Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Cliff Richard and co should stop their awful campaign?

555 replies

PinkyOfPie · 17/10/2016 22:54

news.sky.com/story/sir-cliff-urged-to-drop-campaign-for-anonymity-for-sex-offence-suspects-10620627

In a nutshell Cliff Richard and other well known men have launched a campaign to grant anonymity to accused sexual offenders.

AIBU to think they should FOTTFSOF? Aside from it being a well known fact the other victims come forward when they see their abuser/rapist has been charged, there is absolutely zero evidence to suggest a 'false' accusation of a sex crime impacts a person more than a false accusation of any other crime. Its a horrible rape myth that damages victims.

Also the official stats false accusations for rape and sexual assault (of which around 35 people are convicted a year in the U.K.) are no higher than false accusations any other crime.

So why in gods name would those accused of sexual crimes ever get special treatment?

To think Cliff Richard and co should stop their awful campaign?
OP posts:
itsmine · 20/10/2016 09:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:15

unless they've been accused of rape of course, then the alleged victim must always be automatically believed and it is the accused who simply MUST be lying because false accusations don't happen. Ever.

I have never said that at all.

Stop twisting my words around.

fairmac · 20/10/2016 11:20

So OP, if you were falsely accused of rape would you be ok with having your name splashed all over the media?? (And before anyone says anything, women have been convicted of rape so it's possible).

I'm not an apologist or MRA. I just believe in equality and a fair justice system, one where everyone is innocent till proven guilty.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:22

itsmine yes I did have permission to post that. She even sent me a PM afterwards to thank me for posting it and for wording it better than she could.

The family member had actually told me a lot more about what happened but I didn't post any of that because she obviously doesn't want it out there yet. My post was just a reminder that newspapers often have their own agenda and to be careful about believing how these things are reported.

There was no speculation at all in my post - just what I had been told. No idea why my post was deleted Confused

SemiNormal · 20/10/2016 11:22

*I have never said that at all.

Stop twisting my words around.*

It was clearly stated in a sarcastic manner exaggerating opinions that have been put across on this thread. Not once did I say that YOU said those exact words so please do not accuse me of twisting your words around!

SemiNormal · 20/10/2016 11:24

The family member had actually told me a lot more about what happened but I didn't post any of that because she obviously doesn't want it out there yet. - She doesn't want it out there yet but posts it to a random person on the internet? Hmm

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:24

(And before anyone says anything, women have been convicted of rape so it's possible).

Not in the UK.

Rape in the UK by definition is penetration with a penis.

Women can (and have been) charged with sexual assault however which carries a similar sentence to rape.

itsmine · 20/10/2016 11:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:31

She doesn't want it out there yet but posts it to a random person on the internet?

Not in somewhere so public like MN.

She had read the thread and contacted me to thank me for defending her and not just assuming that she must have made it up.

I did encourage her to post on the thread herself but she didn't want to because she was nervous about people's reactions. However she did give me permission to post something myself and I made sure what she was okay with me sharing before I posted it.

She then sent me a PM afterwards thanking me for how I worded it as it was better than she could have done.

I actually encouraged her to post herself to show that no people don' t automatically believe the woman's side (despite what people think) and that I doubted people here would be harsh towards her. Tbh now I can see where she was coming from...

itsmine · 20/10/2016 11:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:32

Really, you had permission from Jay Cheshire's family to post your half baked insinuations? Because that is what I asked

Sorry I misread your post.

itsmine · 20/10/2016 11:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:37
Confused

What gaps was I filling in?

All I said was news outlets often have their own agenda and we should be careful about how these things are reported on.

I never said anything bad about Jay or his family and made it clear I wasn't accusing anyone of anything.

It's funny how posts bashing this girl (both on here and other threads) have been left to stand but my post sticking up for her (without bashing Jay or his family) and warning people that there is more to this is deleted....

SemiNormal · 20/10/2016 11:43

warning people that there is more to this - but don't you see the problem with this? How do you know what more there is to it? Oh yes, some random person who could be absolutely anybody in the world has messaged you with some details claiming to be a relative and you have decided to take that at face value and obviously believe it all to be 100% true without question! (and if you do question it's validity then you sure as hell shouldn't be repeating it).

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 11:49

It was clearly stated in a sarcastic manner exaggerating opinions that have been put across on this thread.

Clearly stated in a sarcastic manner? Clearly?

Okay if you say so...

BillSykesDog · 20/10/2016 11:56

I absolutely believe that they should be named to encourage other people to come forward.

But I think people like the OP actually provide one of the strongest arguments that people who want them not to be named could have.

OP, can you not see the irony of on the one hand saying an allegation of rape has no more impact than that of any other crime, then in the next breath trotting out 'statistics' which 'show' that actually according to you the overwhelming majority of men who are accused of rape are guilty?

I don't see how on one hand people can trot out that guilt should be based on accusation alone then in the next breath insist that accusations bear no stigma. It just doesn't make sense.

All supposed statistics about rape are meaningless as there is absolutely no reliable way of knowing how many accusations are true or not. All statistics, whether from MRAs or rape activists are unreliable and are complied and selected using methods which favour one point of view or another.

But if we want to keep naming names we have to move away from this idea that guilt can be concluded purely on the basis of an allegation. Unfortunately rape activists are the worst at doing this and perpetuating that idea, so if names stop being named the fault will lie squarely at their door.

itsmine · 20/10/2016 11:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 12:00

But that is how it's been reported Confused

All the headlines about this all say "falsely accused"

mycatwantstokillme1 · 20/10/2016 12:09

AVirginLitCandle I agree with you.

The amount of times I see headlines about a false rape allegation when either the woman has retracted her allegation (often from fear of perp) or the police/CPS have decided to NFA. None of these are the same as a false allegation. And the case you've been referring to, again, a lot of the media have said that it was a false allegation with absolutely no evidence to back it up. It's an awful case with a mother and her son that have taken their own lives. There is nothing though to suggest the rape allegation was false.

Some people are really being goady. All you were doing was pointing out the above.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 12:23

Fwiw, I actually complained to several newspapers about their use of the words 'false allegation' in relation to that particular case.

Did any of them get back to you?

If so what did they say?

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 12:25

Thank you mycatwantstokillme Flowers

WomanWithAltitude · 20/10/2016 12:55

Some tweaked their articles, others just ignored me.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 12:59

It's good that some tweaked the articles but not surprising that others ignored you.

WomanWithAltitude · 20/10/2016 13:01

I totally agree with you avirgin. And I will continue to complain every time I see newspapers incorrectly labelling something a false accusation. And I'd encourage others to do so too - if lots of people do it maybe things will change.

I'm disappointed that MN deleted your factual post. The media did only report it as a 'false allegation' without considering that it might not be, and indeed there's no evidence that it was. That's a fact, not speculation or insinuation.

What would have been accurate is if they'd reported it as a 'withdrawn allegation'.

AVirginLitTheCandle · 20/10/2016 13:11

How do you complain about these things? Through their social media page? I agree that the more people who complain the more will be done.

Sadly I think even if it had been reported as a withdrawn allegation there would still be people out to get her and calling her a liar.