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False rape
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Re: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/leanne-black-woman-who-made-2041145
Looking at that article and several other sources for it, there are a lot of people (rightly) condemning her for making it harder for genuine victims of rape to be taken seriously. However conspicuous by its absence is apparently any semblance of sympathy for the men whose lives she has ruined. This seems to happen a lot.
Don't get me wrong, I have no idea how devastating it can be for a victim of rape however is it really correct that the feelings of the falsely accused are seemingly pushed in to a distant second?
Looking at that article and several other sources for it, there are a lot of people (rightly) condemning her for making it harder for genuine victims of rape to be taken seriously. However conspicuous by its absence is apparently any semblance of sympathy for the men whose lives she has ruined. This seems to happen a lot.
Don't get me wrong, I have no idea how devastating it can be for a victim of rape however is it really correct that the feelings of the falsely accused are seemingly pushed in to a distant second?
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Ultimately whether we like it or not, if someone is accused of rape people take a dim view and don't really adhere to the 'innocent until proven guilty'. This is certainly not helped by the sorry state of affairs with securing rape convictions - even if someone is guilty, it does appear they have a slim chance of ending up behind bars, which means people start to assume regardless of outcome that people are guilty.
But things are getting better across the board. Police are getting better at supporting rape victims, at putting together better cases for court, but also people are getting better at supporting the falsely accused. We are still at a horrible situation where thousands of people are hurt and have their lives turned upside down every year, but that's getting better.
As an aside as I'm sure it will come up, from what I've read there is no definitive rate of false rape - different interpretations give different results. Here's a link that sums up fairly nicely: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_accusation_of_rape#Rumney_.282006.29
I do think the problem with reporting in the media on false rape, as callous as it is to the victims of false accusations - is that it stops legitimate victims coming forward for fear they would also be assumed to be lying. Most police forces in the UK deal with rape cases sympathetically these days, with female liaison officers, and links to organisations such as rape crisis who can offer additional support. Even if the case can't proceed to court - that doesn't mean the police don't believe you - just that they don't have the physical evidence that is required to secure a conviction.
I wonder if those accused should be given anonymity pending the results of trial?
There are clear pros and cons to this - a good example is Jimmy Saville. As a side note I am of course making the distinction between 'false rape' and 'not guilty'.
With Jimmy Saville the problem was of being an influential individual. Nobody wanted the bother of trying to take him down, because he was famous and relatively powerful.
Then you have the likes of John Leslie. From all accounts an unpleasant person but not a rapist however his career has been pissed upon.
For John Leslie I do think the public nature of the accusation was wrong, and his identity probably should have been protected. At the same time - and it's coming back to the sorry state of rape convictions - I can't help but wonder whether there's 'no smoke without fire' for a fairly wealthy and powerful person being found not guilty.
My stance is fairly inconsistent as you can see.
Up until charge, I agree. Beyond that, I really don't agree at all. Stuart Hall is an excellent example of it- more people only came forward when they saw he'd been charged, so they felt more confident that they'd be believed.
Though in the early stages of an investigation there's only one place a journalist can get information about a high-profile person who's been arrested. See if you can guess where it is.
The accusation can be devastating, but few of the most high-profile cases that get to court have really permanently destroyed someone's career. The closest you may get is Craig Charles, but even he's not doing too badly on Corrie these days.
John Leslie is a more complicated one. He was never actually named by the person making the allegation, so nothing ever went to court, so he never had a way of clearing his name.
He had his day in court http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3112347.stm
But back to the topic in hand - is it right that the feelings of rape victims (who of course deserve every sympathy and support) are seemingly given priority over victims of false rape allegations?
They're both bad though and victims of both should be supported.
I agree with that part, but as for your first point I disagree that it should almost be to the detriment of the support for the other.