109 women prosecuted for false rape claims in past 5 years

BEHOLD!

I think we'd all be a lot better off if you were the justice system / omnipotent queen of the universe, meod. Which title would you prefer?

AICM sorry for so many posts but I don't understand what point you are trying to make.

Do you think it's useful in some way to play devil's advocate here?

Buffy isn't having a debate about rape with "men" who for some reason you assume will make the same points you are kindly bringing to her attention.

She is chatting about an article that was posted in the OP, with a bunch of mainly women who identify as feminists, on MN.

This is a debate about rape. Buffy says that people with mental health issues should not be prosecuted ( I see her point of view). But in a debate about about rape then the question that will be thrown at her by men will be this one.

lol

MEOD can make any assumptions she likes.

The reason there is a trial is because she is not omnipotent queen of the universe, and UK legal system says there needs to be a trial.

v good

Frankly:

Frankly, I make the assumption that if a case has got as far as being charged, then the man is guilty. Because the CPS is not exactly quick to charge in rape cases.

Then why bother having a trial?

I'm not trying to be awkward, but your comment does beg the question.

Oh xposts she said that

People with serious mental health issues who commit violent crime should be detained in secure hospital type environments and treated and not released until there is certainty that they no longer pose any threat to the public. And that's what's supposed to happen at the moment AFAIK.

Don't know what buffy will say though

Buffy
On a serious point what if somebody with a serious mental health issue rapes?

Because malicious women falsely accuse upstanding men of rape all the time, because women generally are vicious and unstable.

I think is the answer to that one, yonic.

It highlights the fundamental feelings behind all of this. When it comes to rape, lots of people think women are nothing more than crazy liars. Because that's easier / better than accepting that actually lots of men who seem nice and upstanding are rapists.

The other problem Dervel is that with the current rape laws, both parties might be telling the truth and there would be an acquittal. A woman's experience of being raped depends on whether she consented but a man will only be convicted if he doesn't reasonably believe she consented. Therefore even if the woman did not consent, the man could still be acquitted. The woman's experience of the rape and its impact on her life could be exactly the same as if his belief was not reasonable. The man's behaviour is a crime based on his beliefs, not his actions.

There is sometimes a perception that if the man is acquitted, the woman must have been lying but that is not true.

Why is it called a false accusation rather than a false complaint? The victim is the complainant, not the accuser.

I think the issue of false accusation vs rape tends to occur with the perception that once someone is charged with rape if they are then found not guilty at trial an assumption is then therefore made that the accusation was a false one. When all that has actually been proved is that in the eyes of the law there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a single individual was guilty of rape.

I suspect if they set about trying to charge for perverting the course of justice every time this occurred the burden of proof would now be on the other side, and we would see an awful lot of situations where a man would be acquitted but so too would his accuser. Which is tantamount to the law saying it has no idea what is going on. As legalities aside the reality is if a man is genuinely innocent the accusation is also therefore false, not so in law as both could be found innocent of their respective crime.

I think we can mitigate a lot of this by setting the bar for enthusiastic participation and not just consent. The present law and the way the police pursue it are not fit for purpose. One of my close friends has a sister who is a police officer and specialist in this area and even she is of the opinion that most accusations are false. That bieng the case I think it's clear something needs addressing.