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polimicksBullshit.
According to the FBI, only 8% of all rapes reported in the US are "unfounded" but not necessarily false. (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/Cius_97/96CRIME/96crime2.pdf) 1997 was the last report in which they calculated that.
Figures in the UK bear this out as well. (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors293.pdf)
Here's some statistics from http://www.rainn.org
Only an estimated 40% of sexual assaults get reported.
Of that 40% only 50% of those will even be arrested.
Only an estimated 6% of rapists will spend a DAY in jail. Not prison, jail.
On this page of the RAINN site: http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates
It shows a tree of the disposition of reported rapes.
If you want you can go see it. I did the math, it works out.
So, as a means of vengeance, false rape reporting has a really piss poor chance of coming to any fruition. I mean, there's only a 50/50 chance the victim of a false report will even be arrested. Seriously, there are way more effective and sure ways to get revenge.
Ok, now apart from the fact that it's highly unlikely to come to fruition, add into the equation that when a woman accuses a man of rape, her entire life is turned upside down and put under a microscope. Her entire sexual history will go on trial. She'll have to justify every sexual act she has ever performed with anyone ever. She'll be accused of being a promiscuous whore who wanted it. Her clothing will be scrutinized. Her comings and goings. Does she drink? Does she wear a thong? Was she wearing lacey underwear?
And if you thinks it's only adult women with suspect motives who are on the receiving end of these questions, just read the transcripts from a few child rape trials as well. Seriously, it will turn your stomach to hear defense lawyers and defendants telling a jury in all honesty that a ten year old girl wanted sex.
The US and UK legal systems are not friendly even to women who come to them with a mountain of evidence, how much less friendly do you think they are to someone with only a story? Even when the story is true, it's almost impossible to get a charge of rape taken seriously, even if you are a grandmother, nun or child, particularly without evidence.
Ok, so all that aside, of the 40% of all rapes, the ones that actually get reported, only 8% of that 40% are unfounded, not necessarily false, just lacking evidence. Some of those are victims who are bullied in recanting by their families and friends, or out of fear of the rapist or his family and friends.
Given how I've seen actual rape victims treated, pretty much with all the tact and sensitivity of raw liver, very, very few women would ever willingly put themselves through that to "get back at" anyone. Seriously.
Think about it.
According to the FBI, only 8% of all rapes reported in the US are "unfounded" but not necessarily false. (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/Cius_97/96CRIME/96crime2.pdf) 1997 was the last report in which they calculated that.
Figures in the UK bear this out as well. (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hors293.pdf)
Here's some statistics from http://www.rainn.org
Only an estimated 40% of sexual assaults get reported.
Of that 40% only 50% of those will even be arrested.
Only an estimated 6% of rapists will spend a DAY in jail. Not prison, jail.
On this page of the RAINN site: http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates
It shows a tree of the disposition of reported rapes.
If you want you can go see it. I did the math, it works out.
So, as a means of vengeance, false rape reporting has a really piss poor chance of coming to any fruition. I mean, there's only a 50/50 chance the victim of a false report will even be arrested. Seriously, there are way more effective and sure ways to get revenge.
Ok, now apart from the fact that it's highly unlikely to come to fruition, add into the equation that when a woman accuses a man of rape, her entire life is turned upside down and put under a microscope. Her entire sexual history will go on trial. She'll have to justify every sexual act she has ever performed with anyone ever. She'll be accused of being a promiscuous whore who wanted it. Her clothing will be scrutinized. Her comings and goings. Does she drink? Does she wear a thong? Was she wearing lacey underwear?
And if you thinks it's only adult women with suspect motives who are on the receiving end of these questions, just read the transcripts from a few child rape trials as well. Seriously, it will turn your stomach to hear defense lawyers and defendants telling a jury in all honesty that a ten year old girl wanted sex.
The US and UK legal systems are not friendly even to women who come to them with a mountain of evidence, how much less friendly do you think they are to someone with only a story? Even when the story is true, it's almost impossible to get a charge of rape taken seriously, even if you are a grandmother, nun or child, particularly without evidence.
Ok, so all that aside, of the 40% of all rapes, the ones that actually get reported, only 8% of that 40% are unfounded, not necessarily false, just lacking evidence. Some of those are victims who are bullied in recanting by their families and friends, or out of fear of the rapist or his family and friends.
Given how I've seen actual rape victims treated, pretty much with all the tact and sensitivity of raw liver, very, very few women would ever willingly put themselves through that to "get back at" anyone. Seriously.
Think about it.
Rapes
Date: 2009-12-02 10:41 pm (UTC)I have no idea what the false allegation rate is, listen to some it's 2%, others say 90%. Some say no woman lies about rape because none would put themselves through that ordeal. Well that I disagree with. I know people in the police force and prison service who know that women indeed do lie about rape for any number of reasons. There is more reporting on these false allegations in the media and the police forces are beginning to acknowledge there is a problem. In the UK there is even incentive to lie about rape. Some women have been caught out making fictional rape accounts to gain compensation from the criminal injuries board - worth around £11,000.
Personally, I don't think anyone really knows how many false allegations there are or indeed the number of actual rapes. But one way to secure more convictions and deter false allegations would be to introduce tougher standards of evidence and polygraph testing of BOTH the man and woman.
Re: Rapes
Date: 2009-12-02 11:01 pm (UTC)That would be unfounded. False is a smaller subsection of that, around 2-3%. I'm not going to keep repeating myself. Nowhere do I say NO women lie about rape. Just that it's not the epidemic rape apologists seem to think it is.
Just as child abduction by stranger rates have gone down since the 1970s, yet people think they've increased due to media coverage, the same with false rape accusations.
Being a cop does not magically grant one the ability to tell if someone male or female has been raped. Nor does it make them exempt from the conditionning endemic to our society about how rape is perceived.
Re: Rapes
Date: 2010-01-01 11:40 pm (UTC)Also, you said that the conviction rate was like 6% (?), so that must mean that there was not enough evidence to convict the other 94% who were arrested. So of the people who were arrested, most were proved innocent. However, ALL those men will probably have a 'rapist' label attached to them for the rest of their life, while rape shield laws and whatever other stuff you've got in America protects the false rapists who accused the innocent 94%. And remember, it's your statistics, not mine! :)
One more thing: the reason I am not going to put my LiveJournal ID or whatever in my comment is that I don't have one, and I don't intend to create one just to comment.
-Anonymous