Q4All: Is there a greater bias for believing rape accusers or disbelieving them in society?

I was prompted to ask this question when I saw this story on the front page recently, but it’s obviously not the only example. The UVA scandal, Columbia Mattress Girl, the Duke Lacrosse Team, the Yovino case, Brian Banks’ case—there have been quite a few examples of cases lately wherein the accusations have been either proven false or shown to be so meritless that they are functionally viewed as false.

Now, the standard argument against false accusations as a topic worthy of attention is that they are rare (people usually cite the 2-10% statistic). I dispute that statistic or at least what people seem to take from it, but that’s not really the point of this post. I mention it simply to encourage people not to bring that up, because it’s not really relevant, and if you do, please explain why it is relevant to the question I’m asking.

There is evidence from the past that suggests women face too much skepticism from police officers when reporting rape, and some people claim that nothing has really changed on that front, and that rape victims still tend not to be believed when they report or make accusations. Moreover, there are examples like the Steubenville case, wherein a town appeared to rally behind the rapists instead of the victims.

However, I think cases like those I mentioned above provide good evidence that the public is all too willing to believe accusers based on their testimony alone, and that this extends at least somewhat into important organizational arenas, such as schools, news outlets, and employers (although it could be argued they’re just protecting their immediate reputations from a business standpoint, they almost never claim this as the reason for termination, and use rhetoric that suggests at least tacit endorsement of the accusations’ validity).

So, I put this up for debate: do we live in a society that has a bias for believing accusers or a bias for being skeptical of them? Obviously, this isn’t necessarily a black-and-white question, and biases may be different in different sectors of society—that’s all fair to discuss as well, and I welcome arguments about it.

Anyway, discuss.