Fear of being falsely accused of rape

[nancylebov]

http://ursulav.livejournal.com/766899.html

ursulav has asked this:

A) If male, are you afraid of being falsely accused of rape? Is this a Major Fear--i.e. something you worry about every time you're trying to get to know a woman? (Hell, is this something you worry about if you're, say, alone in a parking garage with a female in the next aisle getting into her car?)

B) If either gender, do you personally know anybody who has been falsely accused of rape? (Not friend-of-a-friend stories, but you, yourself, are at least the level of on-line acquaintanceship with them.)

The outcome seems to be that some fear is fairly but not extremely common, false accusations aren't rare but aren't extremely common and are much less common than rape.

Comments

[madfilkentist]

A. About as much as I worry about other possible but extremely unlikely disasters.

B. I know someone who says he was falsely accused of rape, and is in prison on a lesser charge. I can't claim firsthand knowledge of the facts or even close examination of the evidence, but I don't believe he committed rape.

Which reminds me, I need to send him some money.

[bradhicks.livejournal.com]

I know approximately the same number of guys who've been falsely accused of rape or attempted rape as I know women who've been raped. I'm one of them. And now that I think of it, that rough equivalency is actually kind of startling, because I have about twice as many female friends as male friends.

I know of no reason to think that false accusations of rape are uncommon. There are many psychotic women in this world who know that if they play this card, they win, nearly all the time.

You shouldn't even have to think that hard to remember some pretty high profile false rape accusation news stories, considering that you're quite old enough to remember the Satanic Ritual Abuse hoax.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Some of the posters at ursulav's thread didn't know of any.

I don't know why you're an outlier on this. Maybe people are more likely to confide in you. Maybe it's just that someone's got to have an atypical set of friends.

I didn't say false accusations of rape are very rare, just that they're not common. And I also know about the recent Duke lacrosse team case.

I hope you post at ursulav's thread-- it's the kind of discussion that needs all the data points it can get, and it's a civilized bunch of people.

[avram]

In any large, varied group, you're probably gonna find some statistical outliers. It's gotta be someone.

[bradhicks.livejournal.com]

I did. I was accused of willful ignorance. I'm not going to argue about it over there.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

1) I find that if you follow the rules of yichud set down by the Rabbis, it isn't a problem. This was one of the reasons why they were instituted.

2) There is also the problem of ambiguous situations especially where alchohol or drugs creates diminished capacity. Is it rape if someone is drunk and willing? And I'm talking self-intoxicated here, not the "slipped a roofie" kind of thing. It was one of the many reasons I was glad not to be in the singles scene when I was in college.

[osewalrus.livejournal.com]

Finally, what do we mean by accusations? Does this mean actually filing complaints with the police? Or does it mean telling everyone in your mutual circle of friends that you were raped/taken advantage of/whatever?

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

The answers to ursulav's questions included both.

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

I have been informed ever since I was a student that this is a serious fear among teachers and professors. One dear man, a friend as well as a professor, told me reluctantly but firmly that he would not give *any* female student a ride across the campus, or anywhere else, alone, even if it was raining, dark, etc., and explained why. Many others just said "I'm sorry, I can't do that" and didn't explain.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine this particular accusation ever being made against me and know of no one who has (falsely or not) ever been accused of rape.

[zenlizard]

Me personally? I only occasionally worry about it, but yeah, sometimes I have to.

Do I know personally know people who have been falsely accused of rape? Yes, including one that went to trial, where the male in question was acquitted.

How common is it? I don not know as many men who have been falsely accused of rape as I know people who have been victims of rape or attempted rape.