don´t think there is necessarily anything wrong with having lots of women ministers, Julie. As you demonstrate, it is often women who are beter able to challenge female mis-behaviour.
Granted, Georgina was a dead loss as far as promoting gender equality when she was Minister of Women´s affairs, but let´s suspend judgement on Pansy Wong´s performance until she shows her true colours.
I believe that when the worst aspects of radical feminisim are finally done away with, it will be reasonable, mainstream women who will lead the way.
Comment by JohnP — Fri 16th January 2009 @ 3:53 am
Comments appreciated John and Alistair. Glenn has some good comments on his site also. (40+ of them)
Comment by julie — Fri 16th January 2009 @ 10:40 am
Yes, some false complainants do need psychological help but that doesn’t mean their behaviour should not be censured and punished. While it is true that mental health clients are often discharged or not prosecuted for minor crimes, generally the only way serious offenders can avoid conviction is on the grounds of insanity and that is a very high bar. Sentences will always take extenuating circumstances into account as is appropriate. But many false complaints are made for purposes such as covering up behaviour, avoiding consequences, protecting reputation, revenge, profit, ACC payouts or advantage in Family Court child or property disputes. Just last week this news item http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10551170 was about a woman who made false claims of rape to stop her boyfriend from learning that her late night out involved infidelity with another man. She may not have been a very good liar but her behaviour was due to dishonesty, not mental disorder.
And the letter Alastair reproduced here (post #1) that was published in the Rotorua Post was my letter, which I proudly signed. I experience discrimination professionally due to my outspoken challenges of the damage being caused our society through feminist excess, but that won’t stop me.
It’s good to see Glenn Sacks, a leading U.S. commentator on men’s issues, noticing some of the misandry rife in N.Z.
Comment by Hans Laven — Fri 16th January 2009 @ 11:36 pm
I have to say the claim that Louise Nicholas makes, along with so many others, that false rape complainants dissuade genuine rape complainants just doesn’t make sense. There are severe penalties for making false reports to police for every crime there is, and it has no bearing at all on whether we make genuine reports.
For example, making a false report to police that your house was burgled, in order that you can dishonestly get your hands on some insurance money, would be vigorously pursued by the police. Everyone would agree that people who do this sort of thing are engaging in criminal fraud, and should be prosecuted. But no-one, anywhere, would try and say that prosecuting fraudsters would dissuade people from reporting genuine burglaries.
The same holds for every other crime I can think of. Except rape.
Comment by Rob Case — Sat 17th January 2009 @ 8:27 am
Hello MENZ
In my young opinion,it seems that what is being called “Girl Power”-empowerment of girls’ to do anything(not everything), has become contradictory.
Please forgive me if offeneded, but I find it so annoying that girls’ dress as if they are wearing nothing,seemingly looking for male attention and moan when they are even looked at by one. The troble with girls seems good, but should be retitled:The trouble with girl power”.
What happened to that girl who assaulted her highschool teacher? or those three girls who attacked a boy walking? Is it just because they are “precious girls” means they get lighter punishment? Or the Men against domestic violence campaign? Even prostate cancer funding. How about three to six months.
Lastley, Screw the media for labbeling me, a person with pretty much no social-life and on a learners as a boy-racing drug taking rapist! If i say i saw a girl-racer i’m shot. We need equality, not anti-gender/male roteineering. Anyone aggree?
Comment by Benjamin — Wed 18th February 2009 @ 9:48 am
Young Benjamin, you speak out loud what most young men think.
Comment by julie — Wed 18th February 2009 @ 10:25 pm
I appologise if you were offended Julie. But i just thought that I would say that, just because i wanted to get that out of my system. I just think that both genders need to see past what the media portrays and find the good points in eachother, just like 95% of people
Comment by Benjamin — Thu 19th February 2009 @ 3:31 pm
@Benjamin, no need to apologise. I have sons like you so I am not offended. I also hear many groups stating they are hearing from you young men also. In fact, my MP, Paula Bennett visited Unitec to gain votes where she ended up in gender discussion because young men are really feeling it.
I guess if anything I should be apologising to you as an older female that I didn’t speak up earlier about all this.
But then, it is time. I think the last generations were different.
Comment by julie — Thu 19th February 2009 @ 9:54 pm
Benjamin, you might enjoy some other sites with where young men are speaking to each other. Why don’t you try this one.
http://antimisandry.com
From here you can connect with other guys.
Comment by julie — Thu 19th February 2009 @ 10:03 pm
Benjamin, Another group you may consider if you or any of your mates fall foul of our anti male family law is Pauls – News. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pauls-news/
You have to join but that is not to onerous. It specialises in selfreprestation in the Family Court.
Comment by Alastair — Thu 19th February 2009 @ 10:27 pm
Oh yes, thanks Alastair for adding paul’s news.
What a great site to help young men in trouble.
Comment by julie — Thu 19th February 2009 @ 10:39 pm
Thanks everyone. Although i have not been in situations like this myself,I will find these sites interesting to look at.I think that more awarness needs to be raised. I
Comment by Benjamin — Thu 5th March 2009 @ 10:12 am
…I am doing a sociology course at uni this year, so i may be able to use these as a reference.
Comment by Benjamin — Thu 5th March 2009 @ 8:08 pm
Ya know what? Excusemy tone but stuffthis wholesteryotyping! IT ISNT EVERYONE BUT ONLY SOME WHO HAVE STUFFED IT UP FOR US. STUPID BOY-RACERS AND HYPOCRITICAL SNOTTY LOVE-SEEKING GIRLS. Turn off your social-life for a weekend, like me 95-99 percent of the time and rent out Bill Hicks relentlesss then you will see what people can do to say what they need to withoutthe mediafollowing them. And also read about Nightingalle(Florence) what a genius of a woman. Both are visionaries and both are equal to each other in smarts and out look.
“I’ll show you politics in America. Here it is, right here. ‘I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.’ ‘I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking.’ ‘Hey, wait a minute, there’s one guy holding out both puppets!’”
Comment by Benjamin — Thu 5th March 2009 @ 8:19 pm
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/bill_hicks/3.html
Comment by Benjamin — Thu 5th March 2009 @ 8:21 pm
Here’s another to add to the list.
Notice there’s NO reparation to the victims – the falsely accused men.
That’s quaint ‘ol NZs outmoded chivalry for you.
What sentence do you think a 19 year old MAN found guilty of two charges of falsely accusing rape and the resultant waste of police resources get?
Comment by skeptik — Sat 7th March 2009 @ 2:28 pm
Here’s another one.
I agree with the statement in the last but one paragraph. Hence I think sentencing for false accusers should be much more severe as a sanction against encouraging more false accusations occuring.
@4
JP, you said –
“I believe that when the worst aspects of radical feminisim are finally done away with, it will be reasonable, mainstream women who will lead the way”.
it’s interesting to note the female ministers are the ones in the social sphere ministries, the bloke ministers in the technology-science-industry sphere.
Given the domination by female ministers of social policy I wonder two things –
How long do you think that will take for your view that the worst aspects of radical feminism are finally done away in NZ with to unfold? 5 years? 10? 20? 30?
What do you think will be the damage until such time?
Comment by skeptik — Sat 7th March 2009 @ 2:45 pm
Hello
I am and Australian who was wrongly accused of Rape and another 9 Felony Charges in USA in 2008… I spent 115 days in a County Prison while the female [minor who advertised herself as 19] on a Adult Dating website was getting all the sympathy from a whole County…
Now I morally was guilty but certainly not legally… For the majority of people who have not been through this degrading experience, I say, ‘ask those who really know what it is like to spend time in Prison for something you did not do’, Yes there are some really nasty peices of crap in society and they deserve to be punished, however when a female or male has wrongly accused someone of rape and it is proven or in my case the female ‘recanted’ her story, well she had to as the Text messages and pc records show she was lying, these people should be charged or given treatment to ensure that there is a deterent to others. I did not get as much as an apology from anybody, and some people say to me ‘take civil action’, sure take civil action so that you go endure all the past again, no thank you! My life was ruined, I say ‘was’ ruined, but I have been lucky to have the best family and friends to lift me up and fowards…
So to all the rule makers and decision makers ‘THINK’ very hard when you make your decisions from your Office, and imagine it is your son,father or husband that has been ‘falsely accused’.
I am writing a Ebook about my experience and it will be out in Sept 09 its called “This, Too, Will Pass”, might just be worth a read people!!!
Rick Lee
Comment by R L — Sat 30th May 2009 @ 3:53 am
These people need to be listed as sex offenders… Women who cry rape when there wasn’t any and women who only have relationships to have children, without the fathers knowledge. I would really like to se that happen. The only place it will happen is on a Tui billboard sadly.
Comment by Scott B — Sat 30th May 2009 @ 11:25 am
Hi Scott
I only made my posting while I was researching information for my book… The silly thing is we bot agreed to meet at her place and yes to have some fun, the she screams rape and calls mum. She said that I broke into the house , burglary, then attacked her, all lies. What if she had meet a real freak on line and he had really done some nasty stuff to her.
If you are interested in the book feel free to email me on [email protected] and I will let you know when it is out, it will be able to be downloaded for under $20…
Rick
Comment by R L — Sat 30th May 2009 @ 1:01 pm
Scott B –
The sex offender registry for false rape abusers is a fine idea.
Comment by Skeptik — Mon 1st June 2009 @ 1:10 am
I have found this site, far more extensive than mine of false accusations. The problem both appear to be faced with is the widespread practice of name suppression. Unfortunately many of the accusers are under 16, hence automatic suppression under our law. I strongly support the premise though that the falsely accused should be compensated for their out of pocket costs and loss of earnings IN ADDITION TO any other penalty faced by the accuser. It is far to easy for a “Member of the Public” to ring the police, be believed, and cause a criminal trial based on the flimsiest of evidence. Lets be clear about this, the police and their allied civilian organisations (Dads Army) are equally as capable of lying to settle personal scores.
for reference visit http://www.peterellis.org.nz/FalseAllegations/index.htm.
Now this is the biggest example of a false accusation in NZ! Then after he is released officialdom looses interest in the damage it did, not only to Peter himself but I suspect the alleged victims of his offences.
Comment by Alastair — Mon 1st June 2009 @ 9:18 am
Sadly I have been subjected to this, as have many single dads that I know. The stigma of people talking about something that isn’t true is humiliating. I’ve had CYFS apologise to my lawyer(apparently), but not to me. They’ve then sent misleading reports to the family court. Fortunately I recorded the interview I had with them and have a transcript so that sorted that out.
I know other dad’s who have been on suicide watch because of false allegations.
To me, woman that make up such things are as bad as child abusers and should be punished accordingly.
But, this is New Zealand. Sadly; I’m the part of society that is considered a sub-class; fathers.
Comment by John — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 1:03 am
false allegations yeah right i bet you dirty old men did every thing you
were said to have done ya nuts should be cut off sickos
Comment by Lisa — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 6:05 am
Gosh Lisa, ….
Check out this documentary aired recently on NZ TV. Even rape crisis admits to the false rape claims but comes up with the excuse, “The system will pick them up”.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/Crying-Wolf/tabid/371/articleID/80303/cat/46/Default.aspx?articleID=80303#video
Madly, sadly and badly, as in the USA, it can take up to 20 years while a man is imprisoned.
Comment by julie — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 9:10 am
Hi Lisa,
Thanks for your helpful comments.
I heard you had been nominated as the new Children’s commissioner. Pity Christine got the Families commission job ahead of you. It is such family friendly, progressive and enlightened utterances like yours that really enhance debate here. Thank-you so much for dropping by.
I’m just off to flagellate myself for the sin of being male.
Humbly, Allan
If I do cut my nuts off and change my name to Allen do you think there may one day be a place in heaven for me. The child free section, of course, don’t want to take any unnecessary risks. Safety must me number one of course.
Comment by allan harvey — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 10:05 am
Well said Allan,
And Lisa, thank you for taking the time to make your comment. Yours is exactly the attitude that gives rise to the existence of sites like this, and just the thing that gives our cause credibility. If you have any mates, we would love to hear from them too. G.
Comment by glenn — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 11:08 am
There seems to have been quite a few haters or dare I say feminists posting here lately, anyone else noticed? Such lovely people aren’t they? For some/most of us this is one place where we can feel safe and say the things we need/want to and where we know where we’ll be heard and taken seriously. It’s just making you look worse by posting on this site.
Comment by Scott B — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 11:24 am
Hi Lisa,
That’s amazing stuff you’re taking.
I seriously haven’t seen that much hateful paranoia in a long time.
Comment by Skeptik — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 11:44 am
There are several “Hidden” sites Scott that you have to join. A couple of posts here would have been automatic sanction material! In saying that I fully recognise the necessity of this fully open site and John’s efforts in maintaining it.
The hidden sites are good if you wish to vent, seek advice, or simply make friends with others in the same boat as you.
Comment by Alastair — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 11:47 am
Thanks Alastair, would you be able to email them to me please?
Comment by Scott B — Tue 2nd June 2009 @ 2:02 pm
I wonder what view Sue Bradford has of the damage caused to innocent victims of false rape allegations?
My assumption is that the allegations must have been false if he was found not guilty.
Interim name suppression in the case finished yesterday.
Former Green Party MP Sue Bradford’s son has been found not guilty of sex charges after a week-long trial last week.
Comment by SicKofNZ — Fri 26th February 2010 @ 3:54 pm
Reply to SickofNZ
….’Tongue in Cheek’ as Sue Bradford is a famous banshee screaming Kiwi Feminazi Feminist …Sue Bradford will most properly say to her son from a quoted a famous American Feminist…’A man falsely accused Rape can learn from the experience’…
But always look on the bright side, ‘Sue Bradford’ Son should happy and contented now,as he as been truly liberated by Feminazi Feminism…..
Kind regards John Dutchie
Comment by John Dutchie — Fri 26th February 2010 @ 4:04 pm
Female cop on Lundy etc
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2007/05/female_cop_on_lundy_etc.html
May 6th, 2007 at 8:34 am by David Farrar
The SST has a review of a book by Palmerston North detective Liz Williams called Does This Make My Gun Look Big?
Williams was liasion to the Lundy family after Christine and Amber were found dead. She talks of how she didn’t assume Lundy was guilty at first, but after observing his behaviour at the funeral parlour and crime scene, she thought he definitely was. She labels his behaviour as a B grade movie performance.
She also reveals that one in three rape complaints she has investigated are false or unsubstantiated, and how angry she is for the real victims, whose life is made more difficult by the false complaints.
Comment by Murray Bacon — Sat 27th July 2013 @ 3:36 pm
Believe Her! The Woman Never Lies Myth
Frank S. Zepezauer*
ABSTRACT: Empirical evidence does not support the widespread belief that women are extremely unlikely to make false accusations of male sexual misconduct. Rather the research on accusations of rape, sexual harassment, incest, and child sexual abuse indicates that false accusations have become a serious problem. The motivations involved in making a false report are widely varied and include confusion, outside influence from therapists and others, habitual lying, advantages in custody disputes, financial gain, and the political ideology of radical feminism.
Male sexual misconduct – rape, incest, stalking, sexual harassment, child molestation, pornography trafficking – has, according to some observers, become a problem so big that it demands a big solution, not only the reform of our legal system but of our entire society. Yet the increasingly heated debate over this crisis has focused primarily on how these misbehaviors are defined and how often they occur. The estimated numbers keep mounting. We hear that perhaps 31 million women are suffering from some form of rape, 41 million from harassment, 58 million from child sexual abuse, and all 125 million of them – from toddlers to grandmothers – from a toxic “rape culture” that suffocates the feminine spirit.
Much less discussed is how often an allegation of male sexual misconduct is false. The question seldom enters the debate because, presumably, it had long ago been settled. Pennsylvania State Law Professor Philip Jenkins (1993), in a review of the “feminist jurisprudence” which leads the sex crisis counterattack, reports that in response to the question its proponents have established an “unchallengeable orthodoxy.” It is that “women did not lie about such victimization, never lied, not out of personal malice, not from mental instability or derangement” (p.19).
………………..
Believing the self-proclaimed victim of sexual misconduct has thus evolved from ideological conviction to legal doctrine and, in some jurisdictions, into law. California now requires that jurors be explicitly told that a rape conviction can be based on the accuser’s testimony alone, without corroboration (Associated Press, 1992; Farrell, 1993). Canada is proposing that a man accused of rape must demonstrate that he received the willing consent of a sexual partner.
These new rules rest on the assumption that women do not lie because they have no motive to lie. Consequently, as Jenkins (1993) states, the question of the “victim’s credibility” has now become “crucial.”
Is that credibility warranted, particularly as feminist jurisprudence would want it established, as nearly automatic? Not if we consult recent history. And if we do, we will find that we do indeed face a sexual misconduct crisis, but not the one radical feminists now insist is ubiquitous in our society.
False Accusations of Rape
Begin with evidence of false accusation of rape, the crime which has become not only the metaphor for all cases of sexual misconduct but for male sexuality itself. Alan Dershowitz (1991), for example, has further harassed his students by telling them that an annual F.B.I. survey of 1600 law enforcement agencies discovered that 8% of rape charges are completely unfounded. That figure, which has held steadily over the past decade, is moreover at least twice as high as for any other felony. Unfounded charges of assault, which like rape is often productive of conflicting testimony, comprise only 1.6% of the total compared to the 8.4% recorded for rape.
Consult also a recent development, DNA testing, which is now becoming routine in rape investigations (Krajik, 1993). Also routine is the discovery that a third of the DNA scans produce non-matches. Consequently, a growing number of men are not only gaining acquittals but are also being released from prison. As with all rape statistics, these figures need careful scrutiny. Police investigators warn, for example, that a mismatch proves innocence only when the DNA could have come from no one but the assailant and its profile or makeup doesn’t match the suspect’s. Even so, the DNA tests, primarily a prosecutorial weapon, have now been added to the arsenal of defense attorneys, and more evidence of false allegation is appearing.
…………………………………………
The McDowell team studied 556 rape allegations. Of that total, 256 could not be conclusively verified as rape. That left 300 authenticated cases of which 220 were judged to be truthful and 80, or 27%, were judged as false. In his report Charles McDowell stated that extra rigor was applied to the investigation of potentially false allegations. To be considered false one or more of the following criteria had to be met: the victim unequivocally admitted to false allegation, indicated deception in a polygraph test, and provided a plausible recantation. Even by these strict standards, slightly more than one out of four rape charges were judged to be false.
……………………………………………
Motivations of Accusers
Even so, reasonable doubts about a woman’s veracity in all these often sensationalized sexual misconduct cases do not necessarily mean that she has deliberately lied. She may, for example, have suffered from confusion, a problem now proliferating as the definition for sex crimes becomes increasingly complicated and inclusive, leaving all parties struggling with questions about definition and propriety. Or she may have been affected by emotional instability or mental illness, which one study reported was a factor in 75% of false allegation in divorce cases (Wakefield & Underwager, 1990). In some cases a woman or her defenders might exaggerate a misdemeanor into a felony or, as happened in Washington state, translate bad parenting into sexual misconduct.
In addition, there has been a tendency to emphasize what a victim felt rather than what happened. Thus, a woman can truthfully say she felt raped, abused or harassed by behavior which is actually non-criminal. Moreover, the woman’s feelings are often influenced by outside parties with whom she has confided – friends, family members, social workers, therapists, clergymen, rape counselors, lawyers, political activists – any of whom can interpret her emotion as a sign of felonious abuse.
…………………………………………………..
Conclusions
This growing gap – between the anguish suffered by the victims of traditionally-defined sex crimes and what is suffered by victims of ideologically-defined crimes – suggests that the crisis we face is not the result of a sexual misconduct epidemic but of the crisis mentality itself, an ever more hysterical vision of a “rape culture.” It has a foundation in reality. In what has become a ritual disclaimer, those who have exposed the surprising number of false allegations of sexual misconduct have also admitted the appalling number of genuine accusations. And those who have attacked the incompetence, self-interest, and zealotry that has denied the extent of false allegation have also recognized the courage and energy that has exposed the problem of honest allegation begging vainly for belief. They have therefore applauded the effort to seek for this long ignored injustice both social and legal remediation.
But that effort, carried too far and exploited too often, has generated another gap: between our awareness of the now highly visible victims of sexual misconduct and the almost invisible victims of false allegation. The lesser known victims have their own stories to tell, enough to reveal another long ignored injustice that demands remediation. False allegations of sexual misconduct have deprived a rapidly growing number of men and women of their reputations, their fortunes, their children, their livelihood, and their freedom; have wasted the time and money of countless tax-supported agencies; have destroyed not only individuals but entire families and communities; and have left some so desperate that they have taken their lives.
For that reason, in the current revision of our sexual misconduct code, we must retain as a guiding premise the realization that women can lie because we know that, for several reasons, more than a few women have lied, more often than researchers into false allegation had expected, far more often than “rape culture” ideologues have admitted … too often, in any event, to be ignored by our jurisprudence, feminist or otherwise.
Comment by MurrayBacon — Sat 25th April 2015 @ 8:33 pm
Ah yes, but feminist jurisprudence will continue to ignore false allegations nearly always for as long as it can get away with it. Consequences for those who falsely accuse are almost nonexistent, and then only when the police are displeased that their time has been wasted. False allegations are rarely accepted as such; much more often they are assumed to be false recantations. The frustration of not being able to burn a man at the stake will occasionally be directed at the complainant who has let the system down by changing her testimony. Male victims of false allegations would expect in vain any compassion from feminist jurisprudence. Men don’t matter.
Comment by Man X Norton — Sun 26th April 2015 @ 11:27 pm