False Allegations Of Rape: Ruining A Guy's Life Because She Needed An Excuse For Being Late
Not only do women sometimes make false allegations of rape but they sometimes do it for the most inconsequential of reasons.
21% of those who had filed a false allegation of rape claimed that they did not know why they did it. https://t.co/bwvOMruVzS pic.twitter.com/mfdwjqwX4x
— Rolf Degen (@DegenRolf) February 18, 2017
His tweet links to an open-access study by André W. E. A. De Zutter, Robert Horselenberg, and Peter J. van Koppen:
The list of motives by Kanin (1994) is the most cited list of motives to file a false allegation of rape. Kanin posited that complainants file a false allegation out of revenge, to produce an alibi or to get sympathy. A new list of motives is proposed in which gain is the predominant factor. In the proposed list, complainants file a false allegation out of material gain, emotional gain, or a disturbed mental state. The list can be subdivided into eight different categories: material gain, alibi, revenge, sympathy, attention, a disturbed mental state, relabeling, or regret....Complainants were primarily motivated by emotional gain. Most false allegations were used to cover up other behavior such as adultery or skipping school. Some complainants, however, reported more than one motive. A large proportion, 20% of complainants, said that they did not know why they filed a false allegation. The results confirm the complexity of motivations for filing false allegations and the difficulties associated with archival studies. In conclusion, the list of Kanin is, based on the current results, valid but insufficient to explain all the different motives of complainants to file a false allegation.
...An illustration hereof is the notorious case of Gary Dotson. Kathleen Crowell Webb fabricated a rape after unprotected consensual sex with her boyfriend to obtain contraceptive medi- cation. Coincidentally, Gary Dotson resembled Kathleen's fab- ricated rapist and was convicted of rape (Webb & Chapian, 1985). Kathleen recanted her false allegation of rape out of remorse, but her initial allegation was so convincing that some scholars and the judge who reviewed the case did not believe her retraction (Taylor, 1987).
Gary Dotson spent years in and out of prison as a consequence of the false allegation and it was not until the advent of DNA research that he was exonerated (Heath, 2009). Kathleen wrote a book with the self-explanatory title ''Forgive Me'' (Webb & Chapian, 1985). False allegations of rape are not a myth but are not ubiquitous either. Ferguson and Malouff (2016) found a rate of 5% confirmed false allegations in their meta-analysis on seven studies on the prevalence of false allegations.
...If regret is the motive to file a false allegation, the com- plainant experiences negative feelings such as disgust, shame, and sorrow. The negative feelings are typically noticed by close friends or relatives who will ask about the source of the negative feelings. The sexual encounter may then be labeled as rape by others. The complainant may not have the courage to admit that she also played a vital role in the sexual encounter. The com- plainants are often persuaded by others to file a false allegation (Veraart, 1997).
In sum, there are several motives to file a false allegation: material gain, alibi, revenge, sympathy, attention, a disturbed mental state, relabeling, or regret. Gain is the underlying driving force of every form of motive with one exception: Complainants with sexual hallucinations have no interest in either emotional or material gain.
Although most motives can be reduced to some form of gain, the underlying emotional states are so diverse that it makes sense to treat them as separate motives. As a consequence, we argue that the list proposed by Kanin (1994) is not adequate because it does not cover all the motives provided by complainants.
We propose an expanded list in which gain is the predominant factor. In the list, complainants file a false allegation out of material gain, emotional gain, or mental disturbance. The list can be subdivided into eight different categories: material gain, alibi, revenge, sympathy, attention, a disturbed mental state, relabeling, or regret.
It is my belief that when there's proof that a false allegation was made, that the person making it gets the jail time the accused would likely have gotten.
Admittedly, thinking ahead to unintended consequences, there is a problem in this: It may lead to less likelihood of confessions about false accusations. Then again, maybe conscience -- not being able to sleep nights -- is something that takes hold and leads to the confessions. This is something that should be looked at in a study -- if that's even possible. (Not sure how that study design would work to come up with any sort of reliable answer.)
If you're counting on the conscience of others to motivate decency, you may have a while to wait. Any bad act can be rationalized, especially if prison awaits the confessor.
Conan the Grammarian at February 18, 2017 7:17 AM
All people lie. That is why we have courts. When people cheat on their spouse or their taxes they will never admit it. Who tells the truth all the time? No one. The idea that women would never lie about rape is simply crazy. When you lower the bar to assault instead of rape, it is even easier to make the accusation.
In the case of campus assault cases, we also add the status now given to victims as a motive, as well as the anger engendered by women's studies courses, which makes revenge seem more important. So we lower the bar for what counts and add incentives to lie. huh
the 5% confirmed false allegations does not mean only 5% are false. Many he said-she said cases on campus could be false, especially when it is "misconduct" being accused.
One of the benefits of the old "courting" rituals was that it tended to enforce good behavior on both parties. The boy had to get dressed up to come to the girl's house and meet the parents. He had to act polite and not grabby. The casual sex on campus stuff is not conducive to respect and caution.
cc at February 18, 2017 9:16 AM
See the "maybe" and the "then again." I'm not counting on anything.
Amy Alkon at February 18, 2017 9:17 AM
We've discussed this before and I think it's worth pointing out certain details again.
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2016/05/26/believe_the_cam.html
Patrick made a good point at 10:23 a.m. that many of you may not have thought of.
And, it might be worthwhile to imagine that in the scenario of four people (A through D) that they are all men, just because chances are your reaction might be different then.
lenona at February 18, 2017 11:08 AM
It signs the checkbook with its pen or else it gets the accusation again.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 18, 2017 11:59 AM
Did I write this back then?
> A murders B
> C frames D for the murder of B allowing A to walk the streets unpunished, subjecting D to a long term prison sentence, and injuring D's family in untold ways both financially and mentally.
> A should get her 20 years
> C should be killed and then we should all piss and shit on her corpse which should then be mutilated and tossed out to sea with only her head remaining stuck on a pike in front of the court.
I did. I stand by it.
I find C's crime far worse than A's.
Maybe that's because I've been the victim of false accusations and smear campaigns that have worked and have ripped my family apart and have left me longing for death many times over the course of two decades.
"But at least D is alive, A is dead, so the punishment shouldn't be as great!"
YMMV.
jerry at February 18, 2017 12:01 PM
This is Patrick's comment at 10:23 from back then
> But have you stopped to consider what that might entail? If you falsely accuse someone of misdemeanor battery, you'll be sentenced to a year of probation, anger management and community service.
> If you falsely accuse someone of murder, you'll get the electric chair.
> These are the two extremes and I'm not comfortable with either of them. The former is too lenient and the latter is too harsh.
The salient issue to me, which often seems left out of these conversations, was if the false accusation was intentional ie. malicious, or accidental.
Honestly if it's malicious, I do think the false accusation is the worse act. It seems an act not just against a person, but an act against all of society and our justice system.
That said, I disagree with Patrick slightly re the misdemeanor battery. Assuming you've been charged and found guilty, then if your victim was sentenced "merely" to to a year of probation, anger management and community service, then I am not judge or psychologist enough to say that your being *publicly* outed as a false accuser and sentenced to a year of anger management and community service isn't a reasonable penalty.
jerry at February 18, 2017 12:11 PM
Who tells the truth all the time? No one.
Correct. Because if you told the truth all the time, sooner or later you'd get punched out.
"Does this dress make me look fat?"
I R A Darth Aggie at February 18, 2017 12:56 PM
Honestly if it's malicious, I do think the false accusation is the worse act. It seems an act not just against a person, but an act against all of society and our justice system.
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As I indicated in the old thread, there are very strong reasons why even judges don't agree with that - OR everyday people. Or even the female victim I referred to in the thread whose vicious ex-husband had almost everyone - including the prosecutors - fooled. (At any rate, to my knowledge, she didn't call for him to be punished on the same level that she would have been.)
I certainly wasn't referring to accidental accusations. Mistaken identifications are just that - honest mistakes. Not crimes. But even felonies have to be ranked. Virginia has six - yes, six - penalty levels for felonies.
lenona at February 19, 2017 6:33 AM
Well, the punishment for false accusation needs to be severe enough to discourage people from doing that sort of thing. I think one reason it happens more for rape is that a charge of rape is in itself harmful, much more so than being accused of any other type of felony. Many people will just accept that a man that is accused of rape is guilty, prima facie. So a woman who wants to can destroy a man's life by accusing him, even if the legal charge doesn't stick. And let us not forget that false accusers are usually not charged, and even when they are, in must jurisdictions in the U.S., filing a false report is just a misdomeanor that will probably result in a sentence of a few months of probation
Let us not forget about the results of the Innocence Project. When that group started up, about 15 years ago, they set about to test preserved evidence using techniques that weren't available in the last century. At the time, they expected to find that the bulk of the false convictions that they would uncover would be murder cases. They were a cause celebre at the time, getting lots of favorable media coverage, celebrity endorsements, and big donations.
Well, that's not what happened. The bulk of the false convictions that they unmasked were rapes, about 75% IIRC. In case after case that they came across, genetic testing of preserved evidence showed that the convicted man could not possibly have committed the crime. Once it became apparent that this was happening, criticism began, the favorable press coverage ceased, the donations dried up, and the Innocence Project had had its day.
Cousin Dave at February 20, 2017 8:28 AM
Source re the Innocence Project, please?
lenona at February 20, 2017 6:09 PM
Using data from the Innocence Project's database here:
https://www.innocenceproject.org/all-cases/#homicide-related,sex-crimes,exonerated-by-dna
They list 349 cases, and there is a "Type of Crime" filter where you can filter by "homicide", "sex crimes", and "other". Of that number, 272 (78%) are listed in the "sex crimes" category. In the "homicide" category, 124 cases (36%) appear. There is some overlap; 77 cases appear in both categories. There are only 17 cases in the "other" category so I didn't look at those closely.
Cousin Dave at February 21, 2017 7:29 AM
Sorry - I was referring to your last sentence, actually. Not the rest.
lenona at February 22, 2017 7:40 AM
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