I'm going to be brave and start a thread to discuss why we think that some false rape allegations are made

It's that old doublethink isn't it.

Rape is such a horrifying crime/run of the mill hazard

Well it could be that being accused of rape is far worse than being accused of theft. And quite rightly so. Or it could also be that the idea of the malevolent woman which was laid down by the founding fathers of Christianity and reinforced during the witch hunts still lingers today.

You only need to turn on the tv to see how established the trope of the bitchy manipulative woman is.

Cases I have known which have been classed as 'false' allegations have been situations where the woman has been found or found herself undressed after being asleep/drunk/unconscious. She/they have not known what has happened so have gone to the police to be swabbed etc. if no evidence of penetration is found then it is classed as no crime. She is branded a liar when she never lied.

Very good question, Chibi.

ok, but i wonder why the people who lie about, i don't know, theft aren't ruining it for people who really have been robbed, or helping to cement attitudes that most so called thefts should be taken with a pinch of salt or whatever

one person or ten or 7% of the total number etc etc lying about theft, or arson or whatever isn't seen as some sort of comment or slur on those people who have suffered these things, or seen as ruining it for real victims

why do we construct our responses in such v different ways to false accusations depending on what kind of crime took place?

But people do make false allegations of other crimes. There are posters up in most police stations to the effect that falsely reporting that your mobile has been stolen is in itself a crime, so there's obviously a percentage of people who claim their phone has been stolen when they have either lost it or chucked it in the river in order to get a new one off the insurance. Equally, insurance fraud over 'lost' holiday luggage is not that uncommon.

*I cannot adequately convey my contempt for women who cry rape in order to get out of a sticky situation, for revenge, or just for shits and giggles, playing out a narrative which suits rapists and the Daily Mail. They make it so much harder for real victims to gain support, to gain justice, and to know that they are believed.

Fuck them. I'd throw the book at them.*

Couldn't have said it better!

It happened to a friend of mine and I was his alibi. I was at a party and a very drunk colleague of his wanted to go home but was too pissed to remember her address. He was trying to sober her up, but she turned round and said 'give me money for a taxi NOW, or I'll call the police and say you raped me.' Which is exactly what she did. What a performance - she went outside tore her clothes, smacked herself in the face, howled and wailed so when the police turned up they were confronted with an injured woman and 6'5 shaven headed drunk man - who was also pissed and pretty incoherent with shock and fear. I was stone cold sober, and along with the other guests managed to persuade the police of the truth of the situation, but he was a whisker away from being arrested. She dried her tears and thought it was hilarious. The police threatened to arrest her for being 'drunk and incapable', but in the end just left. My friend just wept and was in shock for days.

He says he'll never assist a distressed woman again.

A couple of years ago I was on a train when a woman was caught fare dodging. She loudly told the two male inspectors that unless they let her go, she'd say they'd molested her. They shat themselves and backed off. Me and another woman passenger intervened and offered to act as witnesses, and made it clear what we thought of women who pulled that stunt. The police removed her at the next station. The ticket inspector was literally shaking as he took my address.

Yeah, so guess what he'll be recalling if he's ever called for jury service and gets a sexual assault trial.

A good female friend of mine is a teacher and was accused of sexually abusing a teenage pupil. Who had previously accused numerous other teachers at the school - male and female. Despite such a well-documented track record of attention seeking behaviour and false allegations from her accuser, the police treated her appallingly, seeking a 'scalp' rather than the truth.

She now takes any allegation of abuse made by a child against a teacher with a massive pinch of salt.

I've worked with refugee women, some of whom have told the most horrific tales of sexual abuse. I am awed by their courage. I have several friends who have been abused and raped - and none of whom have seen their attacker brought to justice. They are amazingly strong and have survived and thrived after events which could have crushed anyone.

I cannot adequately convey my contempt for women who cry rape in order to get out of a sticky situation, for revenge, or just for shits and giggles, playing out a narrative which suits rapists and the Daily Mail. They make it so much harder for real victims to gain support, to gain justice, and to know that they are believed.

Fuck them. I'd throw the book at them.

Sex a taboo subject for some reason.so rape is something people don't want to hear about. It's easier to act like it diesnt happen and to do that they can't convict anyone as it makes it real.

I know that isn't a popular view.

maybe it is just mysterious and unexplainable, probably.

As to the why, if someone is on the bottom, it is so someone else can be on the top

I personally think that society is predicated on a view that women aren't quite.human, and a lot depends on women having an inferior status

it's like a foundation that supports a lot of other stuff

it is not explicit in the sense that anyone is saying 'here i go, oppressing women, like i do everyday ' but it is part of a series of tacit assumptions

The silly taboo surrounding sex partly contributes I think. Talking openly about sex is seen as a bit off, a bit tarty so saying you were raped is seen as a bit nasty and a bit provocative I think. It's a hard thing to be open about because of the atmosphere of silence around sex in general. Of course the fact is that rape isn't about sex, it's about power and control and it's just as violent a crime as any other assault. I think people tend to see rape as a shameful little secret that you should keep to yourself and for that reason it's shrouded in myth and misunderstanding.

I just get the sense that people believe that a woman claiming rape must be brassy and up for it, otherwise why would she go into a police station and spout her sexual history? And if she is prepared to talk about something so intimate and private there must be something not quite right about her, chances are she's just making it up for attention.

Added to that is the totally wrongheaded idea people have about what rape actually is.

I don't know

i think it might be the other way round- people come in to it with the assumption that most allegations are false, and the 1 in 100 or whatever confirms that assumption

if there weren't a false allegation rate of 1 in 100 it would be something else that 'proved' it to them

i think society is heavily invested in both creating and maintaining a culture that allows rape to occur with few consequences, whilst denying that it is happening in any appreciable amount

I have no idea why it isn't.

I know people who have been sentenced for petty things like not paying a fine from pissing in the street when was drunk yet theres a rapist freely roaming the streets!

If the law took rape seriously then I think the amount of attacks would drop or at least more people would come forward.

Say one person in 100 rape claims are lying. The actions of that one person is how the other 99 are treated and judged.

It happened to me nearly 7 year ago and I still think if it happened now it would have been the same reaction. They had witnesses to say he bragged about it and they said they knew he did it yet there wasn't enough evidence. They could have caught him in the act and it wouldn't have been enough.

It's an understandable reaction SP. Admitting to yourself that you were raped means accepting that someone took the control and autonomy you have over your own body, just like that. It's scary how easily it can happen.

It makes sense poster

Dana that's exactly how I felt. I didn't want to accept what had happen so tried to justify his actions instead. Looking back I can't believe I did

I don't think the thread should be deleted, I think it is worthwhile. The fact is the issue of "false accusations" does exist and it's worth discussing where that comes from and whether there is any merit to it. It's also worth unpicking why false accusations are such a focus of rape cases when they never arise in other cases. I have never once heard of a false accusation of mugging or a false accusation of fraud.

I do think rape victims tend to minimise what happened to them, particularly in cases where there is no violence or obvious coercion. It's very hard to accept that someone you trusted just used you and you had no control over it - in some ways it's easier to convince yourself that you did something to make it happen.

I appreciate your kind words SP and Chickens.

Don't normally venture opinions here but I have spent my whole career working with vulnerable and exploited young women who made frequent rape claims (sadly too many of them were true )

However when they have been false there have been prevailing similar features such as the girls felt overpowered either physically or emotionally, there was a strong sense of regret and there was a sense of inevitability.

This has always led me to believe that the girls were 'raped' but more by circumstance that by an individual IYKWIM?

If girls are allowed to feel valued only for looks and availability and society continues to shrug it's shoulders at sexual exploration and rape then girls will continue to feel that sex is not what they willingly agreed to.

Dunno if that makes any sense?