If you were raped would you report it?

[darleneconnor]

A topical question.

I didn't in the past because I was in denial.

For the sake of my privacy I still wouldn't now. It'd make me feel so guilty leaving someone to go free and maybe do it again but psychologically I coudln't cope with a court case and all that goes with it.

Hi everyone, I am so sorry that I disappeared. My computer at home died on me and I can't get on to Mumsnet on the one at work. I assure people I am real, I am a regular on Mumsnet and and I am a real police officer. I am just having a look at my PMs and other questions and will answer them asap. Sorry sorry sorry again!! Didn't mean to disappear.

NikNak69 I have PMd you.

Nancy19 You can write directly to the Chief Constable for the force, or email if it is easier - you can't get any higher than that. The force website will tell you who the Chief Constable is and how to contact them.

Name the officer and why you think they did such a good job. I do think it's a good idea. To be honest with you, the majority of officers don't think about getting thanks from the complainants/families as they just do the job, but it is always nice when your hard work has been recognised. I'm sorry that your daughter went through this in the first place, but glad to hear that she is coping with it well - she should be proud of herself.

earwicga from a professional perspective I would like to say that I think things are changing in many forces so that the right people will be doing the job. I know that a lot of forces are setting up specific units to deal solely with adult rapes, which is what is needed (child abuse investigation is a whole other ball game). The problem you have is that throughout any job, you get people who are excellent and people who are inadequate........ unfortunately if you get an inadequate officer investigating your horrific incident of rape it has a knock on effect. What I would say is that complainants need to speak out if they feel they aren't being given the best treatment. There are guidlines in place which must be adhered to, in order to give victims a positive service. I am not saying I'm supercop, obviously I make mistakes, I am human, but my victim care is second to none and I think that is one of the most important aspects of this kind of work. I think honesty is the way forward, I don't lie to my complainants. If I think something is going to be hard to prove, I tell them. If it is going to be bumpy ride or a lengthy investigation, I tell them. I think too many officers forget that complainants are humans with a brain, not a cardboard cutout that can be told any old pile of poo.

In terms of the questions re. Platos list. I am going to re-read the posts on that and have a think. Part of me thinks it is a great idea, but then the other side of me thinks it is a tad unrealistic (purely from a Data Protection/Human Rights perspective).
H

Sorry, meant to end with hope this has helped.

''I see.
So these women who have been raped, simply say they have been raped but wish to do no more about it than report it later in anonymous blogs. And we should simply believe them. You have to be kidding, don?t you?
In no way am I suggesting they are being dishonest, however slandering anyone under these circumstances is very dangerous. I was led to believe that lynching was outlawed over there some time ago.

If it is true that women still have their sexual history etc exposed in a rape case then that is abominably wrong in my opinion. Moreover, pressure should be brought to bear on the judicary to change the procedures.''

Do any of you know how to respond to this? I would hazard a guess that the reason that women hardly ever report rapes is opinions such as this.

I am not sure how to even start educating the twonk who said this.

Sorry, old thread.

well if the thread is anonymous and I'm guessing no names are mentioned than how can it be slander? no-one knows who is being slandered??

or am I wrong??

OP -
Used to be a maybe, now probably not. A friend was on the jury of a rape trial and he was in the minority in thinking (on what he thought was strong evidence and the victim's testimony) the accused was guilty. Two younger female jurors didn't think he could've raped the woman because he was too good-looking to have to do that. The man was found not guilty.
Reading this thread confirms to me that I probably wouldn't.

Wantingvalium. I would ask him, why he shouldn't believe anonymous people on anonymous blogs. He's buying into the idea that women lie about rape, when what we know, is that men lie about rape - they pretend they didn't rape women when they did. Ask him why he thinks that women lie about rape and point out that he's buying into a mysogynist view of women as hysterical liars who don't know their own mind.

And also, I would challenge him on his assertion that they wish to do know more about their rapes, than report it on an anonymous blog. They'd like to do a lot more - kill their rapists for example. Or at least report the rape to the police and get justice, but they know that's not going to happen, so that's why they don't report. 6% conviction rate on reported rapes, with the threat of being sent to prison for lying if you're in the 94% who doesn't get a guilty verdict. It's not that women don't want to report rape, it's that they can't.

Also point out that false allegations of rape run at around 4% according to police figures and of those, most of them are from women with mental health problems who don't actually name a specific man, so it's not even as if they are damaging individual men with their false allegation.

Someone said they'd tell some nice supportive men, then leave them to get on with it. Fair enough.

I probably wouldn't. I come from a pretty small town, where everyone knows everyone else. Although my friends know I wouldn't lie about something like this, there's always the whole stigma, the risk that I wouldn't be believed, the risk of being lied to, the intrusiveness of the questioning, haing my sexual history dragged up... I'd like to think I'd have the courage to do so, but I don't know that I would.

No I would tell a few very protective friends what happened, I wouldn't ask what happen to said man after.

When I was 10 I had to go to court as I was sexually abused, the questions that were asked by the defending lawyer at 10 made me doubt myself that it had happened, couldn't imagine what they would do to me as an adult.

Also with that as my past they would definitely say something along the lines of well I bet you got lots of attention after that case, maybe your saying this allegation for the same reason, I was believed once, I don't think I'd be believed twice.

GossipWitch - I am so sorry that this happened to you.

Me, too.

Even if it is an old thread, it's worth looking at again.

My answer? Probably not.

wow after reading this i'm not sure i would

but if anyone put one finger on my dd i would make sure he regreted the day he was born...

A terrifying case in the US recently was a woman who reported being raped by a police officer, it went to trial, medical examination showed injury to her cervix, this was explained/dismissed in court by the defence's argument of 'she must have done it herself, while showering.'

Sorry can't remember what city it was in but no doubt googleable, the officer was aquitted and there was massive outcry. I'm aghast that in a respected court, with massively qualified experts and judges to guide the jury, people can still seriously believe women habitually scrub their cervixes when we shower, that it's even physcially possible. Raped women who read about these cases...jesus, it's no wonder they feel despair.

A story I know personally: a close friend was sexually assaulted, she fought him off (got punched in the face for it, but got away). She reported it. I mentioned the attackers name to my ex; he knew him and knew women that refused to be in the same room as him. I told friend, she started asking about him through friends of friends, several stories came back about his previous attacks on other women. It also turned out he was a sex tourist who used to come back from Thailand with photos/stories with which to entertain any male who would listen - strong indications of underage sex.

My friend collected these stories and went to the police. They were very good, there was nothing they could do without reports being made by the women concerned, however they put everything on record. It can flag an offender up if his name ever comes up again, even in an 'unofficial' sense: the accused may not be a convicted sex attacker but the police will know he has form.

My friend went to court and one of the results she was most pleased about was that his overseas travel was restricted.

'I Never Called It Rape' by Robin Wishaw is a book particularly about acquaintance rape, bit dated (70s/80s I think) and it's personal testimony so is one huge trigger, but if anybody needs to know that this happens, that it's not just you and it most certainly is rape...it's a book about that.

My rapist gives me a cheery smile and "hello" when I see him in the street. A massive part of me thinks I must have got it wrong when I'm sober. When I've had far too much to drink I let myself remember exactly what happened and often end up in tears and full of hate.
I would never report a rape unless it was in full view of a CCTV camera. Even then I think I would be massively wary - I really don;t fancy my sexual history being brought up in court as proof that I "wanted it."
As others have said, I would be a thousand more times more inclined to have a word with "protective friends" and let justice take its course.

Yeah I do believe that it is old, but it was linked on another thread and posted before the realisation that it would be back on the forum, sorry. Still fairly new to mn.

Saw this story metropolitan police pc sacked for 999 failures , and wasn't sure where to post it. On the one hand it's good he has been sacked, but still awful for the people who were let down when they needed help.

FALSE RAPE ALLEGATIONS WRECK LIVES

Many allegations of rape are fabricated.

According to Home Office research, between 3% and 9% of all reports of rape are found to be false.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7265307.stm

Some research puts the figure as high as 41% but what is clear is that it is an extremely difficult to say how many rape allegations are false.

The police do prosecute where a false allegation has been made but the sentences are very low and nearly always below 2 years in prison for a person that has made a false allegation.

It may also be possible to sue in the courts and receive damages for slander if someone makes up a false rape allegation.

The effects of being falsely accused are devastating.
Some men have committed suicide as a result of a false allegation and all men accused ha suffer for the rest of their lives. It affects the whole family.

ANONYMITY FOR THE ACCUSED IN RAPE ALLEGATIONS

Anonymity for those accused of rape would redress the imbalance that has arisen since it was abolished in 1976.

There are resources and charities available for those falsely accused of rape.

?The false rape society? is one such resource.

You read this thread and decided to post that shite?
Have you had a humanity bypass?

Alison, I think you'll find that the rate of false accusations of crimes like theft, arson and fraud are much, much higher. Being falsely accused of those crimes can also wreck lives and careers. Try being a qualified accountant with a false accusation of fraud against you or being a fire fighter with a false allegation of arson against you. Exactly this happened to two men in the town I grew up in. Their lives and the lives of their families were ruined. They ended up moving out of the area.

But, I don't see many folks suggesting that we should regard claims of theft, fraud or arson with a pinch of salt, because a false accusation could ruin someone's life.

What's the deal with the 41%? Never heard that figure. I'm sure someone with up to date evidence their fingertips will set the record straight, but from what I remember, that small proportion (less than 1 in 10) of false allegations were people who had recognised mental health issues and in their disordered state, actually believed they'd been raped or made a statement against the wrong person (i.e. were raped, but picked the wrong guy out of a line up.)

What would the point be of suing such women for slander, other than trying to dissuade all women from reporting when they have been raped (for fear they'll end up in prison themselves?)

False rape society? What kind of bilge is that? Rape is rape because there is a legal definition of rape. Rape is rape whether there is a prosecution or not. False rape sounds like a load of cack. It reminds me of "False Memory Syndrome," which was all the rage a few years back - a way of trying to discredit and silence adult survivors of child abuse. It was cack as well.

Alison 25% of women are raped or sexually assaulted in their lives and only between 10% - 30% bother to report it, because of attitudes like yours - they know they won't be believed.

Of the minority who bother to report, only 6% will get a guilty verdict.

Because of attitudes like your's.

Rape ruins lives. Men are more likely to be raped by another man, than be falsely accused of rape by a woman. Something like 1 in 9 women are raped. Hardly any men are raped, and yet that is more likely to happen, than being falsely accused of rape.

Which do you think is the more urgent problem? The mountain of lives ruined by rape, or the molehill of lives ruined by false allegtions of rape?

You obviously think it's the latter otherwise you wouldn't have come to this thread just in order to post false statistics - 41% my arse. So I suggest you ask yourself the question of why you think false allegations of rape are more important than rape itself - the usual reason is either that people have no idea of the real figures involved and if they do, they either deny it, or they don't think rape actually matters that much, because deep down inside, they don't really think women matter that much. Which is it with you?