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.

It is easier for the law to try prove that the victim is lying then is to get a conviction.

Like I said up thread, police could catch the man during the act and they would still try to prove it was consensual and not rape.

I have no trust in the police after my experience. If it happened to me now I wouldn't go forward as been dragged through that and then treated like a liar and like I had done wrong isn't worth the outcome.

And that needs to be heard, SP. Because women should feel that if they are raped they can go to the police, be treated with dignity and respect, and their rapist be punished. The whole process should help the victim, not make her feel worse. So it sounds like the whole thing is failing women from the very start :(

Well now we have the oh so heartening report that a 14 year old boy who raped a five year old isn't going to jail.
Report.
The reasoning is that he watched too much porn and his hormones took over.
What utter utter bullshit. If raping a five year old child doesn't merit punishment what on earth does?

This is getting stupid! If a judge cant see a 5 year old needs protecting then why does he have that job?

Protecting the rapist once again!

Oh and the tone of the article suggests that the judge viewed what he did as normal experimentation that he just happened to get caught doing. The concern is that he isn't labelled a "sexual deviant" - the focus is totally on him and how this is going affect his life, no mention of that poor girl having to deal with being raped at such a young age. It is so unbelievably fucked up.

The defence mentioned there was "no threat or force" as though this is something that makes it better. So because the tiny little five year old was too young to object or defend herself, the crime against her is seen as less serious. What sort of fucked up society do we live in??

Oh christ :( I can't even begin to understand the judges reasoning

It's easy, Empusa - 14yo BOYwhoselifemayberuinedbybeingonthesexoffendersregister trumps 5yoGIRLwhoselifemayberuinedbutonlyprivatelyandshemaynotrememberitanywaybecauseshe'sonlylittleandaGIRL.
:( and

I can only conclude from both reading all these posts and recent events in my circle of friends that the whole of society's attitude to rape has to change.

A young girl is raped at a teen party. Keeps quiet. Eventually tells her parents and they go to the police together.
She is told say nothing to anyone as regards what happened.
In the meantime the alleged rapist is telling all and sundry that she's a slapper, was loving it and is now out to get him.
Some of her so-called mates (and all of his) are slagging her off while their Mothers are publicly attacking her Mother because she allowed her to go to the party in the first place and 'well it's not like she's stable is it?' for which read we don't drink with the Mum so the daughter's clearly lying (equivalent of gated community).

It's hard enough to deal with being the victim of an assault in your late 40's never mind being the victim of a sexual attack in your teens.

And if this teen crumbles under the pressure? Has a breakdown? Will that be deemed by the evil gossiping trollbags doubters as proof that she's not telling the truth?
Perhaps when the authorities have stood back long enough and let the girl be publicly humiliated she's bullied into retracting she too can go on the list of 'false' allegations.

I get that it's a big deal to be accused of something so heinous, especially if you genuinely didn't do it but why is our justice system/society so askewed that as a victim you have less rights than the accused?

sorry if I sound ranty or I'm off-point by the time I post

The justice system is, where rape is concerned, a fair reflection of our society. Not worse, possibly even slightly better. But as long as we have jury trials, and rape myths, securing convictions will be problematic. Most judges would probably convict more than juries I think, but there is always the lunatic fringe.

"And that needs to be heard, SP. Because women should feel that if they are raped they can go to the police, be treated with dignity and respect, and their rapist be punished. The whole process should help the victim, not make her feel worse. So it sounds like the whole thing is failing women from the very start "

That's such a great post Chickenhavenolips. I could subscribe to every word.

As SPs, I wouldn't ever report anyone else in my life, maybe only if this person try to kill me or one of my loved ones. In any other case, it's better to pack the suitcases immediately (if the rapist/abuser/attacked threatens you further) and move as far as away.

The healing process of a rape survivor doesn't necessarily go through a trial and a conviction. Sure, it would satisfy the human need of having justice after having suffered a wrongdoing but ... as you beautifully explained, it's not worth it.
Before reporting my ex I lived in fear of him and his family.
After reporting him, I lived in fear of him, his family, his friends, his colleagues, the police officers and the Crown Office!!
I'm now a lot calmer and off the antidepressants because I moved so far away that it'll be difficult he can find me again.

In a certain way I'm still living in shame (because my new neighbours and friends don't know anything about it and never will) and I felt humiliated all along the process because I was treated as a stupid woman and a liar.

Was it worth reporting? To be honest, NO.

Merlin its really not worth it is it. It's up I said up thread. Been raped was bad enough but then been put through the shit afterwards is not worth going through again.

((HUGS)) I know, it was terrible. I also lived in fear even more after the report, police reported me for wasting their time while they were patting the rapist on his back "thanks, we should have more rapists saying sex was consensual". What a huge shame for the justice system.
Thank God the local PF was sound enough to understand what the mess that the DC and the police officers did after seeing the video of the questioning. They put me under pressure in a cold cell for hours and tried to convince me to recant the statement because in their opinion was false.. eeekkk!!
Their opinion??
I felt like I was interrogated by the CIA.

If I survived after such a trauma, I think I can face everything in life.
NEVER, AGAIN.

I had to give 4 statements. Think 3 written and 1 video linked.

They asked me the same questions but in a different way. I was asked what drink did he give me and because I said juice in 2 statements and orange juice in other 2 that means I was likely to be lying due to "inconsistencies

15 years old, go to police and face people finding out what happened, family knowing and they decide orange juice is a reason for me to be lying.

I don't trust the police at all. I don't seem to trust anyone.

I totally believe you. My statements were 2, plus the video.

Well I got told I lied because I perfectly remember the dates of the days I had been raped.
Apart from the fact I'm a historian, so remembering dates is something I do perfectly, but... do they think someone can forget it?

I am so sorry you women had these awful experiences

AF, the justice system mirrors what society thinks.

My experience was more awful than I had expected also due to all the rape myths and all the prejudice people have about rape.
I knew there was the chance the case could go to court and therefore I could be asked the same questions 100 times, but I wasn't prepared to the police turning on me. My ex wasn't even considered for prosecution, ever. I was told that in a letter I received from the PF's office. That means that police officers and the DC thought I was lying from the start.

To survive such a trauma isn't easy but honestly getting prosecuted for speaking out was the farthest thing anyone could think. Unfortunately, after the PF quashed the police report I discovered I wasn't the only one and that was really shocking.

If someone asked me now I could give all the dates, times and probably what I was wearing and it was nearly 7 year ago.
It's not something you forget.

How the fuck would you not remember the date on which you got raped ?

Because in the minds of a lot of people, men in particular, rape is "just sex" and they wouldn't be able to remember the exact dates they had sex so why would anyone? That's why, again, the whole definition of rape as a sexual crime is really problematic - because people have real difficulty separating their ideas about normal sex from rape. IME rape and sex are about as similar as borrowing and stealing. Stealing isn't classed as a "borrowing crime" just because stealing something can have the same effect as borrowing (as in, loss of an object, never getting the object back etc). I can understand the argument that defining rape as a sexual crime takes the extra consequences rape can have over a physical assault but to be honest I think it just muddies the water so much that it is counterproductive. The extra problems rape causes can be acknowledged without reference to sex.

Rape is not sex.

You make so much sense, Dana

CailinDana, you said it perfectly!!