Ever since the Julian Assange rape accusations, I have been trying to discuss false rape accusations with people, and I have noticed something strange. Most liberal or left-leaning people agree 100% with the idea that a reasonable and fair justice system is supposed to give the presumption of innocence to the accused. "It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" is the commonly used expression.

However, all that caution goes out the window the moment the R-word is spoken. Suddenly, the accused is guilty unless proven innocent ; and even if he is cleared of all charges, the false accuser is given the benefit of the doubt and walks of scott-free most of the time because doing otherwise would undermine future victims.

That's it, I don't have anymore insight regarding this. Just wanted to discuss this insanity with you people.

EDIT : I guess I'm wondering if any of you have any specific approach to this discussion. Most of the time I try to do an analogy with another violent crime, and I get people to acknowledge the absurdity of the scenario, but when I bring it back to the rape scenario, somehow "it's different" and "you can't compare the two".