Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

AIBU?

To think people accused of rape should not be named?

111 replies

IHaveArrivedAtABadTime · 01/02/2017 17:20

A rape allegation could seriously damage someones life and reputation. I think that by all means name and shame them after conviction but not before.

A friend of mine was falsely accused of rape last year but during the investigation the police happily told people his name when they were interviewing witnesses so everyone knew who he was . How is that allowed? My poor friend will have to live with this forever.

Luckily it didn't reach the press. It would have been so much worse if it did.

I myself was actually raped recently but I didn't report my rapist because I was terrified no one would believe me. It's too late now to report it I think. I feel women who lie about being raped like the woman who accused my friend should be locked up.

IDK I just feel so annoyed that my friend was put through this and annoyed that I can't report my rapist!

OP posts:

Report

Itisnoteasybeingdifferent · 01/02/2017 17:22

Says it all...

witsender · 01/02/2017 17:23

You can report your rapist. False accusations are pretty rare.

Names tend to be given because it is relevant when they are gathering information, and it may encourage others to come forward.

Lweji · 01/02/2017 17:24

How do you know he was falsely accused?

MrsMeeseeks · 01/02/2017 17:25

I feel women who lie about being raped like the woman who accused my friend should be locked up.

They generally are. False rape accusations are taken very seriously indeed.

BeyondCanSeeTheEmperorsBellend · 01/02/2017 17:25

The friends of the man who raped you would say you were falsely accusing a good man and ruining his reputation.

goodiegoodieyumyum · 01/02/2017 17:26

I think it is because sometimes naming someone means that other people who have been raped by the same person come forward and the case against the accused is much stronger and you are more likely to get a serial rapist off the streets that way.

MrsMeeseeks · 01/02/2017 17:26

www.theguardian.com/law/2014/dec/01/109-women-prosecuted-false-rape-allegations

“In the course of my research I have not found any country that pursues these cases against women rape complainants in the way the UK does. The UK has an unusual approach and I think their approach violates human rights,” she said.

AristotlesTrousers · 01/02/2017 17:26

How do you know he was falsely accused?

Yes, this ^

welovepancakes · 01/02/2017 17:27

If police were interviewing witnesses, I can see they might have to name the alleged perpetrator. I don't think they should be named in the press though

Sorry for your own ordeal

MsJamieFraser · 01/02/2017 17:27

No they should not be named, my dad was falsely accused, it harmed his business and repution within the community.

LostMyDotBrain · 01/02/2017 17:28

If you'd reported the man who raped you, do you not think he'd deny it and all his friends and family would believe he was innocent and call you a liar? There'd be plenty of people on his side who are just like what you are to your friend.

Without meaning to be horrible, people with your attitude are precisely the reason people who've been raped (like you and I) don't report it.

At the end of the day, you weren't there. You don't know that he's innocent. False accusations of rape are no more common than false accusations of other crime.

SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace · 01/02/2017 17:28

If someone else came forward and named your rapist as having raped them, would it help you feel you could come forward?

That's why it happens.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 01/02/2017 17:30

It's too late now to report it I think.

You can still report him if you want. It's never too late

LadyWhoLikesLunch · 01/02/2017 17:30

I agree that people shouldn't be named and it would be naïve to think that women rarely falsely cry rape. I know of someone who was falsely accused and it was very much a case the girls boyfriend found out and in a panic said he forced her it was 4 months before she finally plucked up the courage to tell the truth.

Destinysdaughter · 01/02/2017 17:31

FFS NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN??

AVirginLitTheCandle · 01/02/2017 17:33

I'm another one who is curious about what makes you so sure your friend was falsely accused. If you ever decide to report your rape do you think the man who raped you would admit that he'd done it? Or do you think it's far far more likely that he would deny it and claim you were falsely accusing him?

LostMyDotBrain · 01/02/2017 17:34

it would be naïve to think that women rarely falsely cry rape.

Yeah, let's ignore the statistics and just quote the rhetoric, eh?

AVirginLitTheCandle · 01/02/2017 17:37

I agree that people shouldn't be named

How would the police be able to investigate crimes and be able to build a case if they couldn't name the accused/suspect?

The OP isn't talking about naming in the press. She even mentioned in her OP that it didn't reach the press. She's talking about being named during the course of the investigation to potential witnesses.

LostMyDotBrain · 01/02/2017 17:37

www.rapecrisisscotland.org.uk/campaigns-projects/false-allegations/

Those of you who think false accusations are really common, have a read.

LadyWhoLikesLunch · 01/02/2017 17:38

I'm not ignoring the statistics at all but I do believe people who make false accusations have a lot to answer for and are the reason people are reluctant to report rapes

Astoria7974 · 01/02/2017 17:39

I think more women are raped than cry rape. Those who cry rape should be jailed for a minimum of 1-5 years. Rapists should be jailed for life. The UK is too soft with both so in the meantime women who are raped suffer.

TheCountessofFitzdotterel · 01/02/2017 17:40

Op, even if no woman had ever lied about rape, there would still be loads of men going round SAYING they had been lied about.
Lots of rapists get off. This is inevitable as long as we have a system where you have to be found guilty beyond reasonable doubt, to prevent mistakes being made the other way and innocent people being found guilty. Now, do you think those men are going round saying 'Actually I am guilty, I just got lucky at the trial?' Course they're not. With a very few exceptions those men will be going round telling everyone they were falsely accused, and mostly people will believe them, because we want to see the good in people and it's a hard thing to take on board about someone you love.
This is just one reason why blaming your unwillingness to report on women who have made false accusations is very misconceived.

zippey · 01/02/2017 17:44

You are right of course, names should be anonymous till found guilty. Innocent till tor oven guilty right? I don't think naming a person for the "greater good" so other names can come forward is a good enough reason to name a potentially innocent person.

I wouldn't like it if the situation was reversed either (if the accuser was named but the accused stayed anonymous)

Both situations are wrong.

DeleteOrDecay · 01/02/2017 17:46

How do you know he was falsely accused?

This. Far more women are raped than those who make false allegations of rape (that's a fact and not nativity at all). Often if someone is found not guilty in court it's due to lack of evidence rather than them being innocent.

KurriKurri · 01/02/2017 17:46

Exactly Destiny'sDaughter. We've had this already regarding OP's friend.
That thread was zapped.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.