NY- False rape charges are rare, and dangerous

9-24-2009 New York:

It is the American way that a defendant is "innocent until proven guilty." In the instance of a sex crime, however, it often seems the victim is deemed "guilty until proven innocent." Such false assumptions are perpetuated by the small percentage of false reports that occurs.

The recanting of a rape accusation made by a Hofstra University student has raised the issue once again. Questioning the validity of a victim's statement is nothing new when it comes to sex crimes. When an accusation of rape is made, questions often loom of possible motives for the "alleged" victim to have fabricated her story.

Theories of revenge, a scorned lover and personal gain often become part of the conversation. When a person says she was raped, the blame gets distributed between both the perpetrator and the victim. When people say they were the victim of a home invasion, however, it seems much easier to place the blame solely on the perpetrator.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there are no more false reports of rape than there are of any other crime. Conversely, sexual offenses are more likely to go unreported than other types of crimes. For every one rape that's reported, seven to 10 aren't.

Feelings of shame, fear of disbelief, threats of retaliation and societal influence often serve as great deterrents to a victim's pursuit of justice. Those who do report face a long and trying road, which many say is laden with further victimization.

There's no debating that, from a legal perspective, rape cases are difficult to win. Obstacles like a lack of witnesses or physical evidence, and inconsistencies in victim statements due to the effects of trauma, are often present.

Facing stigma, disbelief and societal judgment, is it any wonder that most rape victims don't report? As a result of the underreporting and the difficulty in achieving convictions, only 6 percent of rapists will ever spend a day in jail.

Compound such grim statistics with the high-profile occurrence of a false report, and the deterrents grow even stronger. Future victims will now have an even greater burden of proof upon them. With each instance of a false report or recanted story, that burden increases.

And now, add to those deterrents the possibility of having charges pressed upon victims if they are not believed or there isn't enough evidence to prove their case. Fear of retribution can add tremendous weight in favor of remaining silent. Although it means that the perpetrator won't face prosecution, neither will the victim.

What the Hofstra case presents for us is numerous teaching opportunities: For our boys to learn that being a man does not in any way look like the actions of those five young men, whether the encounter was consensual or not. That there is honor to be found in standing up against the crowd, rather than bowing down along with it.

And for our girls, to learn to respect themselves, if they want those around them to ever do the same. It's up to them to believe in themselves and in the power of their voices. For it is only with that honor, and with those voices, that our culture can compellingly challenge the promoting and condoning of inappropriate behavior. ..Source.. by Olivia Tursi who is a counselor and community educator at the Victims Information Bureau of Suffolk: Family Violence and Rape Crisis Center in Holbrook.