ELI5: How do false rape accusations get prosecuted and get people convicted?

civilsaint · 2016-07-15T22:57:41+00:00

The problem with rape accusations, investigations, and prosecutions today is that rape has become a politically hot topic. DAs are in a political position, so they want to be seen as tough on rape if they hope to keep their jobs.

There are many factors that are coming together now that are making it ripe for false allegations. First of all, in the '90s, it started coming to the public's attention how poorly cops were handling rape. There was a public backlash, police were trained in certain methods to handle rape, they opened SVUs in each department, they coordinated directly with Women's Advocacy groups, etc. Police were trained to take all accusations seriously, and eventually trained in the 'victim-centric' model, which basically means to believe the accuser no matter what. This instructs police to not investigate evidence which shows the complainant is lying, to limit the number of interviews so that the defense can't show discrepancies between them; in other words, limiting what they can investigate.

At the same time as this is happening, the term 'rape' took on a whole new meaning. The word 'forcible' was removed from the FBI's definition. There was no requirement for the complainant to show that she resisted. What this did is basically removed the need for physical evidence to get a conviction.

Rape kits usually add nothing, because most acquaintance rapes are not a question of whether sex happened, but rather consent. This means that two people can have consensual sex, then the woman (I have yet to see a case where a man falsely accused a woman) can get mad because the guy doesn't want a relationship or was with another woman, or she wants to hide infidelity, and all she has to do is say she didn't consent, and the legal process begins.

Really, the only defense a man has is to prove he wasn't present during the alleged incident or have it recorded. It's nearly impossible to prove a negative. How do you protect yourself? You really can't. It's just the luck of the draw. It's like protecting yourself from an identity thief. You can take all the precautions you want, but the waiter can scan your card before he brings back the receipt. Not much you can do. Choose your friends carefully is the best you can do.

Depending on the jurisdiction, some DAs will just press for prosecution of all rape cases unless the defense has very compelling evidence to the contrary. DAs often overlook the weakness of evidence in rape cases for fear that they don't prosecute one and the guy goes on to rape another person. This is why the conviction rate for rape is so abysmal. DAs would rather waste the court's time on a case with no evidence than risk the ire of feminist groups. Look at what happened to the Stanford judge.

As for convictions, these mostly happen when the accuser doesn't know the suspect. In these cases, juries are more likely to convict in general. The defendant has a tough time building a defense against a person that they don't know.

As for innocent until proven guilty, the allegation is used as 'proof' that the suspect is guilty, so that flies out the window early on in rape cases. There is a strong bias in the legal system. Technically, a woman cannot rape a man, even if he is sleeping and she forces him to penetrate her. This is generally a much less severe crime.

Radical feminist groups have political power, and they have strong-armed police forces and DAs to not investigate or prosecute false accusations. This isn't some conspiracy theory; they gladly admit to this in the press. They usually claim that since rape is so underreported, we should let women destroy innocent men's lives with impunity.

Want studies? There are none. The FBI stopped reporting data on false accusations in 1997. Gee, I wonder why.

cld8 · 2016-07-15T23:25:17+00:00

While we like to think that the judicial system is fair, the reality is that judges are just people and bring their inherent biases with them when they go to work each morning. In theory, you need proof beyond a reasonable doubt to convict someone of a crime, but yet there are plenty of men found guilty of rapes that they didn't commit. Feminists have taught people to believe the victim and not question her. When it comes to false rape accusations, they are rarely prosecuted, because, once again, you have to believe the victim, and prosecuting a victim will discourage other victims from coming forward. That's the logic, anyway.

lostapwbm · 2016-07-15T23:12:58+00:00

they simply get a slap on the wrist when they have admitted to committing a felony?

Good plea bargaining by the Defendant's attorney. Alternatively, the judge or jury, whichever hands down the sentence, decides in favor of leniency.

Why do the false acccusers generally get slaps on the wrist as well

Legal reason: The crime with which they are typically charged (filing a false report) is in most jurisdictions a nuisance charge and carries little significant jail time.

Policy reason: OMG BECKY! WE MIGHT SCARE THE REAL RAPE VICTIMS IF WE PROSECUTE FALSE ACCUSERS!

Is this just a bias in the law system?

Less so "the system" than the people charged with applying the laws.

How are these cases prosecuted?

Like any other criminal case.

And how would one protect themselves in any situation they are accused aside from getting a lawyer and confirmed alibis from others?

Your question is confusing so I assume your asking "what do I do if I get charges with rape" or "how do I avoid being charged with rape?"

To avoid a charge, ABR (Always Be Recording).

If charged, shut up, lawyer up, pull your ABR video, get your witnesses.

DavidByron2 · 2016-07-15T23:21:08+00:00

Rape cases are political so prosecutors will bring them even if there's no evidence sometimes. A famous example is the Cosby case where the new prosecutor ran for election on a platform of charging him with rape whereas the old prosecutor determined there was insufficient evidence.

For decades feminists have successfully lobbied to continually eliminate civil rights of the accused in rape cases. These laws are called "rape shield laws" and they means rape as a crime has different rules than any other crime. These rules are designed to make it easy to prosecute and find an innocent person guilty even in the absence of evidence, or with exonerating evidence.

Other key institutions such as the media help rig the verdict by slanting expectations. Describing the accused as a rapist is less common because of the risk of lawsuit but calling the witness "victim" is almost universal. Again the media will give the name of the accused but not the witness, so that if anyone knows the witness and knows they are in the habit of making such false accusations or otherwise could give evidence against the testimony, they won't know.

Finally there is personal prejudice in the system where judges police and prosecutors are sexist.

As with other crimes often the police will force a false confession under duress and without a lawyer present, and pressure the accused to accept a plea bargain which will send them to jail even if they are innocent of course.

2016-07-16T11:44:04+00:00

How did Nazi Germany kill millions of Jews?

Don't assume white, Christian societies aren't capable of committing Holocausts.

Mens-Advocate · 2016-07-17T00:47:26+00:00

A major issue rarely raised is that oath on oath judgments have never been shown reliable:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/4a8xw3/potential_argument_against_hesaidshesaid/

Il128 · 2016-07-15T22:45:42+00:00

He said, she said, circumstantial evidence, jury decides he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt due to her story and the circumstances (this is not actual evidence, it can't be proven and is assumed).

FezPaladin · 2016-07-16T20:24:28+00:00

How does one crosspost this to /r/explainlikeimfive/ ?

Title	ELI5: How do false rape accusations get prosecuted and get people convicted?
Author	hjack76
Upvotes	19
Comments	26
Date	July 15, 2016 10:03 PM UTC (10 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/4t1m9n/eli5_how_do_false_rape_accusations_get_prosecuted/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/eli5-how-do-false-rape-accusations-get-prosecuted.945463 https://theredarchive.com/post/945463

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