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

[ChickensHaveNoLips]

And has there been any research in to why? Because I don't buy that there are cackling women plotting and planning to ruin some man's life up and down the country for fun. I suspect that when it does happen, it says a hell of a lot about how disempowered women feel. I find it hard to articulate, but I think that if you are reduced to a sexual commodity, and you are constantly told that your attractiveness to men is your only value, then it might seem that you have very few weapons to strike back with. I'd wonder in what circumstances those claims are made, and what leads up to them.

I really hope that no one reads this and thinks for ONE SECOND that I am dismissing the fact that far more women are raped than make false accusations, and that far more rapists walk free than men are falsely accused. But the 'women lie about rape' gets thrown up a lot, and it causes doubt in general. Maybe if we could work out the how's and why's of false allegations, it would hold less power in a jurors mind.

There are a couple of women in jail at the moment for making false accusations. They strongly deny that the accusations are false.

I'd like to know - sorry Chickens, derailing a bit - where the public interest is in sending women to jail who are accused of "crying rape" instead of trying much fucking harder to send rapists to jail.

I suspect that false accusations come from women who have mental health issues, women who are very young/naive/haven't thought about the consequences or they actually have been raped and because their skirts are too short or they've slept with "too many" men or they were drunk or in any other way weren't patriarchally approved good girls then they were just assumed to be making it up.

With my first situation i think maybe she felt vulnerable, who doesnt feel vulnerable after a break up, but as to why she accused him of rape I have no idea.
It's possible she did it without thinking too much as to what happens when you falsely accuse someone of rape. Maybe it all happened so quick that it got out of control.
It may have been said to a friend for attention, then it was took out of her controls.

It's a tough topic, and there is I'm sure loads of possible reasons why someone might do this.

I wonder that, Comrade. It all seems to reinforce the idea that rapists are protected by the law as it stands, and victims are persecuted.

I've also noticed that if a woman is convicted of making a false allegation, it gets a hell of a lot more coverage in the papers than if a man is convicted of rape. She is almost held up as a figure of hatred.

Yes, this sort of thing.

www.shakesville.com/2005/12/dont-just-blame-victim-prosecute-her.html

Oh YY to your post about it being a smokescreen chickens. I totally agree.

That and it being more about how good girls don't have sex.

I wonder what sort of prison sentence one would get for lying about being mugged.

People lie about rape because they want attention. If you've been through it you would never lie about it or understand why you would say you had been through something like that.

It's women and girls lying that makes it harder for women and girls who have genuinely been through it to come forward as you feel bo one believes you and why its harder to get a conviction!

I don't agree with that last sentence SP.

There are reasons that rape is not taken as seriously as it should be, but I don't think that the tiny percentage of "false" allegations is part of it.

I agree that over protective parenting must play a part.

When I was at school, many of my peers had been told that if they 'came home pregnant' they'd be booted out of the family home.

On the other hand there are well meaning, loving parents who would do the 'Im not angry, I'm disappointed' schtick, to much the same effect.

If girls are told 'you must not have sex' then inevitably they will lie to their parents.

My old neighbour made a "false" allegation of rape, but I'm 99.99% sure she was raped - just not in the way she reported, and probably not in a way she would have recognised as rape.

She was found by a friend in the middle of the night outside, sobbing and clearly the victim of some sort of assault. She reported that she'd been raped by a number of men from a particular ethnic background. There was a great deal of media coverage after the event as the group of men she described would have likely to have been noticed in the local area and remembered.

The forensic evidence didn't support her story and subsequently a large number of local men were swabbed and cleared (including dh). No charge was ever brought against anyone.

I suspect that her rapist was her on/off partner who left for another country shortly after the event and would not have been swabbed. I suspect that as he was her partner she didn't see it as "rape", but was in such physical and emotional anguish that she created a story in her head of a "proper" rape because she needed to be believed and didn't think she would be otherwise. And who's to say she was wrong about that?

I suspect in a weird way it is easier to lie about being raped than being mugged or burgled or physically assaulted/punched, as there would be less visible evidence expected? (i.e. you could have been raped but not have any bruises, but if you'd been hit you'd expect to see marks, and if mugged your phone/money would be missing)

Also if it is about revenge on a partner, you would have been in lots of situations with that partner where a rape could have happened, as you would have been alone with then a lot. Rape by it's nature rarely has witnesses.

Chickens and other posters you are raising hugely interesting points, you have me thinking about anything but work at the moment!

It is true. I've been through it and if women weren't lying about for their own sick reasons maybe people like me wouldn't have to see the rapist roaming the streets probably looking for another victim.

Lying about rape is sick no matter the reasons!

I think 'women lie about rape' is something that is hidden behind when women make allegations. Because it's easier to believe that women are 'making it all up' than to think that in our alleged 'equal' society men still rape women. That women still don't have autonomy over their own bodies right here, right now. And I think that women are as likely to hide behind the sentiment as men. Because it's just so fucking awful that we don't want to think about it.

SPsFanjo, I am sorry if this thread has upset you. It really wasn't my intention

My closest friend was casually dating a guy once when he told her the police had visited him that day with a rape allegation made against him by a girl he'd had a consensual one night stand with. He denied having raped her.

My advice to my friend was to drop the guy. On the grounds that he had either:

Raped somebody.

Or

Treated somebody in such a way that they were willing to put themselves through the living hell of pressing a rape charge just to get back at him.

Either way, walk away.

But why is it true?

That's the point - a tiny percentage, 4-5% I believe of rape claims are proved to be "false" allegations, the same sort of percentage of false claims of other crimes...why do you think that people who are robbed in the street aren't subjected to disbelief and a fear of going to the police to report the crime?

That's the important point about false allegations IMO, and yes, the people who lie about being raped are probably mentally ill in some way - it's certainly not a normal way to behave, anymore than it's a normal thing to lie that you've been robbed or car-jacked or any other sort of crime.

It's fine chicken I brought my self onto it knowing what to expect as the title is obvious.

It is harder to get a conviction because of lies as the law seems to be behind the rapist in my view. They try everything to make out like your lying to get the rapist off and with more people lying about it the less they seem to care.

I was 15 and had to go through been called a liar by the basterd and his family. Then been questioned like I was the one in the wrong by the police. Then after months of this shit been told " we know he did it but not enough evidence"

So he's free to do it again.

It is harder to get a conviction because of lies as the law seems to be behind the rapist in my view

I agree, and I am very sorry about what happened to you SP.

Oh SPs :( I'm so sorry you went through that. But do you think 'women lie about rape' might be the excuse for not changing things rather than the real reason your rapist walked free? And I think you're right, the system is set up in favour of the rapist. It puts the victim at a disadvantage immediately. It's shit.

The law uses the fact that women have lied to their advantage. They judge all women that come forward as a liar and try their best to get them to admit to lying or drop charges.

I was constantly asked are you sure you said no, are you sure it happened, are you sure, are you sure! I made 4 statements and a video link one and it didn't even get to court. They had evidence from witnesses saying they heard him admit and brag about it but apparently it wasn't enough!

Sorry, I think I phrased that badly. Rather, could it be that the law uses 'women lie about rape' as a way of not taking rape seriously? It is, like you say, the default setting. The law would rather brand the victim as a liar than actually get to the bottom of the problem and stop letting men rape women. Because at heart, the law is an extension of the patriarchy and women just don't count. So when a woman does make a false accusation she is paraded as a disgrace and 'making it hard for real victims' etc, neatly deflecting the fact that actual rapists are getting away with it every day.

They see all rape accusations as lies straight away. This basterd who did it to me was still allowed to walk by my home and go about his business whilst they were investigating.

I was 15 and felt like I'd done wrong.

Oh SPs :(

SP that sounds like an awful awful way to be treated.

I think you have hit the nail on the head here; They see all rape accusations as lies straight away.

I honestly don't think it is related to actual numbers of women who lie about rape.

IMO, the root cause of women being treated the way you were is that much of society prefers to think that women lie about rape than address rape and rapists.

I hope you are ok and not too triggered by all this.