Protecting victims of false rape allegations

[mrmitchell]

If it can be determined beyond a doubt the false accuser did it out of spite, vengence, or intent on wrongdoing, then, yes, they should have the **** beat out of them. Our society doesn't need to waste its time on *****es like that.

(Remember, however, "beyond a doubt". )

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by yavoon
arguing the conclusion isn't very interesting. what I said was true. feminists have championed a sense of extraordinary victimization in rape victims.

And as I pointed out, you are completely and totally wrong in this statement. This is a conservative lie. It flies in the face of both historical reality and the reality of the rest of the world where feminism has no influence at all. All one has to do is open one's eyes.

What happens to rape victims in Palestine? What happens to rape victims in India? What happens to rape victims in Mexico? What happens to rape victims in Great Britain? What happens to rape victims in the US? In which countries do feminists have any influence at all? Which countries call women who are raped survivors? Which countries call them sluts? Which countries say they've brought dishonor on their families?

I also think u r attributing anyone who cares about women to the "feminist movement." or any center that offers free counseling. This is much too broad a scope to take.

As in skywalkers case, you are arguing a point withtout historical perspective. To say that if left to conservatives, things would still be the same as thirty years ago is absolutly true, and says little about what conseravtives think today.

The fact that today, most people agree that rape counceling centers should exist in no way invalidates the fact that it was feminists who started and pushed for these services and who also largely staff them.

I support free counseling

How nice of you.

and I am not feminist.

You don't believe women are equal to men?

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by mrmitchell
(Remember, however, "beyond a doubt". )

No, beyond a reasonable doubt.

[mrmitchell]

Damnit, Che, why are you always correcting me on technicalities!??

[yavoon]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


And as I pointed out, you are completely and totally wrong in this statement. This is a conservative lie. It flies in the face of both historical reality and the reality of the rest of the world where feminism has no influence at all. All one has to do is open one's eyes.

What happens to rape victims in Palestine? What happens to rape victims in India? What happens to rape victims in Mexico? What happens to rape victims in Great Britain? What happens to rape victims in the US? In which countries do feminists have any influence at all? Which countries call women who are raped survivors? Which countries call them sluts? Which countries say they've brought dishonor on their families?

I also think u r attributing anyone who cares about women to the "feminist movement." or any center that offers free counseling. This is much too broad a scope to take.

As in skywalkers case, you are arguing a point withtout historical perspective. To say that if left to conservatives, things would still be the same as thirty years ago is absolutly true, and says little about what conseravtives think today.

The fact that today, most people agree that rape counceling centers should exist in no way invalidates the fact that it was feminists who started and pushed for these services and who also largely staff them.

I support free counseling

How nice of you.

and I am not feminist.

You don't believe women are equal to men?

proggressive social issues does not lead one to feminism. equality of the sexes doesn't either. u obviously want to encapture anyone who isnt a fundy religious person as a feminist. aint going to happen.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara I'm old enough to remember when this was the norm, when women who were raped probably deserved it, when wifes couldn't be raped by their husbands because they owed it to their husbands. At each point along the way, it was conservatives who were screaming bloody murder against changing our perceptions of the victims and survivors of rape. Don't act like because we finally got it through your thick skuls that no woman deserves to be raped, that your side thought this all along. You're Johnny-come-latelys.

Had it been left to conservatives nothing would have changed. That's why you're called conservatives.

When did I claim that there weren't conservatives that opposed rape law reform or whatever? However, you are AGAIN just making a random generalization that all conservatives would have opposed it - which is immensely rude, insulting, and STUPID. "You're Johnny-come-latelys." Yeah, I used to believe that those laws were bad until I reformed. Except for the little tiny detail about not having been born yet. I bet this could apply to many people on these boards. Moreover, I'd bet the VAST MAJORITY of the conservatives on these boards were and are in favor of rape being a crime.

"Had it been left to conservatives nothing would have changed." No, had it been left to EXTREME FANATICAL RIGHT-WING CONSERVATIVES, nothing would have changed. There are also extreme fanatical left-wing liberal feminists. However, no one in their right mind would leave things up to either group.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara

and I am not feminist.

You don't believe women are equal to men?

Wow, now you're saying that if I'm not a feminist, I'm support gender segregation? Wow, I guess I'm a Nazi too because, you know, the Nazi's were conservative and I also happen to be conservative (oh, just ignore the fact that my dad's Jewish). Or maybe I'm a capitalist pig because my dad's a lawyer and is upper-middle-class (ignoring that my great-grandfather was an impoverished immigrant). Or perhaps I'm a rapist, because I'm a guy and rapists are ALWAYS guys, as we all know.

Stop spewing crap.

[monkspider]

I have to agree Che, not to boil your blood or anything, but supporting equality for women /= being a feminist. Why not just support equality for all with socialism? Feminism is superfluous and potentially bad.

[Kuciwalker]

Yeah, sorry for the rant, but I get really pissed when people start randomly attributing beliefs/behaviors/ideals to me, ESPECIALLY when it's false.

[Proteus_MST]

I think there can only be an answer to it (for Males),
don´t have Sex and always have some witnessea with you, if you talk to a woman.

Unless of course, you really really trust the Woman.
Especially in Countrys where it is easy to accuse someone of Sexual Harassment or Rape.

I´m exaggerating a bit,
but somehow it seems to be the only way to make sure,
that incidents like those mentioned don´t happen.

I don´t think the Laws should be altered, though.
But as someone other already mentioned, the Public has the unpleasnat Habit of seeing someone accused of Rape as guilty, even if the case hasn´t been decided yet.
And even if you have been proven Innocnet, a lot of People will still think you are guilty, especially if the Newspapers make large headline of the Case while it still seems you are guilty and then, when you are proven to be innocent, just mention it with a small article on the last page.

[Kuciwalker]

Are you the haiku guy, or another haiku guy?

EDIT: lol, just read my post

[Sprayber]

It's always gonna be hard to walk that line. Like some have said, there is a difference between a false accusation and the prosecutor not being able to prove a case because of evidence.

I think the current laws on perjury and making false claims to police are suffcient. Perhaps the penalities for such offenses should be reviewed and possibly raised.

As for the media. I don't think its going to happen. Think of it this way. What would the general public think if the police arrested a suspect in a series of brutal rapes, does anyone really believe that the public will not want to know who that was and the circumstances immediately. They are not going to wait for six months to a year for the court system to grind its way to a resolution. It's just not going to happen that way. There is far too much interest in those types of cases.

[Proteus_MST]

Originally posted by Sprayber
It's always gonna be hard to walk that line. Like some have said, there is a difference between a false accusation and the prosecutor not being able to prove a case because of evidence.

I think the current laws on perjury and making false claims to police are suffcient. Perhaps the penalities for such offenses should be reviewed and possibly raised.

As for the media. I don't think its going to happen. Think of it this way. What would the general public think if the police arrested a suspect in a series of brutal rapes, does anyone really believe that the public will not want to know who that was and the circumstances immediately. They are not going to wait for six months to a year for the court system to grind its way to a resolution. It's just not going to happen that way. There is far too much interest in those types of cases.

There maybe also a difference between a false Accusation and a real Accusation.
if there really is a rape there might be much less danger,
that (if you are accused to be the rapist, but found innocent) the Public still believes that you are guilty if the real Rapist is found (although people initially believe you are guilty).

But if there are just false Accusations it is difficult. The people might think that you maybe just have been set free because of a lack of evidence, or something else (the things you mentioned in your posting).

There were some Cases in Germany where people have been falsely accused of Child abuse.
For example in one case there was a father who was accused of asbusing his own daughter (because a female Psychologist was convinced that certain Pictures which the daughter drew indicate that the father must have abused her).
The Father was, in the End, found absolutely innocent and there were no indications, that the things the Psychologist believed were true.
Despite all of this the father lost his job and not regained it, as it was proven that he was innocent and the family had to leave their hometown (a small town with maybe a few thousand Inhabitants), because the Neighbours still believed, despite the court absolutely clearly saying, tat he was innocent, that the father is guilty.

There were other, likely cases were such Accusations destroyed the Life of people.
It is always sad to see such things.

And yes, there should be grave Penalties, if you falsely accuse someone of a crim, especially if it can be proven, that you have intentionally done so (and not, for example have mistaken Person A for Person B or the like).

[yavoon]

Originally posted by Sprayber
It's always gonna be hard to walk that line. Like some have said, there is a difference between a false accusation and the prosecutor not being able to prove a case because of evidence.

I think the current laws on perjury and making false claims to police are suffcient. Perhaps the penalities for such offenses should be reviewed and possibly raised.

As for the media. I don't think its going to happen. Think of it this way. What would the general public think if the police arrested a suspect in a series of brutal rapes, does anyone really believe that the public will not want to know who that was and the circumstances immediately. They are not going to wait for six months to a year for the court system to grind its way to a resolution. It's just not going to happen that way. There is far too much interest in those types of cases.

there is also the ideal that many ppl share that the court system should be an open process. open to the public for scrutiny.

[Shi Huangdi]

Che needs to take a chill pill. It's one thing to disagree with someone, another thing to viciously attack them. Just because you hate someone's ideas doesn't mean you have to hate the person.

Anyway, it seems most people on this thread, left and right, have come to the conclusion the best solution is to harshly punish those who make false accusations of rape. There is a problem with that, is that proving that the act was consensual would be just as difficult if not more that the act wasn't consensual. The good majority of rape cases are dismissed because it is hard to prove. So while if we do ever find out for sure there was a false accusation(there'd probably have to be a confession), then yes the woman should go to jail for probably as long as the man would had he been convicted.

Still, it seems to have been clear that women have a weapon at their disposal that they can cause grevious harm to any many simply by making an accusation, I think we must be sure to take this weapon away from women. Defendants should be given an option of a public trial, but in prejudicial cases where the defendant faces severe damage just by the accusation I think he should be given an option to remain anonymus. In the USA this would be difficult, but hopefully Britain can fairly easily change the law to make this so. Also, I think people accused of rape should not be subject to automatic arrest as it seems they currently area. DNA testing should only be done if the question is whether they had sex, not if it was consensual.

Above all, criminal cases of rape should never go forward IMO if it is a mere matter of "He Said, She Said". Their must be more evidence before proceeding, and until convicted the courts need to truly make an effort to treat the accused an innocent.