False Allegation

[daffy654]

I was just reading a report on the BBC news site about a woman who made a false allegation of rape getting a caution. As a woman I feel that all women who make these false allegations should get a much harsher punishment,not only does it ruin a man's life to have these allegations falsely made about him(mud sticks) but it makes the police treat women who have genuinely been raped with more suspicion. Maybe the powers that be should have sentencing guidelines with a minimum sentence for this sort of thing,what do you all think?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/69951 31.stm

[Kathyan]

I agree that there should be harsher sentences for women who falsely claim rape and I also think that men should be given anonimity until found guilty!

[rosepoo]

as a relative of some one who got f... all help from the cops after being raped by two men, this story just makes everything feel so much worse. The cops didn't bother to investigate too hard or for long, the uniform guys at the scene were great, but the detectives were as useful as tits on a bull!
there should be a greater punishment for false reports. In Oz only 1 in 5 cases make it to court and the only convictions are from men who plead guilty.
There is no justice for female victims under Oz law.

[IggyB]

harsher convictions for for false allegations seems like a very good idea, but there would be difficulties in its application e.g. proving that the allegation was malicious rather than a terrible mistake of some sort. If there was a change in law to make much harsher punishments for false allegations it might put women off reporting an attack even more as they could be afraid they would not be believed and then charged with something themselves.

[andrea81]

I totally agree, these women who falsley claim rape have no idea what damage they are doing to the credability of those who are genuine cases. They should be ashamed!

The grey area is women who have had too much to drink and cannot remember giving concent, to be honest there are a lot of men who take advantage of drunken women, but there are a lot of women who can't possibly remember the incident.... how would this be delt with?

Very difficult!

[kyra16]

i agree w you daffy; 100% the sad part is that the stigma does stick w the men falsely accus. no matter what the outcome people will always remember them as a rapist; sad, unfair but true. these "women" who do this crap make it that much harder for the poor women who actually get raped to go forward to the police. its dispicable and yes the punishment was ridiculous.

[bensmum]

I agree that the penalties should be harsher and that if the man she accused was named then so should she be.
I think anyway that until an accusation is proven then all parties should remain anonymous.

[Goodsoulette]

I think she got a caution because she didn't say "so and so" raped me. I think she made up that she had been raped by a stranger in an a public place.

[jno]

Goodsoulette is correct (as usual): she described an attacker, who was non-existent, but didn't accuse anyone in particular; so she was wasting police time, but not defaming anyone or ruining anyone's life

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/66944 53.stm

[Ethel]

Rape is incredibly difficult to prove.

If a man is found 'not guilty' for any reason, should the woman be guilty of false allegations?

This case worries me. We do not know that she lied. She may be emotionally drained and at the end of her tether - accepting a caution just to make the process stop, especially as it became obvious she was not believed.

I do hope in this case she was lying, otherwise there is a grave injustice here.

[Goodsoulette]

I thought that Ethel, some women might hate the idea of carrying through with the whole case, that instead of just withdrawing their statement or whatever the process is, they might say, actually I made the whole thing up and then find themselves facing criminal charges for making false allegations.

Quite scary really. I dont think if I were raped I would report it. I wouldnt like my life being put under inspection in court.

[Ethel]

As for anonymity for the accused, there have been instances where other victims of the accused have come forward after reading the allegations in the press.

Victims who were otherwise too scared or intimidated to report the rape, or who had reported it but didn't know the identity of the rapist.

Falsely accusing anyone of rape is a dreadful thing but I can't think of appropriate deterrents or punishment that would not have the effect of stopping some genuine victims reporting it.

[NiceCupOfTea]

IggyB - that is a really good point, I'd never thought about that before.

[tigerlily11]

These women make it harder for any real cases to get to court.