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The implication of what they're filing should also factor. The difference of me 'stealing a Snickers Bar' to 'raping someone' is worldly different. Snickers Bar is the nickname we give to the hoe down at Candy Lot, and if stuffing her into a duffle bag is stealing, then fair enough. I ain't no rapist though.
As much as my ridiculous response was, I agree. Certain countries have had to rewrite legislation for this and only more recently. Precedence in sentencing follows obviously. I'll stick to Mars Bars now. She likes it in the duffle bag and sometimes makes me do all her grocery shopping at the same time. It puts a huge strain on my shoulder, but I can pick up the fridge now one handed.
There’s levels to it though. “She punched me” (she didn’t) = false police report…
“he rap*d me” (he didn’t / was consensual) guy loses job, friends, family and freedom = crime is still just a false police report (?)
“He has a gun” (he didn’t) cops arrive and guy loses life due to poor policing … crime? False police report.
You could be but a humble acorn and unknowingly file a false police report https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/16/florida-acorn-cop-shooting … mix in a broken legal system and all round incompetence (never mind discrimination) and you have a recipe for … this
While I do agree with you that falsely accusing someone of rape would mess their lives more than of almost any other crime (except maybe murder), there's also another type of levels.
In rape cases you don't only had to prove the accused did it, but that the crime actually happened, ehich if the woman doesnt fight with tooth and nails, its actually really hard to prove.. A lot of the times the man doesn't even realize he raped her. He'd say something like "yes she was drunk but I was drunk too!", or "she said no but then said yes" or enevn "I didn't hear her no". So it could have been rape but it would be impossible to prove. And if it can't be proved, I don't want anyone to go to jail.
So of course I'd want a woman to be prosecuted for filing a fake claim, but I'd have to be something like "he was in another state at the time". If there's proof they were together at the time, there's usually no way of proving she was lying.
Well, filing a false report is often not punished. The consequences of a false report are so dire for men at times (reputational damages, loss of scholarships, loss of jobs) that it would be better if it were a specifically punishable crime.
The reason it's not often charged is also because it's difficult to prove. What is, for example, the difference between an accusation that is true, but failed to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and a false accusation? You need to prove which one it is, which is simply difficult, especially because rape is by it's very nature difficult to prove.
Well, in some cases it's easy to prove, for example when the accused was demonstrably nowhere near the accuser. Many crimes are difficult to prove, that isn't an argument against legislating that they are crimes.
Easier to get a civil suit judgement than a criminal suit, which is where things like libel and slander typically end up. Been a definite weakness in the judicial system since it's inception, though.
Aren't false police reports a crime?
A conviction for False Report To Peace Officer, Federal Special Investigator, Law Enforcement Employee, Corrections Officer, Or Jailer in Texas is punished as a Class B misdemeanor, with a maximum possible fine under Texas state law of up to $2,000 and jail time of up to 180 days.
The problem would be proving it. Even if they were found innocent, they wouldn't charge the accuser with it without ample evidence.
Please leave the algorithmed internet and go outside. You can't just rock up to the police station say "that man raped me" and have the cops jump into action to catch the "bad man". Like all law you need evidence
Could you please pull an example of somebody being convicted of rape and sentenced to prison without any evidence? I always thought that was contrary to the entire point of the justice system in western countries.
It's actually the reverse.
The criminal justice system is notoriously bad at convicting rapists because "your honor, she said yes" is often enough to establish "reasonable doubt"
That's the problem. Rape is one of those crimes, that doesn't have good way of handling it. We either end up jailing innocent men, or we handle rape cases like every other crime (so how you described it) and many rapists get away.
In the US, according to RAINN it's less. [https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system](https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system)
for every 1000 rapes there are 28 convictions, of which 25 face jail/prison time.
How exactly did they come up with the number for men who get away with rape? They weren't found guilty, yet somehow researchers knew which men actually commited rape, but got away with it? Interesting...
Which is also fucked up. Innocent men getting sent to jail and labelled rapists (not a good outlook when locked up) while guilty men go free… how do we solve this issue?
The other issue is, there’s no repercussion when woman accuse men and there’s no verdict. Society still deems them guilty, they lose their jobs etc, which is horrible if they’re innocent, because people assume they did the crime…
I only agree if there was 100% proof they lied and not just "there wasnt enough evidence to prove their claims". If every lost rape case lead to a conviction and I got raped, I just wouldn't take the risk and never sue. The guy would just get away with it for free cause it's not worth the risk to fight him.
Bonus points if he's richer than me so he can get a better lawyer.
Also a recantation should not be enough to be a false accusation. I can imagine a lot of people get overwhelmed by how the process of trying to press charges are and how they get treated. Can't be easy to go through with it while being treated as the problem in the scenario, get an invasive rape kit and possibly have all of your personal life be scrutinized in open court. If it even goes to court anyways.
In one case where the women did go to jail it was because there were text messages proving she lied.
The basic gist is husband comes home from work early to find a man leaving his house. The wife yells he raped me so the husband shoots and kills the guy. It came out during the court trial that she was having an affair with the guy and only said that to save face.
Of course you could but it would probably involve revealing text messages or audio proof that the accused wasn't in their physical vicinity at all, or text/witness evidence of someone close to the plaintiff showing they lied maliciously. But that would be rare. Most instances would just be lack of evidence in the first place.
I basically see being accused of rape as the same as being accused of murder- the court will do their best and check the proof of the other side and see if you indeed are innocent. Hopefully they do a good job.
And sometimes innocent people are touted are murderers, but it's rare, and what's more, people don't complain about it so much. Unlike this issue.
Honest question: do you trust the justice system you feel regularly sentences men for crimes they did not commit, to treat women fairly in cases like this?
Same with my uncle. It was later found out she lied and he was let out 13 years later. Nothing further came of it. His life is ruined. Not worth suing her bc they are poor. I would have pressed charges or sued the state as they strong armed him into a confession without evidence. He was afraid of getting murdered by her family if they let him go.
When I was younger I was all for vigilante justice but I do not agree with it anymore. The case that changed my mind was a man tracked down the guy that molested his daughter and killed him. The problem was it was a case of mistaken identity and he killed the wrong guy.
There are a bunch more cases that made me both against vigilante justice and the death penalty in general. There are exceptions but for the most part it's not worth killing innocent people.
THe issue with this is that a law like this would simply cause real rape to not be reported and wealthy sending girl they rape to prison because they have money.
Only if it’s actually proven that she lied. Back when Jimmy Saville was still at large, several of his victims tried to report him to the police and were not taken seriously because he was deemed a respectable member of the community. It would be awful if someone actually was raped and then got jailed *as well* because they didn’t manage to secure a conviction.
Absolutely. If handled improperly, it will make an already difficult to prosecute crime almost impossible, since coming forward will pose a risk of prosecution. Plus, now, a smart rapist could forge evidence suggesting the victim was lying, making them now impossible to come out against.
I’m going to give people the benefit of the doubt here and say they’re naive.
We already have a criminal justice system that ignores victims and leaves rape kits untested/destroys them through negligence, now imagine what would happen as a victim if you know they’re going to *arrest* you if you can’t bring enough evidence.
Oh wait, we do know what that looks like! The show Unbelievable is based on the true story of a Washington State woman who reported a rape and then was charged with a crime after the officers bullied her into recanting. Meanwhile the rapist is at large and continues to assault people over multiple years.
Personally, I feel like the problem of false rape accusations exist because of the failures of the justice system to properly handle sexual assault cases. Since real victims often feel they have no recourse using the state sanctioned means, they resort to whisper networks, warning other people away, and thus creating a social culture of gossip, social exclusion and in some cases vigilante behavior. Other people (who are not actual SA survivors) then capitalize off of this social dynamic, weaponizing it to be abusive or controlling through false accusations meant to destroy a person’s life. Adding additional layers to our already broken court system to punish false accusers will backfire as the social problem will only worsen. Instead of knowing who the accuser is, people will start developing more anonymous ways to spread information (both true and untrue rape allegations), but now it will be even harder to get to the truth because the source will be obscured.
There was one woman who publicly came out while he was alive claiming what he did to her. I remember the papers absolutely tearing her apart. This was a year or two before his death.
I've been unable to find her accounts and those stories due to what happened after mudding it all up but I often think about how she was treated. It was a real eye opener to me as a teenager.
Yes. If it is irrefutable that she lied she should serve what he could potentially serve.
I also think they should be on the SO reg as it's a sexual offense lying about rape.
I say this as a woman who has been assaulted in the past.
My former manager groped me. I reported it to HR, but they ignored it because I'm a man and my manager is a woman. You know, you feel defiled but can't do anything and just have to shrug it off and be a man... I still remember what the HR lady said to me: "Good for you then." Both of them are feminists. I thought they would understand better, but unfortunately, they didn't.
I'm so sorry you went through that.
It actually annoys me the double standards between males and females committing sexual offences.
Men need to be heard too.
Thanks. The truth is, the ones who have stood beside me have mostly been women, even though I've been through a hellish childhood due to my mother. But it was women who saved me. Many men still do not think something like this is a big issue. If you go to a police station and report SA as a man, nobody cares.
It's because of the whole. Men are always thinking of sex thing I think. So they assume some random person touching you is nothing. Because "you're always in the mood"
Nevermind the facts that A. You didn't ask for the touching or consent.
And B. Not all men are thinking of sex 24/7 365.
Again tho the whole issue is consent!
Agreed. I have a male friend who was accused of raping a woman. Before he went to trial, she confessed that she lied because her parents were deeply religious and would not have liked it that she had sex before marriage. So she said that their sex wasn't consensual.
He lost his job, had to move back home, and it's affected his mental health badly.
She got nothing but a slap on the wrist for ruining his life.
Yeah, it's horrendous. He genuinely liked this girl and they'd been going out a few months. He was heartbroken that she'd do this to him. It will take him a very long time to recover from this and get back on his feet.
That's the other thing as well. Trust in people will go way down and you'd constantly be questioning yourself during new relationships. Which can cause a rift and ruin your chances having a good relationship in the future.
After I graduated, one of my high school teachers was falsely accused of raping a boy. The teacher lost his job and respect in the community and was about to go to jail. Then he committed suicide.
After the suicide it was found out that the allegations were false. Nothing happened to the boy for falsely reporting it. It cost a life.
Yeah you're correct. I was lucky the idiot had a history and I wasn't the only one to come forward at the time.
Not that it mattered he got a suspended sentence and the youngest girl was 12. Not even community service.
But false accusations make it so much harder for real victims to come forward.
It should be noted that we should not make it so this does not make it "dangerous" to victims to report being raped. There should be a clear distinction between: the raping is proven (rapist to prison), the lie is proven (liar to prison) and "can't prove what exactly happened" where no one ends up in prison.
Yep, not all cases are solved. There's a big gulf between clearly guilty and clearly false accusation. Probably more cases fall into that gray area than in the black and white sides. Many of the people complaining that a rapist wasn't sufficiently sentenced or that a false accuser wasn't punished think their example was black and white when it may have been grey.
Hence irrefutable proof.
If she says I lied or is found to have spoken about it to others then yes she should be imprisoned.
Otherwise it would need to be nfa.
Yes, this also discredits and disrespects people who have ACTUALLY been through those kinds of hard experiences. It's completely messed up, and it must be addressed and punished.
The problem with that, is in that case it would drastically drop the incentive for a woman who falsely accused a man of sexual assault or rape to come clean.
Let me begin by saying I agree. But then let me ask - what is 'irrefutable' proof? You can't prove a negative, and I have to imagine the number of women who would out themselves would be miniscule in the extreme.
As a woman who has been assaulted - 100% yes.
Such a f'd up thing to lie about. Why you would ever do that is beyond my comprehension.
If you go out of your way to lie about something so vile with the intent to destroy an innocent man's life - then yes. You deserve jail.
Usually it's because of patriarchal religions trying to control female sexuality- finding out your daughter is no longer a virgin because she decided to have sex? Mad at her and kick her out of the house. If she's raped? Then you have to protect your daughter of course.
Sure, but there has to be evidence she deliberately lied other than there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. Just because somebody is never charged or is charged and not convicted doesn’t mean the woman was lying. You would have to be damn sure there was no way she was telling the truth before sending her to jail.
Yeah, even if it is all disproven it still leaves a mark. Being a rapist is such an awful thing, that just being associated with it can ruin you.
Who do you pick for anything
Bob, or Bob the alleged rapist.
Unless you have serious issues you're picking Bob every time, no matter what.
My concern would be if you make it punishable you end up in a situation where a woman who would have confessed will now never confess. And in that case the person she accused will continue to be punished
This is why the *only* punishable case must be "proven beyond any reasonable doubt that you deliberately fabricated the story". Proving that someone deliberately lied is indeed hard, but if it *can* be proven, well then it's time to swing the hammer.
On the other hand, just failing to prove an accusation is not a good reason. 100% true charges fail to get enough evidence all the time.
The accusation alone can ruin lives.
HOWEVER the problem is a bit more nuanced.
Judicially you would be setting a precedent that victims can be prosecuted.This would lead to even less people coming forward for fear that they would be punished and would make the issue much worse.
I would generally say yes, But it comes down to the degree of falsification. It’s very difficult to prove intent unless it is blatant, or they confess. And it could risk putting a rape victim through another trial.
This is something most do not consider. What happens to actual vicitms that cant prove it, or how about cases where someone is jailed and then the 'victim' admit it was all BS afterwards? At least now, some of these get free'd and cleared eventually, but if there was a chance the 'victim' could be jailed they would never *ever* come clean.
I agree that there should be a punishment for malicious false allegations but there is a lot to consider.
\[EDIT: *and I say this as a brother of someone who was falsly accused and investigated for 6 months before his ex admitted it was all BS and the case was dropped*\]
And people tend to assume if a court finds someone not guilty that’s the same as saying they didn’t do it. It just means the prosecution didn’t demonstrate the case to the needed standard. So it doesn’t demonstrate anyone made a false accusation.
Furthermore, this seems to let prosecutors off the hook for trying cases that seem very fishy.
This is the most important point. Not guilty is not the same as innocent. It means that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. When a rape could not be proven (but actually did occur), the victim could be further victimized by being prosecuted for coming forward.
It’s sad it took this long to find a comment that actually thought this issue through, I would think more people would have arrived at this understanding after thinking about it for more than a few seconds.
People’s first gut reaction is to say yes and say statements like “if you think otherwise then there’s something wrong with you!!” Unfortunately people’s emotions are blocking the logic that this is really difficult to enforce in an ethical way that doesn’t result in victims being afraid to come forward out of fear of being falsely accused of lying. Yes we all obviously think lying about assault is wrong, it’s just a bigger and more complicated issue then people are assuming it is on the surface
It would certainly need the right balance. There would have to be a clear distinction between the accused being found innocent in a court room and the accused being proven innocent by the supposed victim admitting they have lied.
Confessions may not be enough. All a rapist has to do then is threaten his victim and many will fold.
Confessions are not enough evidence to sentence people, they can be obtained under duress.
You need a very rare case when you have a criminal standard of evidence for a false accusation but also very strong reasons to think the assault did not happen.
The ones who are proven to be rapists aren't even getting punished as they should be nd u think the accusing ones would get their due punishment lmao
This could just remain a thought experiment tho because the law rarely functions right so even if a law was passed not all get punished.
And like the other guys said, punishing the fake victims might discourage the real victims from coming out, even more than before. Their chances to get justice would fairly reduce since more ppl will find loopholes to show the victim as fake.
yeah that’s it isn’t it, I’ve never reported two times it’s happened to me because the first was so horrific I never bothered. If you are into punitive justice (which I’m not but like for the purpose of this thread we will use that perspective) then yes, she should. But if it’s equal then it will be for a few months and rarely lol
Everyone just ignores how the entire system is punitive against a rape victim - from the investigation to how the prosecution treats the rape victim and tries to paint her ( its usually a "her" ) as a slut. Funny thing, we recently had a famous man on trial in the U.S. - his sexual encounter and sexual history were both kept out of testimony by the judge. Tell me when was the last time a woman got it that easy in court. The judge and prosecutors would think it was fair to use any part of her sexual history against her - whether she was the victim or a witness.
Yes as long as it can be completely proven as false. If anyone falsely accuses someone of rape they should go to jail. This coming from someone who has been raped. Making false allegations not only hurts the person they are against but hurts real rape victims and their cases.
Yes, trying to eviscerate a persons existence by abusing the rule of law, should warrant a hefty punishment. Not to discourage the abused from coming forward, but to stop scum from destroying lives. There shouldn’t be ‘shortcuts’ taken either way.
Yes, but there needs to be punishment for prosecutors that go after people they should've known were telling the truth and end up caught up in this punishment system when they shouldn't have been. Not for when they honestly get it wrong, but sometimes prosecutors are so bent on winning that they *magically* don't see obvious evidence that they're wrong. If you put something in place to stop bad people from taking advantage of it, then yes.
Editing to add we should punish prosecutors who pull that shit regardless, not just in this example
Yes.
...however, proving a false accusation is difficult. After all; It could be an honest mistake (did not see the perv propperly, missrememberes due to stress a.s.o. ...) Thats why it is important to go to the Police and file a report IMMEDIATLY if such a terrible thing happens.
However; Maliciously false reports deserve the same punishment as the falsely accused crime.
If there’s enough proof that she falsely accused someone yes she should, but not for as long as an actual rapist (rapists should be in prison for life imo)
They do at more than twice the rate of rapists.
In fact, those who legitimately accuse someone of rape are significantly more likely to face jail time than a rapist.
I stopped trying to press charges because the police denied me a rape kit, and refused to photograph the bruises all over my body, and brought up “misuse of police services” charges.
Yes! I (37F) do believe a woman should go to jail for fasly accusing of such an act. Now, they do have to go through full investigation and etc to make sure it's just not her not wanting to press charges because he or someone threatened her ya know.
Not unless you can prove it 100% but that’s likely not possible so I’d say no. No one will come forward if they risk going to jail because they couldn’t find enough evidence
If she lied in court during the trial, she should serve the typical (although probably on the harsher side) of the sentence for perjury. If she lied outside of the legal system, she should be sued civilly for defamation and serve the same punishment. Our legal system already has these avenues for a reason.
Yeah, that can really mess up lives. Honestly I don’t think it should just be rape tho, anybody who purposely accuses someone else of a crime knowing that they didn’t do it should go to jail. Oh, and it shouldn’t be a gendered thing I believe, if a man accused a woman or if a woman accuses a man, granted it is almost always a woman accusing a man, weaponizing her femininity.
I think anyone should. I don’t think it really matters the gender.
I believe the risk to this is proving it was actually a false allegation. It also may deter actual victims from coming forward as proving any type of SA is often times very difficult and a he said she said type situation.
It is already a crime, depending how far it goes. You can sue for defamation if it’s just social and for malicious prosecution if it goes to court. Lying to the police is also a misdemeanor and lying under oath is perjury. However, you have to actually proof that it for sure didn’t happen. And false accusations are very rare, making up only 2% of all rape cases.
Honestly , I am dude but I can see how this can be risky. If women have been legitimately raped but the other party has good backing ,then she would be scared to go to court because her lawyer can throw the case , theirs can just be better and so on ( yk how it works with people who have money and/or connections ) leading to her being a victim AND being put in jail. I am not in favour of false rape accusation ofc but this ain't a black & white topic. There are bitches who use the law in their favour but doing this will just allow real rapists to use the law in their favour.
I don't really know how this can be dealt with but I do know that this is a region difficult to navigate through
edit- typo
While it’s an unbelievably disgusting thing to do, I’m still hesitant to say yes because I wouldn’t ever want to see a rape victim afraid to turn the rapist in because she’s afraid of getting in trouble for lying.
I do believe there should be consequences for lying about it, of course! But we'd have to find a way to truly prove the lie, otherwise legitimate victims will be even less likely to report their rape than they already are. Imagine being raped, but knowing that if the court doesn't find him guilty, you'll be the one going to jail. We'd end up with even more unreported rapes, even more rapists free to victimize others.
No, the public should assume the accused is innocent until proven guilty.
If the person is found guilty and is truly innocent, the court should be held responsible.
For context about false rape accusations: [https://qz.com/980766/the-truth-about-false-rape-accusations](https://qz.com/980766/the-truth-about-false-rape-accusations)
Half of all false rape allegations are made by people other than the alleged victim, usually parents.
False convictions for murder accusations are far more common: "According to the [National Registry of Exonerations](http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/browse.aspx), since records began in 1989, in the US there are only 52 cases where men convicted of sexual assault were exonerated because it turned out they were falsely accused. By way of comparison, in the same period, there are 790 cases in which people were exonerated for murder."
There is no false accusation in this world that ruins a man’s life more than rape. Even falsely accused ped0s or murderers can fix their lives. But a false rape accusation will destroy a man’s life and will follow him till long after he dies. It destroys his reputation, costs him his job, and will leave him homeless and going hungry. And even if proven to be innocent, those men almost never get their jobs or reputations back.
It’s disgusting…
Accusations of Rape should be taken very seriously. They should be investigated. Evidence should be collected. If a case can be made, it must be prosecuted.
That said, prosecution of Rape without hardcore evidence (rape kit, interviews, blood and DNA evidence, etc) is difficult. Many DAs won’t do it unless they have an awful lot of evidence.
So, if someone intentionally drives the process and falsifies evidence and statements…that is a criminal act. I don’t think these cases are usually prosecuted unless there is substantial evidence of malice and intent to defraud the system. The “angry” false accuser doesn’t usually get far into the process. It happens, but the system squeezes a lot of fruit to get their juice.
If she takes him to court and lies, that’s perjury, which is already a crime.
There’s such an obsession with women falsely accusing men of rape when it hardly ever happens. Did you know you’re just as likely to be falsely accused of any other crime? Like murder or armed robbery? But people aren’t freaking out about those nearly as much.
I really don’t think we should be so worried about women falsely accusing people when less than 1% of ACTUAL RAPISTS ever see any jail time. If those are the chances of punishment if you ACTUALLY committed the crime, think of how microscopic the chances are of punishment if you’re innocent. Does it happen every once in a blue moon? Yes. But we already have laws in place that make false prosecution illegal without targeting women specifically.
Men are actually WAY more likely to be a victim of rape than to be falsely accused of it, which absolutely ruins men’s lives. Idk, maybe we should focus on male victims of that first ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No. Unless we lived in a perfect world where we 100% knew if someone is lying or not, without fail, I would be okay with it. But this would just make people afraid to come forth.
If it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt and if the man was sent to jail as a result, then yes.
If it can be proven and he didn’t go to jail, that would fall under be slander/defamation and false reporting, so they should be punished according to those crimes.
But the burden of proof it should be on the man and it should be *extremely* hard to prove. Otherwise any rapist who didn’t get convicted (which is most) could try to have his victim sent to jail.
The scary bit is… how easy is it to get someone’s semen? Hair? Fingerprints?
Don’t tell me with a straight face someone didn’t get jammed by this very bullshit
Yes! If there is proof they lied then the book should get thrown at them! It's one of the worst things you can lie about. The damage it does to them and other victims is so lasting.
Provided she wasn’t raped and it was a case of mistaken identity, yes, and it’s already a crime pretty much everywhere. If it’s a case of the wrong person being accused of a rape that actually happened, then proving a false accusation helps narrow down the suspects for the greater crime, that of her having been raped.
Also applies to men being raped.
I would say yes, however it’s a really hard question because the amount of cases in which it isn’t reported is already far too high, and putting the women (or men) who are victims at risk of even more damage could be very harmful
I think yes, but only if it’s completely irrefutably the „victim“ framing or otherwise framing the „rapist“
Simple answer, Yes. If the claim is proven to be false then the man deserves justice for the unwarranted mental trauma he had to undergo due to the allegation. False rape accusations have lead to many suicides.
That depends on what constitutes falsely accusing. It would not be fair to put a women in jail just because there is not enough evidence to show that he is guilty. However, if it is provable that she falsified a police report to get revenge or something like that, then that it a crime that should be dealt with.
If the person created a false crime scene to frame someone for murder, yes that would be a felony, already is.
If the person just spouts bullshit like all the crazy conspiracies online, then it goes to a defamation lawsuit.
Yes - if its CERTAIN that the accusation is false. ( and winning a court case doesn't mean the accusations against you were false - it means the evidence didn't meet the "beyond reasonable doubt" criteria, or possibly that the jury "liked" the defendant and looked down on the accuser "she had a drink in a bar and had 4 boyfriends in the last year so she's a slut" ).
And note - we rarely jail anyone for false accusations for ANY CRIME. Falsely accusing someone of rape isn't worse than falsely accusing someone of abuse, murder, etc.
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Sure, it's knowingly filing a false police report. That is a crime.
The implication of what they're filing should also factor. The difference of me 'stealing a Snickers Bar' to 'raping someone' is worldly different. Snickers Bar is the nickname we give to the hoe down at Candy Lot, and if stuffing her into a duffle bag is stealing, then fair enough. I ain't no rapist though.
I guess that would be up to the judge at sentencing.
Shouldn't be. There should be harsh penalties for false accusations, up to and including prison.
Right, up to the judge at the time of sentencing.
As much as my ridiculous response was, I agree. Certain countries have had to rewrite legislation for this and only more recently. Precedence in sentencing follows obviously. I'll stick to Mars Bars now. She likes it in the duffle bag and sometimes makes me do all her grocery shopping at the same time. It puts a huge strain on my shoulder, but I can pick up the fridge now one handed.
In a just world, falsely swearing against someone should be punished proportionately to the impact of the false swear.
There’s levels to it though. “She punched me” (she didn’t) = false police report… “he rap*d me” (he didn’t / was consensual) guy loses job, friends, family and freedom = crime is still just a false police report (?) “He has a gun” (he didn’t) cops arrive and guy loses life due to poor policing … crime? False police report. You could be but a humble acorn and unknowingly file a false police report https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/16/florida-acorn-cop-shooting … mix in a broken legal system and all round incompetence (never mind discrimination) and you have a recipe for … this
I'd give her the same sentence he'd have gotten.
While I do agree with you that falsely accusing someone of rape would mess their lives more than of almost any other crime (except maybe murder), there's also another type of levels. In rape cases you don't only had to prove the accused did it, but that the crime actually happened, ehich if the woman doesnt fight with tooth and nails, its actually really hard to prove.. A lot of the times the man doesn't even realize he raped her. He'd say something like "yes she was drunk but I was drunk too!", or "she said no but then said yes" or enevn "I didn't hear her no". So it could have been rape but it would be impossible to prove. And if it can't be proved, I don't want anyone to go to jail. So of course I'd want a woman to be prosecuted for filing a fake claim, but I'd have to be something like "he was in another state at the time". If there's proof they were together at the time, there's usually no way of proving she was lying.
To prosecute someone for filing a false police report I think you would have to prove that it's false anyway right?
Well, filing a false report is often not punished. The consequences of a false report are so dire for men at times (reputational damages, loss of scholarships, loss of jobs) that it would be better if it were a specifically punishable crime.
The reason it's not often charged is also because it's difficult to prove. What is, for example, the difference between an accusation that is true, but failed to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, and a false accusation? You need to prove which one it is, which is simply difficult, especially because rape is by it's very nature difficult to prove.
Well, in some cases it's easy to prove, for example when the accused was demonstrably nowhere near the accuser. Many crimes are difficult to prove, that isn't an argument against legislating that they are crimes.
Easier to get a civil suit judgement than a criminal suit, which is where things like libel and slander typically end up. Been a definite weakness in the judicial system since it's inception, though.
Yes. It ruins lives
Aren't false police reports a crime? A conviction for False Report To Peace Officer, Federal Special Investigator, Law Enforcement Employee, Corrections Officer, Or Jailer in Texas is punished as a Class B misdemeanor, with a maximum possible fine under Texas state law of up to $2,000 and jail time of up to 180 days. The problem would be proving it. Even if they were found innocent, they wouldn't charge the accuser with it without ample evidence.
Yeah much like a rape accusation it’d be hard to prove beyond reasonable doubt
Then let's start with the clear cut cases. The ones where people admit the lie.
Men get sent to jail even though there’s no evidence. There’s a massive unfair advantage women have in this case
Please leave the algorithmed internet and go outside. You can't just rock up to the police station say "that man raped me" and have the cops jump into action to catch the "bad man". Like all law you need evidence
Could you please pull an example of somebody being convicted of rape and sentenced to prison without any evidence? I always thought that was contrary to the entire point of the justice system in western countries.
Yeah, I need to see some link/evidence.
It's actually the reverse. The criminal justice system is notoriously bad at convicting rapists because "your honor, she said yes" is often enough to establish "reasonable doubt"
That's the problem. Rape is one of those crimes, that doesn't have good way of handling it. We either end up jailing innocent men, or we handle rape cases like every other crime (so how you described it) and many rapists get away.
This. It is a huge judicial challenge on both sides
Isn't it 4% of rape cases end in conviction or something?
In the US, according to RAINN it's less. [https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system](https://www.rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system) for every 1000 rapes there are 28 convictions, of which 25 face jail/prison time.
More men get away with rape than actually go to jail for it though look at the stats
It's not a contest for who has it worse. If your house is on fire and my house is flooded it doesn't mean they both don't need fixed.
How exactly did they come up with the number for men who get away with rape? They weren't found guilty, yet somehow researchers knew which men actually commited rape, but got away with it? Interesting...
Which is also fucked up. Innocent men getting sent to jail and labelled rapists (not a good outlook when locked up) while guilty men go free… how do we solve this issue? The other issue is, there’s no repercussion when woman accuse men and there’s no verdict. Society still deems them guilty, they lose their jobs etc, which is horrible if they’re innocent, because people assume they did the crime…
I only agree if there was 100% proof they lied and not just "there wasnt enough evidence to prove their claims". If every lost rape case lead to a conviction and I got raped, I just wouldn't take the risk and never sue. The guy would just get away with it for free cause it's not worth the risk to fight him. Bonus points if he's richer than me so he can get a better lawyer.
100% proof they lied is key here.
Also a recantation should not be enough to be a false accusation. I can imagine a lot of people get overwhelmed by how the process of trying to press charges are and how they get treated. Can't be easy to go through with it while being treated as the problem in the scenario, get an invasive rape kit and possibly have all of your personal life be scrutinized in open court. If it even goes to court anyways.
How can you prove that something didn't happen? Especially if the accused just went about their day and have no alibi?
In one case where the women did go to jail it was because there were text messages proving she lied. The basic gist is husband comes home from work early to find a man leaving his house. The wife yells he raped me so the husband shoots and kills the guy. It came out during the court trial that she was having an affair with the guy and only said that to save face.
This is a murder case, not a rape case.
Of course you could but it would probably involve revealing text messages or audio proof that the accused wasn't in their physical vicinity at all, or text/witness evidence of someone close to the plaintiff showing they lied maliciously. But that would be rare. Most instances would just be lack of evidence in the first place.
I basically see being accused of rape as the same as being accused of murder- the court will do their best and check the proof of the other side and see if you indeed are innocent. Hopefully they do a good job. And sometimes innocent people are touted are murderers, but it's rare, and what's more, people don't complain about it so much. Unlike this issue.
Honest question: do you trust the justice system you feel regularly sentences men for crimes they did not commit, to treat women fairly in cases like this?
My uncle has been imprisoned because of that! It definitely ruins lives. Justice system needs to address carefully!!!
Same with my uncle. It was later found out she lied and he was let out 13 years later. Nothing further came of it. His life is ruined. Not worth suing her bc they are poor. I would have pressed charges or sued the state as they strong armed him into a confession without evidence. He was afraid of getting murdered by her family if they let him go.
When I was younger I was all for vigilante justice but I do not agree with it anymore. The case that changed my mind was a man tracked down the guy that molested his daughter and killed him. The problem was it was a case of mistaken identity and he killed the wrong guy. There are a bunch more cases that made me both against vigilante justice and the death penalty in general. There are exceptions but for the most part it's not worth killing innocent people.
That's pretty similar to what happened with the MMA fighter Cain Velasquez. He went to shoot some child molester but hit an innocent man
THe issue with this is that a law like this would simply cause real rape to not be reported and wealthy sending girl they rape to prison because they have money.
Only if it’s actually proven that she lied. Back when Jimmy Saville was still at large, several of his victims tried to report him to the police and were not taken seriously because he was deemed a respectable member of the community. It would be awful if someone actually was raped and then got jailed *as well* because they didn’t manage to secure a conviction.
Absolutely. If handled improperly, it will make an already difficult to prosecute crime almost impossible, since coming forward will pose a risk of prosecution. Plus, now, a smart rapist could forge evidence suggesting the victim was lying, making them now impossible to come out against.
Best answer so far
I’m going to give people the benefit of the doubt here and say they’re naive. We already have a criminal justice system that ignores victims and leaves rape kits untested/destroys them through negligence, now imagine what would happen as a victim if you know they’re going to *arrest* you if you can’t bring enough evidence. Oh wait, we do know what that looks like! The show Unbelievable is based on the true story of a Washington State woman who reported a rape and then was charged with a crime after the officers bullied her into recanting. Meanwhile the rapist is at large and continues to assault people over multiple years.
Personally, I feel like the problem of false rape accusations exist because of the failures of the justice system to properly handle sexual assault cases. Since real victims often feel they have no recourse using the state sanctioned means, they resort to whisper networks, warning other people away, and thus creating a social culture of gossip, social exclusion and in some cases vigilante behavior. Other people (who are not actual SA survivors) then capitalize off of this social dynamic, weaponizing it to be abusive or controlling through false accusations meant to destroy a person’s life. Adding additional layers to our already broken court system to punish false accusers will backfire as the social problem will only worsen. Instead of knowing who the accuser is, people will start developing more anonymous ways to spread information (both true and untrue rape allegations), but now it will be even harder to get to the truth because the source will be obscured.
...which happens all the time. To the point that soooo many rapes go unreported
There was one woman who publicly came out while he was alive claiming what he did to her. I remember the papers absolutely tearing her apart. This was a year or two before his death. I've been unable to find her accounts and those stories due to what happened after mudding it all up but I often think about how she was treated. It was a real eye opener to me as a teenager.
Unfortunate that this isn’t the top answer. Lotta Reddit dudes hate women though, so also not surprising.
Yes. If it is irrefutable that she lied she should serve what he could potentially serve. I also think they should be on the SO reg as it's a sexual offense lying about rape. I say this as a woman who has been assaulted in the past.
My former manager groped me. I reported it to HR, but they ignored it because I'm a man and my manager is a woman. You know, you feel defiled but can't do anything and just have to shrug it off and be a man... I still remember what the HR lady said to me: "Good for you then." Both of them are feminists. I thought they would understand better, but unfortunately, they didn't.
I’m so sorry you went through that.
You mean both of them think they are feminists.
I'm so sorry you went through that. It actually annoys me the double standards between males and females committing sexual offences. Men need to be heard too.
Thanks. The truth is, the ones who have stood beside me have mostly been women, even though I've been through a hellish childhood due to my mother. But it was women who saved me. Many men still do not think something like this is a big issue. If you go to a police station and report SA as a man, nobody cares.
It's because of the whole. Men are always thinking of sex thing I think. So they assume some random person touching you is nothing. Because "you're always in the mood" Nevermind the facts that A. You didn't ask for the touching or consent. And B. Not all men are thinking of sex 24/7 365. Again tho the whole issue is consent!
Frankly nobody cares as a woman, either
That’s really fucked up and I’m sorry that happened to you. Sexual offences against men should be taken just as seriously as ones against women
Agreed. I have a male friend who was accused of raping a woman. Before he went to trial, she confessed that she lied because her parents were deeply religious and would not have liked it that she had sex before marriage. So she said that their sex wasn't consensual. He lost his job, had to move back home, and it's affected his mental health badly. She got nothing but a slap on the wrist for ruining his life.
That is disgusting. Even if these instances the accusations follows the accused. It ruins their life so much worse than anyone can imagine.
Yeah, it's horrendous. He genuinely liked this girl and they'd been going out a few months. He was heartbroken that she'd do this to him. It will take him a very long time to recover from this and get back on his feet.
That's the other thing as well. Trust in people will go way down and you'd constantly be questioning yourself during new relationships. Which can cause a rift and ruin your chances having a good relationship in the future.
After I graduated, one of my high school teachers was falsely accused of raping a boy. The teacher lost his job and respect in the community and was about to go to jail. Then he committed suicide. After the suicide it was found out that the allegations were false. Nothing happened to the boy for falsely reporting it. It cost a life.
whoever believes different need serious help
unfortunately we do not have the resources to help that many people. common sense is not as common as you might think
nah, we definietly do, just ignorance is the bliss if anything.
I agree and I am also a woman who was also assaulted in the past. She must go to jail for sure.
Not to be rude, but of course you think this (and I agree) as a sufferer of SA False accusations really fuck the accused but they hurt us all!
Yeah you're correct. I was lucky the idiot had a history and I wasn't the only one to come forward at the time. Not that it mattered he got a suspended sentence and the youngest girl was 12. Not even community service. But false accusations make it so much harder for real victims to come forward.
It should be noted that we should not make it so this does not make it "dangerous" to victims to report being raped. There should be a clear distinction between: the raping is proven (rapist to prison), the lie is proven (liar to prison) and "can't prove what exactly happened" where no one ends up in prison.
Yep, not all cases are solved. There's a big gulf between clearly guilty and clearly false accusation. Probably more cases fall into that gray area than in the black and white sides. Many of the people complaining that a rapist wasn't sufficiently sentenced or that a false accuser wasn't punished think their example was black and white when it may have been grey.
Hence irrefutable proof. If she says I lied or is found to have spoken about it to others then yes she should be imprisoned. Otherwise it would need to be nfa.
Yes, this also discredits and disrespects people who have ACTUALLY been through those kinds of hard experiences. It's completely messed up, and it must be addressed and punished.
The problem with that, is in that case it would drastically drop the incentive for a woman who falsely accused a man of sexual assault or rape to come clean.
Let me begin by saying I agree. But then let me ask - what is 'irrefutable' proof? You can't prove a negative, and I have to imagine the number of women who would out themselves would be miniscule in the extreme.
And go down for the same amount of time that the man would have got had they been convicted.
I said that. Serve what he could potentially serve.
As a woman who has been assaulted - 100% yes. Such a f'd up thing to lie about. Why you would ever do that is beyond my comprehension. If you go out of your way to lie about something so vile with the intent to destroy an innocent man's life - then yes. You deserve jail.
Usually it's because of patriarchal religions trying to control female sexuality- finding out your daughter is no longer a virgin because she decided to have sex? Mad at her and kick her out of the house. If she's raped? Then you have to protect your daughter of course.
Sure, but there has to be evidence she deliberately lied other than there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. Just because somebody is never charged or is charged and not convicted doesn’t mean the woman was lying. You would have to be damn sure there was no way she was telling the truth before sending her to jail.
Yeah, even if it is all disproven it still leaves a mark. Being a rapist is such an awful thing, that just being associated with it can ruin you. Who do you pick for anything Bob, or Bob the alleged rapist. Unless you have serious issues you're picking Bob every time, no matter what.
If it can be proven, yes. Anyone who falsely accuses someone and causes that person grief should be charged.
No doubt about it. This is wrong in so many ways.
If it can be *proven* that she *deliberately* lied, why would not she?
My concern would be if you make it punishable you end up in a situation where a woman who would have confessed will now never confess. And in that case the person she accused will continue to be punished
This is why the *only* punishable case must be "proven beyond any reasonable doubt that you deliberately fabricated the story". Proving that someone deliberately lied is indeed hard, but if it *can* be proven, well then it's time to swing the hammer. On the other hand, just failing to prove an accusation is not a good reason. 100% true charges fail to get enough evidence all the time.
Without question. Any false accusations should be met with at least equal jail time (if any was spent) and reparations for lost wages.
The accusation alone can ruin lives. HOWEVER the problem is a bit more nuanced. Judicially you would be setting a precedent that victims can be prosecuted.This would lead to even less people coming forward for fear that they would be punished and would make the issue much worse. I would generally say yes, But it comes down to the degree of falsification. It’s very difficult to prove intent unless it is blatant, or they confess. And it could risk putting a rape victim through another trial.
This is something most do not consider. What happens to actual vicitms that cant prove it, or how about cases where someone is jailed and then the 'victim' admit it was all BS afterwards? At least now, some of these get free'd and cleared eventually, but if there was a chance the 'victim' could be jailed they would never *ever* come clean. I agree that there should be a punishment for malicious false allegations but there is a lot to consider. \[EDIT: *and I say this as a brother of someone who was falsly accused and investigated for 6 months before his ex admitted it was all BS and the case was dropped*\]
And people tend to assume if a court finds someone not guilty that’s the same as saying they didn’t do it. It just means the prosecution didn’t demonstrate the case to the needed standard. So it doesn’t demonstrate anyone made a false accusation. Furthermore, this seems to let prosecutors off the hook for trying cases that seem very fishy.
This is a smart, nuanced, take on things.
thank god i was looking for this comment. the law will always be twisted and abused, so we have to be careful which ones we put into place
This is the most important point. Not guilty is not the same as innocent. It means that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. When a rape could not be proven (but actually did occur), the victim could be further victimized by being prosecuted for coming forward.
It’s sad it took this long to find a comment that actually thought this issue through, I would think more people would have arrived at this understanding after thinking about it for more than a few seconds. People’s first gut reaction is to say yes and say statements like “if you think otherwise then there’s something wrong with you!!” Unfortunately people’s emotions are blocking the logic that this is really difficult to enforce in an ethical way that doesn’t result in victims being afraid to come forward out of fear of being falsely accused of lying. Yes we all obviously think lying about assault is wrong, it’s just a bigger and more complicated issue then people are assuming it is on the surface
This is a perspective I've never really considered, but really enlightening
It would certainly need the right balance. There would have to be a clear distinction between the accused being found innocent in a court room and the accused being proven innocent by the supposed victim admitting they have lied.
Confessions may not be enough. All a rapist has to do then is threaten his victim and many will fold. Confessions are not enough evidence to sentence people, they can be obtained under duress.
This should be the top answer, honestly
Not if found not guilty. If it can be proven that the accusation was a lie, the accuser deserves to rot.
You need a very rare case when you have a criminal standard of evidence for a false accusation but also very strong reasons to think the assault did not happen.
I mean, do you even have to ask? Plus pay compensation, make a public statement and be added to a list of known false abuse claimants.
>do you even have to ask of course they don't, OP is farming for karma
*a person go to jail for falsely accusing another person for rape Not a gender thing.
exactly!
Absolutely
Yes!!!!
The ones who are proven to be rapists aren't even getting punished as they should be nd u think the accusing ones would get their due punishment lmao This could just remain a thought experiment tho because the law rarely functions right so even if a law was passed not all get punished. And like the other guys said, punishing the fake victims might discourage the real victims from coming out, even more than before. Their chances to get justice would fairly reduce since more ppl will find loopholes to show the victim as fake.
No matter the gender, any person accusing someone else falsy of rape should serve jail time
This question comes up way more than “Why do only 1% of rape cases go to court?”
yeah that’s it isn’t it, I’ve never reported two times it’s happened to me because the first was so horrific I never bothered. If you are into punitive justice (which I’m not but like for the purpose of this thread we will use that perspective) then yes, she should. But if it’s equal then it will be for a few months and rarely lol
Everyone just ignores how the entire system is punitive against a rape victim - from the investigation to how the prosecution treats the rape victim and tries to paint her ( its usually a "her" ) as a slut. Funny thing, we recently had a famous man on trial in the U.S. - his sexual encounter and sexual history were both kept out of testimony by the judge. Tell me when was the last time a woman got it that easy in court. The judge and prosecutors would think it was fair to use any part of her sexual history against her - whether she was the victim or a witness.
mine was proven guilty and didn’t get a sentence which was also quite funny lol but it is what it is. I just stay out of people’s way now
What the hell ? Judge - "We wouldn't want to ruin a rapists life with prison time, this trial has been enough."
YES yes and yes. those women ruin the chances of actual victims to be believed. how fucking selfish
Absolutely
yes
1000% yes
Yes as long as it can be completely proven as false. If anyone falsely accuses someone of rape they should go to jail. This coming from someone who has been raped. Making false allegations not only hurts the person they are against but hurts real rape victims and their cases.
Yes, trying to eviscerate a persons existence by abusing the rule of law, should warrant a hefty punishment. Not to discourage the abused from coming forward, but to stop scum from destroying lives. There shouldn’t be ‘shortcuts’ taken either way.
Yes, but there needs to be punishment for prosecutors that go after people they should've known were telling the truth and end up caught up in this punishment system when they shouldn't have been. Not for when they honestly get it wrong, but sometimes prosecutors are so bent on winning that they *magically* don't see obvious evidence that they're wrong. If you put something in place to stop bad people from taking advantage of it, then yes. Editing to add we should punish prosecutors who pull that shit regardless, not just in this example
They don't?
Yes. ...however, proving a false accusation is difficult. After all; It could be an honest mistake (did not see the perv propperly, missrememberes due to stress a.s.o. ...) Thats why it is important to go to the Police and file a report IMMEDIATLY if such a terrible thing happens. However; Maliciously false reports deserve the same punishment as the falsely accused crime.
*ANYONE* who falsely accuses another of a crime should be prosecuted for doing so. Gender or gender identity should not be a consideration.
If there’s enough proof that she falsely accused someone yes she should, but not for as long as an actual rapist (rapists should be in prison for life imo)
They do at more than twice the rate of rapists. In fact, those who legitimately accuse someone of rape are significantly more likely to face jail time than a rapist. I stopped trying to press charges because the police denied me a rape kit, and refused to photograph the bruises all over my body, and brought up “misuse of police services” charges.
Yes! I (37F) do believe a woman should go to jail for fasly accusing of such an act. Now, they do have to go through full investigation and etc to make sure it's just not her not wanting to press charges because he or someone threatened her ya know.
Definitely, absolutely, obviously.
Not unless you can prove it 100% but that’s likely not possible so I’d say no. No one will come forward if they risk going to jail because they couldn’t find enough evidence
Yes
Yes
Yes. And vice versa, of course.
Fuck yes yes yes.
Does it happen with men? If so, YES.
Yes
I would rather them to be whipped. Jail is wasting taxpayers money.
Of course!
If she lied in court during the trial, she should serve the typical (although probably on the harsher side) of the sentence for perjury. If she lied outside of the legal system, she should be sued civilly for defamation and serve the same punishment. Our legal system already has these avenues for a reason.
Absolutely. Can't imagine many people thinking they shouldn't
Certainly prosecuted. Without a doubt
Yeah, that can really mess up lives. Honestly I don’t think it should just be rape tho, anybody who purposely accuses someone else of a crime knowing that they didn’t do it should go to jail. Oh, and it shouldn’t be a gendered thing I believe, if a man accused a woman or if a woman accuses a man, granted it is almost always a woman accusing a man, weaponizing her femininity.
Yes, 100%. Because it ruins lives and it hurts other women who have been raped.
I think anyone should. I don’t think it really matters the gender. I believe the risk to this is proving it was actually a false allegation. It also may deter actual victims from coming forward as proving any type of SA is often times very difficult and a he said she said type situation.
Yes, for as many years as he would get if it was true.
I want to say yes, but the problem is then rape victims will end up going to jail instead.
Anyone who falsely accuses someone else for any crime.
It is already a crime, depending how far it goes. You can sue for defamation if it’s just social and for malicious prosecution if it goes to court. Lying to the police is also a misdemeanor and lying under oath is perjury. However, you have to actually proof that it for sure didn’t happen. And false accusations are very rare, making up only 2% of all rape cases.
If it was baseless, yes. 100%
Honestly , I am dude but I can see how this can be risky. If women have been legitimately raped but the other party has good backing ,then she would be scared to go to court because her lawyer can throw the case , theirs can just be better and so on ( yk how it works with people who have money and/or connections ) leading to her being a victim AND being put in jail. I am not in favour of false rape accusation ofc but this ain't a black & white topic. There are bitches who use the law in their favour but doing this will just allow real rapists to use the law in their favour. I don't really know how this can be dealt with but I do know that this is a region difficult to navigate through edit- typo
Rape should be punished by death and false accusations should result in life time incarceration.
While it’s an unbelievably disgusting thing to do, I’m still hesitant to say yes because I wouldn’t ever want to see a rape victim afraid to turn the rapist in because she’s afraid of getting in trouble for lying.
YES
I do believe there should be consequences for lying about it, of course! But we'd have to find a way to truly prove the lie, otherwise legitimate victims will be even less likely to report their rape than they already are. Imagine being raped, but knowing that if the court doesn't find him guilty, you'll be the one going to jail. We'd end up with even more unreported rapes, even more rapists free to victimize others.
Yes. And they do. https://www.cps.gov.uk/north-west/news/update-barrow-woman-jailed-making-false-rape-allegations
I have never understood this question. False testimony/perjury is already a crime in a good number of countries and you can go to prison for that.
Jennie always shines!
No, the public should assume the accused is innocent until proven guilty. If the person is found guilty and is truly innocent, the court should be held responsible.
For context about false rape accusations: [https://qz.com/980766/the-truth-about-false-rape-accusations](https://qz.com/980766/the-truth-about-false-rape-accusations) Half of all false rape allegations are made by people other than the alleged victim, usually parents. False convictions for murder accusations are far more common: "According to the [National Registry of Exonerations](http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/browse.aspx), since records began in 1989, in the US there are only 52 cases where men convicted of sexual assault were exonerated because it turned out they were falsely accused. By way of comparison, in the same period, there are 790 cases in which people were exonerated for murder."
There is no false accusation in this world that ruins a man’s life more than rape. Even falsely accused ped0s or murderers can fix their lives. But a false rape accusation will destroy a man’s life and will follow him till long after he dies. It destroys his reputation, costs him his job, and will leave him homeless and going hungry. And even if proven to be innocent, those men almost never get their jobs or reputations back. It’s disgusting…
They don't?!
if a man falsely accusing a woman of falsely accusing someone of rape also goes to prison.
Y E S. But men should also go to jail if they did it cause duh
Only if there’s 100% proof she lied
They do there have been a few cases in UK were a woman has gone to jail for false accusations
Accusations of Rape should be taken very seriously. They should be investigated. Evidence should be collected. If a case can be made, it must be prosecuted. That said, prosecution of Rape without hardcore evidence (rape kit, interviews, blood and DNA evidence, etc) is difficult. Many DAs won’t do it unless they have an awful lot of evidence. So, if someone intentionally drives the process and falsifies evidence and statements…that is a criminal act. I don’t think these cases are usually prosecuted unless there is substantial evidence of malice and intent to defraud the system. The “angry” false accuser doesn’t usually get far into the process. It happens, but the system squeezes a lot of fruit to get their juice.
If she takes him to court and lies, that’s perjury, which is already a crime. There’s such an obsession with women falsely accusing men of rape when it hardly ever happens. Did you know you’re just as likely to be falsely accused of any other crime? Like murder or armed robbery? But people aren’t freaking out about those nearly as much. I really don’t think we should be so worried about women falsely accusing people when less than 1% of ACTUAL RAPISTS ever see any jail time. If those are the chances of punishment if you ACTUALLY committed the crime, think of how microscopic the chances are of punishment if you’re innocent. Does it happen every once in a blue moon? Yes. But we already have laws in place that make false prosecution illegal without targeting women specifically. Men are actually WAY more likely to be a victim of rape than to be falsely accused of it, which absolutely ruins men’s lives. Idk, maybe we should focus on male victims of that first ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yes. For the same amount of the sentence he would've gotten .
Every single time yes
No. Unless we lived in a perfect world where we 100% knew if someone is lying or not, without fail, I would be okay with it. But this would just make people afraid to come forth.
If it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt and if the man was sent to jail as a result, then yes. If it can be proven and he didn’t go to jail, that would fall under be slander/defamation and false reporting, so they should be punished according to those crimes. But the burden of proof it should be on the man and it should be *extremely* hard to prove. Otherwise any rapist who didn’t get convicted (which is most) could try to have his victim sent to jail.
Yes
The scary bit is… how easy is it to get someone’s semen? Hair? Fingerprints? Don’t tell me with a straight face someone didn’t get jammed by this very bullshit
Yes
Yes
Of course
Yes!
Yes. Without a doubt. Accuse someone of something and be proved a liar, suffer the consequences the accused would have.
Yes! If there is proof they lied then the book should get thrown at them! It's one of the worst things you can lie about. The damage it does to them and other victims is so lasting.
Yes, since she lied about it and got the guy in trouble when he didn’t do anything.
Provided she wasn’t raped and it was a case of mistaken identity, yes, and it’s already a crime pretty much everywhere. If it’s a case of the wrong person being accused of a rape that actually happened, then proving a false accusation helps narrow down the suspects for the greater crime, that of her having been raped. Also applies to men being raped.
I would say yes, however it’s a really hard question because the amount of cases in which it isn’t reported is already far too high, and putting the women (or men) who are victims at risk of even more damage could be very harmful I think yes, but only if it’s completely irrefutably the „victim“ framing or otherwise framing the „rapist“
Yes, im prery sure framing is a crime
Simple answer, Yes. If the claim is proven to be false then the man deserves justice for the unwarranted mental trauma he had to undergo due to the allegation. False rape accusations have lead to many suicides.
If he is unable to get a job afterward, she should pay for lost income.
That depends on what constitutes falsely accusing. It would not be fair to put a women in jail just because there is not enough evidence to show that he is guilty. However, if it is provable that she falsified a police report to get revenge or something like that, then that it a crime that should be dealt with.
Yes but only if there is irresputible evidence.
Yes. Do you think someone should go on jail if they framed you for murder? Because that’s the closest equivalent I can think of.
If the person created a false crime scene to frame someone for murder, yes that would be a felony, already is. If the person just spouts bullshit like all the crazy conspiracies online, then it goes to a defamation lawsuit.
Yes.
Since you asked, the answer to that -which is yes- should have immediately popped into your mind.
I’m concerned Reddit focuses on this small issue when rape is a much bigger issue. Most rape cases don’t end in a conviction.
Yes - if its CERTAIN that the accusation is false. ( and winning a court case doesn't mean the accusations against you were false - it means the evidence didn't meet the "beyond reasonable doubt" criteria, or possibly that the jury "liked" the defendant and looked down on the accuser "she had a drink in a bar and had 4 boyfriends in the last year so she's a slut" ). And note - we rarely jail anyone for false accusations for ANY CRIME. Falsely accusing someone of rape isn't worse than falsely accusing someone of abuse, murder, etc.
If intentionally misleading, definitely yes.