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.

Agree with those who say it's an attention thing, the one girl I know who lied about it seemed to be doing it to get the attention of a guy she liked but who wasn't interested in her. :( It annoyed me so much as it really trivialised rape.

www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/SupportAdvice/SexualAssaultRape/Pages/MythsSexualAssaultRape.aspx

See Myth 10

Julia I didn't think anyone was saying people frequently lie about rape. Instead it's a conversation about the tiny percentage that do.

My friend's brother was falsely accused by a girl he'd been sleeping with at uni - she had (unknown to him) a boyfriend and when caught said she'd been raped rather than own up to the infidelity. He was horribly affected by this to the extent he left uni rather than face the people who'd seen him being taken away by the police.

It happened to a friend. Turned out the woman was mentally ill and was a serial accuser. Unfortunately it's all about "care in the community" or whatever the 21st Century equivalent is, so she wasn't getting the specialist help she required and when she was released from psychiatric care this is how she behaved, probably as some sort of attention seeking behaviour or maybe she really is just a truly evil person? The police suggested she should be pitied but it's hard to do that when someone you care about is looking at a 7 year prison sentence because some mentally-ill woman has had her overtly sexual advances rejected. Luckily his wife and other friends (including two rape victims) were with him when the attack was supposed to have taken place so he had great support from his family, friends and the police. That didn't lessen the horror of what he was made to go through.

I have little clue as to why a woman would make a false allegation of rape because the prospect of going through all that interrogation in court in front of the rapist would be absolutely awful, and puts off a lot of women who have been raped.

The only possible scenario would be where the parents were very conservative or religious and to admit to having had sex willingly would lead to consequences worse than saying you were raped. But in some cultures women who are raped are punished further anyway, so I'm not really sure of that either.

a friend?s BF who was in the police talked about 'mad women who make up rape allegations? & after he finished I wondered if it was a false confession on the part of the victim. they seemed v vulnerable & often unwell & i wonder if they just gave up

Their was one incident where a 13 year old made a false rape allegation rather than admit she'd been truanting at a local drug dealers.

lots of places were co-adorned off, was a big thing.

I hope this thread does not go because there are some very interesting and important issues being raised.

There can't be any 'one size fits all' answer to why the very small numbers of women do this (and do it despite the vicious stigma/blacklash they potentially face).

The one case I had a peripheral involvement with, the woman was a serial accuser. Her allegations were the same each time. It is not fanciful to suggest her allegations were based on something she had genuinely suffered, a trauma she was stuck in and endlessly reliving in the hope of a different outcome. The copper I spoke to thought her pain was real, and while he despised what she had done, he recognised that this was not a situation with a pat 'evil woman' explanation.

Ultimately, a false accusation is the resort of the powerless, isn't it? To get someone else to act for them to redress something they can't tackle themselves.

For a women who are facing stigma for being sexual, are being abused in relationships or socially excluded or whatever, there may seem to be a kind of logic in claiming the ultimate lack of agency over your body that is being raped (not suggesting there is a 'type' or category that does this though). Maybe it feels ok to say because it is further along a continuum of control and lack of autonomy they feel they are already on?

I think I agree, Eldritch.

Oh, and solidarity with the FWR massive, btw (my first FWR post after those threads).

Part of the problem with "false" accusations comes from a lack of general understanding of what rape actually is, IMO. Rape is seen by so many, including those in law enforcement, as a stranger dragging an innocent girl down an alleyway while she screams and fights. In reality it is more often a situation that the woman knows the attacker, might have already slept with him previously etc.

I seriously suspect that a significant proportion of allegations are retracted and considered "false" because the victim is questioned so much that she starts to doubt herself and feel that because she didn't say no, because she didn't fight, because she had sex with the guy previously or "led him on" that she wasn't really raped. Or the questioning leads her to believe that even though her accusation is real she still won't be believed and she retracts her accusation in order not to have to face further questioning and doubt.

Rape victims automatically tend to blame themselves and doubt themselves anyway. If the police, who should be protecting them and supporting them, seem to constantly doubt them too, then it stands to reason that for a significant proportion of victims the pressure will become too much, they will retract and then the accusation will be considered false.

I was raped by a boyfriend in my own bed. I doubt any police officer would believe my story, so I never even reported it. If I had reported it I don't think it would have been outside the realms of possibility that under pressure of disbelief from friends (younger and more immature at the time) that I would have retracted in order not to "ruin his life." Of course the effect he had on me doesn't really matter does it.

If you look at this thread you see a few stories of people knowing someone who lied. Yet I'm the only saying it happened to me. I'm open about it as I'm not ashamed any more. He should be though.

I'm waiting for that call or knock on door saying he's done it again as someone's come forward and they need me. I'd love to see him get what he deserved but I also don't want that call as it means there's another poor girl involved.

I think a proportion of 'false' allegations may be cases of mistaken identity eg a woman drugged and raped at a party might name as the rapist a man who was at the party but not the rapist. I believe it's also possible (and I think it sometimes happens with abused children as well) that the victim is too frightened or horrified to name the attacker, or doesn't want to believe that a particular individual s/he had previously loved and trusted would do such a thing and therefore names someone else.

Dana that's a similiar thing that happened to me. It does matter

MNHQ emailed me to ask if I still want this thread deleted. I think there have been some really thought provoking posts made, but I'll tell them to zap it if this discussion is hurting anyone.

Cailin, I'm so sorry that happened. I think the victim doubting herself is another interesting angle. I wonder if it's almost preferable to think you're mistaken, or got it wrong, than to face what has actually happened. When did the shame of rape become the victims?

Don't delete the thread.

keep the thread, chickens

ask for deletion again if any nobheads rock up

I had a fear of not been believed. I also went through the thoughts of did I provoke it or deserve it. Maybe he didn't realise I said no. I was trying to jusify what he did to me! Looking back I don't understand why I did that

Okey dokey. I'm conscious of not wanting to upset anyone, though, so if anyone finds it too much feel free to report it.

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?

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.

It does, poster.