I’m seeing more and more false accusations of sexual crime and/or misconduct. Some of them are well-documented, particularly the non-existent ‘campus rape epidemic’ which seldom produces evidence that will stand up in court. However, I’m seeing lots of cases where women are claiming they’ve been raped when, in fact, nothing of the sort has happened.
Two cases caught my eye over the past week.
- A British man spent three weeks in custody on a falsified rape charge. The case against him fell apart in court – but his life has still been ruined, he says.
- A US woman staged a rape scene, called the police and reported the ‘crime’ – only to be charged herself when police proved she’d made up the whole thing.
I’ve heard claims, particularly from feminist circles, that the women in such cases shouldn’t be blamed because they’re mentally ill, or under stress, or whatever. Sorry, but I can’t believe that mental illness or stress is an acceptable excuse for lying to the police, ruining someone else’s life, or getting one’s fifteen minutes of fame. Some campus rape policies even prohibit any questioning of whether or not the charge is genuine or false, because they give the benefit of the doubt wholly to the self-alleged ‘victim’. Where’s the fairness and even-handedness in that?
Why do they do it? Why are they allowed to destroy a man’s life with virtual impunity? Does anyone have any answers? If so, I’d love to hear them.
Peter
I suspect the why is the same as it is for a lot of things. Revenge for perceived grievance. It's one of the reasons progressives are so enamored of the STATE. It let's them point someone else gun at their target and they get to walk off feeling all morally superior and justified.
I suspect the reason it's becoming so prevalent is the amazing escalation in the indoctrination of learned helplessness. We've created a generation of helpless victims, which is perfect when your goal is to have the STATE control everything – gotta protect those victims. And the surest way to accomplish that is to not let that stupid legal system get in the way. Keep in on campus – ruin their lives outside of the courtroom where the false claims will fall apart in a flash.
The truly sad thing is that people who actually experience rape are marginalized in the process. I find myself assuming every charge of rape is fake – not just the wrong person being charged, but a crime that NEVER happened. Until proven it might have actually have happened – then if it doesn't go to court I assume it's yet another false charge. It shouldn't be that way – I know it shouldn't but they've cried wolf so many times I just to believe it anymore.
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A variety of causes all converging. The perception that there is not cost/risk to the accuser; the perceived desirability in some circles of "victim status" that will absolve them of personal responsibility within their peer group; the saturation-teaching of the false consciousness of oppression by anyone not a straight white male; ordinary childish attention-seeking behavior that must get every more outrageous because we as a culture have become so jaded to "normal" outrage; because kafkatrapping is easy and generates buzz, supportive gestures, and reaffirming words among the perpetually outraged seeking to shout down productive and independent individuals in order to get feel-goods.
In other words, they are delusional, and the left-wing media actively supports as useful idiots allowing them to push their own agenda.
The anti-theist meme has consequences Peter. Not simply denial of God, but the declaration of war against all things associated with Him. The last 5 Commandments all relate to our behavior towards each other. And they all are a form of theft. Murder (theft of life), infidelity (theft of intimacy), theft (of property) and outright coveting (theft of security) are very very common. So IMHO the only thing the Left has not outright promoted the theft of until now is false witness — the theft of reputation.
Anyway, since you asked, I thought I'd give you this thought to chew on. Very few people even think twice about false witness and think that the commandment is about lying. It is not. It's about theft of one's good name. A form of murder.
@Pascal Fervor Hah. Hahahahaha. Hah. Yeah, that's hilarious. So if we take an anti-Russia stance, we declare war on Russia and all things associated with Russia including vodka and oil, even if Russia is just one point of origin for these things? How about anti-ISIS? Do we need to declare war on Islam, black SUVs, big knives and Kalashnikovs?
Wha? Pascal, is there another discussion going on that I'm not seeing, or is this the biggest nonsequitor in human history?
I blame Ed Trimnell.
Why? I don't really know. This girl said she was forced to by her boyfriend (I'm guessing ex boyfriend shortly thereafter). Mostly I think these people have mental health issues.
http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/394648/publisher_ID/1/
The solution to the problem is pretty straight forward. Make the penalty for a false rape accusation equivalent to the crime that is alledged with mandatory minimum sentences.
Additionally equalize the shield protections so that if an accused rapist can be named so can the victim, either shield both or expose both. If the shield route is taken make it an extremely seriously crime (I would suggest equal to falsely accusing) to reveal the name of an accused prior to a conviction.
The alternative is to keep up the hysteria and insure that nobody takes rape allegations seriously.
I have three young men in my family that are attending a local four year collage. All of them are normal and fairly well adjusted young men. They all agree that at least 25% of the women on campus are "batshit crazy". They report that all or nearly all of the young women(and men) must take at least one "environmental studies" one "Women's study's" and one "social justice" class in the freshman year. Those same "classes" are then offered as MAJORS with classes in "community organizing" "victim's support study's" "feminine victimization" "protest organization" "white male power structure" "African oppression" and my favorite "revolutionary study's" . This is just one small collage in one small town that has quietly done this for over twenty years. Multiply this by a factor of five thousand or more such "schools" and you have your solution—Ray
My thought has always been that rape and child molestation are such heinous crimes against defenseless victims, that it makes the perfect foil for revenge or an attention getter. Our nation has changed culturally, but there are some things which will not be changed. Our outrage over rape. And those who falsely accuse someone of this crime, know and count on two things: the outrage on their behalf, and the time factor before the discovery that the accusation is false. I believe the saddest part we don't address is that male on male rape gets very little attention. Just look at coaches who take advantage of their young athletes, or teachers that victimize their students. The young trust their mentors, and sometimes live to regret that trust. I have a son, and you never saw a worse mother hen his mother when he was young! That poor kid, I checked out everybody he met or associated with.
Take it one step further and look at all the falsely reported rapes, which go absolutely nowhere. So, it's a complex and a mixed bag of complaints and purposes. It is also a form of self-aggrandizement.
The hardest part is being able to separate the legitimate victim of rape from the liars. Many years ago, I took a rape report, and it took me three hours to get to the truth, which was something very different than the violent encounter the young lady wanted to report. It was just one of many. Ask any first responder. Now, it takes weeks and months of digging to find the truth. But, in the meantime, the defendant has lost his house, spouse, job, friends, while the true rapist is out and about.
No one talks about restitution to the victim of the lie. It is awful.
I absolutely do not believe that the phony victim is mentally ill. No mentally ill person can even get their story together and make it believable. Definitely not mentally ill.
Cameras and recorders are very small and cheap these days, and I'm pretty sure a charge of 'illegal wiretapping' or whatever it's called has much lower stakes than a he-said-she-said.
We don't hold women accountable for their behavior, which is why they do it and how they get away with it. I like this quote from "As Good As It Gets:
"Receptionist: How do you write women so well?
Melvin Udall: I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability. "
I'm a firm believer that anyone making a false accusation of rape should be subject to the same penalties as the crime their victim would have been subjected to.
MRR
https://witchwind.wordpress.com/2013/12/15/piv-is-always-rape-ok/
PIV = Penis In Vagina.
This is the new thing in DF (Destructionist Feminism).
All hetro sex is rape. Period. No exceptions.
Anyone who thinks that's too stupid to catch on hasn't been paying attention for the last 30 some years.
– Pugmak
Ninety-four years ago a woman claimed she was raped when she was spooked by sharing an elevator with a black man. It has been said that as many as thousands died in the Tulsa Race Riots which followed.
Today we have riots over claims of police misconduct that appear to be based on wishful thinking about and ignorance of the law and the facts.
I submit that talk of rape was politically useful for helping Obama beat Romney in 2012, and is seen as useful for Hillary in 2016. (This last I'm less certain of, given her own history of blaming victims of rape. Bill is a rapist and a sexual predator, Hillary has never minded, it even seems like she gets some sort of sick pleasure out of helping.)
I suspect people do this because they are told that it will be tolerated, so long as it is politically useful.
In other words, these are Democrats, and Democrats will be Democrats.
SNS TOE
Bob the fool
@jason
It's a bad idea to punish accusers whenever someone isn't convicted. This discourages people from making valid accusations because they are afraid they may not win, and it encourages people to be underhanded to win because they need to avoid the punishment for not winning.
Especially in cases of Rape there is a lot of "he said, she said" judgement that the Jury needs to do. (was there consent, was there coercion, etc). There is a very real possibility that the guilty will not be convicted. This isn't a fatal flaw in our system, it's a feature.
As John Adams said when defending the British soldiers accused of murder for the Boston Massacre
"It is more important that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt be punished; for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world, that all of them cannot be punished…. when innocence itself, is brought to the bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, 'it is immaterial to me whether I behave well or ill, for virtue itself is no security.' And if such a sentiment as this were to take hold in the mind of the subject that would be the end of all security whatsoever"
In any case, the biggest problem isn't the fact of the accusation, it's the fact that society is treating the accused as guilty, even if not convicted (remember, they don't need to prove their innocence, the accuser/government needs to prove their guilt). The fact that people's lives are being ruined by an accusation is the core of the problem, and the SJW types have been in the forefront of crys that being accused is all that it should take to get someone fired.
^^ In part….exactly. No one, I swear [profanely, loudly and constantly] acts or believes in 'innocent until PROVEN guilty' anymore. As soon as someone makes a heinous charge against someone else? The media runs with it and it's assumed to be truth therefore the accused is already guilty in the eyes of the public before there's even a trial. Why because before all the facts are in, the bulk of the Progressive Propaganda Ministry starts spinning lies and deceit before the facts are in. I mean think about some of the more visible cases of the last 20-30yrs. The Duke team rape of Brawley. never happened. proved it never happened. what happened to Brawley and that hate baiting and spewing dipshit the Rev Al Sharpton? nothing. Some of the more recent brouhaha's over police brutality [I said some not all] were proven false and that people lied in their statements. What happened to those people? Nothing.
When a behavior is rewarded, you get more of it. Conversely with punishment.
Here we have false reporters being rewarded — perhaps with sympathy, getting victim points, or with destroying the life of an enemy (whether an individual or simply a member of a hated group, e.g. men) — with no real possibility of punishment even if caught in the lie.
I think false accusations which are clearly false should be punished, as opposed to he said / she said which is unclear. IOW, false accusation should be treated as a crime, for which one can be tried and punished.
And agree that shielding should be for both the accused and the accuser. At this time and place, it seems the accused needs it more.