http://archive.is/C1HJi#selection-1051.0-1051.68

Yet surveys suggest that this year-long storm of allegations, confessions and firings has actually made Americans more sceptical about sexual harassment. In the first week of November 2017, YouGov polled 1,500 Americans about their attitudes on the matter, on behalf of The Economist. In the final week of September 2018, it conducted a similar poll again. When it came to questions about the consequences of sexual assault and misconduct, there was a small but clear shift against victims.

The share of American adults responding that men who sexually harassed women at work 20 years ago should keep their jobs has risen from 28% to 36%. The proportion who think that women who complain about sexual harassment cause more problems than they solve has grown from 29% to 31%. And 18% of Americans now think that false accusations of sexual assault are a bigger problem than attacks that go unreported or unpunished, compared with 13% in November last year. (According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Centre, an American non-profit organisation, 63% of sexual assaults are not reported to police, whereas between 2% and 10% of assault cases are falsely reported.)

Surprisingly, these changes in opinion against victims have been slightly stronger among women than men. Rather than breaking along gendered lines, the #MeToo divide increasingly appears to be a partisan one. On each of these three questions, the gap between Trump and Clinton voters is at least six times greater than the one between genders.

I found it interesting that women are breaking ranks so-to-speak and dropping support for supposed victims at slightly stronger rates than men. Recently, there has been a few high profile un-provable or outright false accusations that appears to have done damage to the movement.

Kavanaugh is one. But I think lower profile cases such as the "Mean Girls" case is highlighting the damage that can be done to the victims of false accusations and the problematic outcomes inherent to believing any allegation.

https://torontosun.com/news/world/mean-girls-face-lawsuit-over-false-sex-allegations-against-teen

The girls—dubbed "mean girls" in the lawsuit, a reference to the 2004 Lindsay Lohan film—admitted on tape that they made up the assault story. One said, "I just don't like him" and "[I] would do anything to get him expelled," according to The Toronto Sun.

The false allegations were life-derailing for the accused, who is referred to as "T.F." in the lawsuit. On October 3, 2017, one of the girls told other students that T.F. had sexually assaulted her at a pool; a Seneca Valley guidance counselor overheard the accusation, and reported it to Childline, the state's child abuse prevention agency, as required by law. T.F. was swiftly charged with indecent assault and harassment, and received six months of probation as part of a plea deal.

Months later, in March of 2018, T.F. was again falsely accused, according to the lawsuit. Another girl invited him over to a house party; a few days later, she told the school guidance counselor that T.F. had broken into her home and sexually assaulted her. The lawsuit claims she was coached by T.F.'s first accuser. As a result of this accusation, T.F. was charged with assault and criminal trespassing. He was removed from school in leg and wrist shackles, and spent 9 days in juvenile detention.

Q4All: Do you believe false or un-provable allegations are causing the drop in support for alleged rape victims?

Q4All: Why do you think American opinion has shifted against "victims?"

Article discussion too.