Let's say I was raped, and 10 years ago I made a similar accusation

[CatWoman]

does that mean it didn't happen to me this time?

Or does it mean that I was lying then, and lying now?

Or could it be that it was true then, just as it is now?

[valerief]

1. self-delete

[MadMaddie]

2. That's a slippery slope isn't it...The first two

are used to discredit the victim....

The last is...yes it is possible that it was true then as it is now....

As long as there is a woman as a victim...they will try to destroy and discredit her every chance they get....

[jpgray]

3. A past accusation would need to show a pattern of behavior

With just one in isolation ten years ago I think that would be a difficult case to make. And the difference between 14 and 24 is a big one.

[Inland]

4. You mean, is it evidence of something?

I mean, you know whether or not you were raped. You must be asking if a prior accusation is evidence that this accusation is false.

And for that, one needs more information. Like, was the prior accusation proven false? In that case, it may show that you aren't a truthful person and someone may not believe you.

I can tell you that I had a case where a shrink tried to make hay out of the fact a witness had been involved in lots of lawsuits. He tried to diagnose her. I merely asked him if it would be different if, in fact, she had valid prior complaints and was telling the truth in each suit. He said yes, of course. I asked him if he knew if her complaints were good or not. He said no. I asked him if he knew if she was telling the truth in the prior suits or not. He said no. I asked if that mean he had no basis to diagnose her. At that point I didn't even need him to agree. There's no way anyone could have proven anything about those prior cases.

[jpgray]

5. Just one ten years ago... it would be hard to argue

Someone who pathologically cries wolf doesn't take a ten year sabbatical--it is more likely that she had been victimized in the past than that she gets her kicks (at fourteen) falsely accusing people of rape. But there's no way of knowing, of course.

[pitohui]

6. she made the accusation at age 18

i do think it speaks to credibility if someone just wakes up when they're 18 and suddenly remembers being raped 4 yrs earlier

[jpgray]

7. Sorry I didn't see that part--still, it would be hard to make the case

If your defense strategy is to show a pattern of false accusations, one (not as yet established as false) isn't much to go on. Further, if you want to establish a pathological tendency toward false accusation, two accusations separated by six years isn't particularly compelling either. I am not really read up on the psychology or case history of this, but I hear that it is quite common that incidents from childhood or early adolescence are not reported or talked about until later in life.

[Chovexani]

18. WTF?

There are many, many factors that go into women waiting years to report an assault. Fear, intimidation--and yes, for a few, remembering an assault that was mentally blocked (it's amazing what the mind will do to preserve itself).

Shit, I am 24, almost 25 and to this day I never reported the rape that happened to me when I was 16. Of course, since I was molested at 14 by a different person (who was prosecuted for it), the second attack was probably just in my head. :eyes:

[Mandate My Ass]

35. 18-yr olds don't "suddenly remember."

It's very difficult for even an adult woman to come forward when raped for a multitude of reasons. Some women think they can just push the memory aside and go on with their lives. Believe me, it's not possible.

One woman in my rape therapy group didn't tell anybody for 20 years. Her doctor finally told her that her constant physical aches and pains "might" have a psychosomatic origin. She finally told her husband of 18 years that she'd been raped before she met him but she had to do it in her therapist's office with medication.

Delay in reporting a sexual assault shouldn't be a reason for skepticism, especially when the victim is a minor and is generally too intimidated to speak out against someone who has already victimized her.

The reason defendants don't have their past convictions brought up during the guilt phase of the trial is that it might create a bias in the minds of the jurors who're hearing the case.

The victims in rape cases don't get the same benefit. It's a shame there are so many willing to hold this against her or claim it's a valid reason she shouldn't be believed now. The police felt there was enough evidence to arrest two people. I doubt they were duped.

[pitohui]

48. when we are talking abt someone's freedom

when we are talking abt hard prison time, a delay of 4 yrs, during which time any physical evidence and any other evidence, other than the woman's claim has disappeared, yes, i think we have to consider such a claim worthless

as far as such memories being useful to help the woman recover, that is a different matter

but once you have delayed and delayed, such that a person cannot defend themselves, because you have no evidence except your word and mental illness, then you can't reasonably expect the legal system to get involved

we have a statute of limitations for a reason

i have no idea either way if this young woman was raped and mentally ill or is only mentally ill

as far as psychology is concerned, as far as yr mental health treatment plan is concerned, it's fine to go back to your birth trauma if you like

but as far as getting police and the law involved, to go back years later with no evidence but your word and the fact that you are ill of a disease that has many causes, many chemical, many poorly understood, is not correct

i have no idea if the young woman is ill because she was raped or if she is a hysterica/drama queen/schizoafective disorder/whatever

none of us know

i do know that based on the little i've heard abt her and her family i would need some physical evidence that these young men are the young men who harmed her, so far, we only have evidence of prosecutorial incompetence

if we have learned anything from project innocence, we should have learned that there is nothing easier than to get a rape victim to misidentify a rapist of another race when led by police anxious to close a case

yet the prosecutor and police handled the identification improperly, why?

[Name removed]

55. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Ladyhawk]

51. At age 15, I "suddenly remembered" being molested at age 8.

I didn't accuse the man at that point. The trial had already happened when I was 9-10. Then I blocked it out or put it away or something. A bizarre spiritual experience at age 16 (I thought my friends and I were being attacked by a demon...puh, fundies!) somehow caused me to recover at least the surface memories. I still don't know what that was all about, but no, I don't believe we were being attacked by demons. I do think the mind is a delicate organ and can achieve altered states of awareness.

In the year 2000 (cue up the old Conan gig), I experienced partial amnesia due to a series of medical procedures performed on my brain. This was physical, not psychological. The process of "suddenly remembering" various things was similar to what I had experience at age 15, minus the weird-ass spiritual shit. More recently, I "suddenly remembered" some very traumatic things that happened only two years ago. The memories were refreshed and brought back by reading old e-mails, journal entries, etc. During the amnesia, journals and other old writings instantly brought back memories. It's a good thing it was relatively easy to retrieve old information. I couldn't even remember how to work a TV remote at the worst point.

I don't know what is involved in the process of blocking memories or losing memories (as was the case with the medical procedures), but I've experienced some pretty weird shit with regard to my own brain, so I know it's possible. Regaining the memories has something to do with finding the right neural pathway. The medical procedures fucked that up. Something else fucked it up with regard to traumatic experiences. I don't know how it works. :shrug:

[progressivebydesign]

44. She made it 3 years later because she feared for her safety..

according to people around her. She was afraid to come forward.. Does that SHOCK you? Have you NOT heard of people coming forward DECADES later (i.e. Catholic Priests) after a sexual attack, because of shame or fear?? It does NOT mean that she's crazy or lying.

[pitohui]

49. sure i've heard of it and i think it should worry sane people

anyone can make a claim years later when there is no proof of anything

to say that a woman's mental illness is proof that she has been raped is not correct, it smacks of witch hunting, the young woman is ill, so someone must have made her ill

i am sorry she is ill and if she was raped, i am sorry she was raped

nonetheless i don't think it reasonable for someone to wait 4 yrs, if she was afraid to speak out, well, that is tragic but lack of courage properly has its price, nor do i think it right for people to put in jail for something that happened years ago when no one can prove anything either way, you could witchhunt anyone that way, couldn't you?

[Spike from MN]

70. As others have pointed out, she didn't "suddenly remember."

I happened to be watching TV (a rarity for me) and caught a show where they first broke the news of the decade-old rape. The reason they gave for her not reporting it at the time is that she told her mom about it, they talked it over, and decided not to tell the father. The reason they gave is that he is something like 125 lbs. soaking wet and they feared he would become enraged and go after the perpetrators and possibly end up getting hurt. (The identity of at least one of the perpetrators was known as he was her boyfriend at the time. I'm not sure whether or not she knew the other two as they didn't comment on that.) Obviously, had they decided to report the rape, the father would have found out so that's why it wasn't reported at the time. I'm not sure why she decided to report it when she turned 18 as they didn't really give a reason.

Also, when I first heard about the decade-old rape, I thought "Uh oh. They're going to try to use this against her any way they can to discredit her." (Especially if she lost the case. It wasn't until a bit later in the show that I learned she didn't press charges.) But on the show that broke the news, there were two lawyers commentating -- one playing the role of victim's advocate and the other playing the role for the defense. Both lawyers were in 100% agreement that this would only help the victim's case and hurt the defense. Both agreed that if they were on the defense team for the Duke guys, they definitely wouldn't bring up this case as part of the defense and in fact, they would try to block it (if possible). There were a number of reasons they gave for why this helps the victim's case:

It's not at all unusual for a 14-year-old to decide not to report a rape.
She told her mom at the time and their decision to not report it (so the dad wouldn't find out) certainly
seems plausible.
She reported it when she was 18 but didn't press charges so it doesn't appear that she reported it out of
revenge. It could be that it had bothered her that she didn't report it before and she just wanted
to get it off her chest. Also, maybe she wanted it on record in case the same perpetrators offended
again, just so there would be a record.

So anyway, just wanted to clear up the misconception that the victim had repressed memories of the first incident (which actually isn't all that uncommon as others have pointed out).

[Inland]

19. It would be hard, indeed, to accuse her of a pathology

Particularly if she HAD been raped. The Defendant would have to prove the first accusation false, or the judge should not let the jury hear it.

[msongs]

8. or it could have been false then AND true now

if you are gonna examine the possibilities, examine them all, not just the ones that fit your biases.

M. Songs
www.msongs.com

[CatWoman]

10. ouch!!

excuse the fuck out of me.

What, specifically, am I biased about?

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

9. Could Be All Of The Above.

Each case in an individual one.

[Toucano]

13. No, it can't be all of the above.

Because the three choices contradict each other.

I think you mean that each scenario is possible, just not at the same time. But "all of the above" means all are true. Only one can be true because, for example, if B is true, C cannot be true.

I guess I'm nitpicking, because you're obviously right that each could be true. But only one is true.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

15. Yes, It Can Be. And Yes, You Are Nitpicking LOL

I said it 'could' be all of the above. It could be choice a, could be choice b or could be choice c. If it could be all of them, then it could be all of the above, or any of the above if I am required to be that precise (And yes, I meant any not all, but the intent was clear. That's why you're nitpicking LOL). But yes, obviously I didn't mean all at the same time.

[stillcool]

11. many...many...children...

who are abused, do not recall the abuse until they themselves become sexually active...or an event triggers the memory...so it's not a matter of 'forgetting', but more of not understanding what had taken place.

something else to ponder...

Excerpts fromThe Mass Psychology of Fascism
by Wilhelm Reich, 1933
Freud's second great discovery was that even the small child develops a lively sexuality, which has nothing to do with procreation; that, in other words, sexuality and procreation, and sexual and genital, are not the same. The analytic dissection of psychic processes further proved that sexuality, or rather its energy, the libido, which is of the body, is the prime motor of psychic life. Hence, the biologic presuppositions and social conditions of life overlap in the mind.
The third great discovery was that childhood sexuality, of which is most crucial in the child-parent relationship ("the Oedipus complex") is usually repressed out of fear of punishment for sexual acts and thoughts (basically a "fear of castration"); the child's sexual activity is blocked and extinguished from memory. Thus, while repression of childhood sexuality withdraws it from the influence of consciousness, it does not weaken its force. On the contrary, the repression intensifies it and enables it to manifest itself in various pathological disturbances of the mind. As there is hardly an exception to this rule among "civilized man," Freud could say that he had all of humanity as his patient.

http://www.nickcooper.com/mass.htm

[Neil Lisst]

12. until we know more about the prior incident, we won't know the impact

Clearly, she could have been the victim in both incidents, but one logical reading is that she reported it then for a vengeful reason, and she's doing it now for a vengeful reason. There may be police notes that shed some light on the allegations. People who know what happened will be the best witnesses.

[Pavulon]

14. Declined to prosecute a triple

rape on a minor...Wonder why? I live in that county and know they would have tried it. They don't get cases like that every say..decade

[Freedom_Aflaim]

16. Could be any of those things

Honestly Im not sure I understand the point.

People can lie about the past. People can tell the truth about the past.

Such is human nature.

[Patsy Stone]

17. No, No, and Yes, IMO.

And, legally, none of it matters if the prior events don't get in front of the jury.

[mondo joe]

20. Any of the options are possible, but I don't see how any could

be known based on the scant information available.

In an of itself, having made an accusation of rape once before is pretty irrelevant to a second charge.

If there are peculiar details in common I could imagine that raising a red flag. If the accusation isn't a second one, but a 7th or 8th or 9th, that too might raise a red flag.

(Of course even if someone had a whole string of accusations, and even if many were false, it wouldn't necessarily MEAN the last was false. But it sure wouldn't help the prosecution.)

[Just Me]

21. Question: If my boyfriend had sex with me when I was unconscious,...

,...(having taken medication so I could sleep), is that rape?

Seriously. I woke up the next morning with my pajama bottoms located at one ankle, my pajama top torn and my vagina sore. I asked him if he "fucked" me, and he responded, "Yeah, isn't that sick."

:cry:

I would have made love to him, had I been conscious.

Did he rape me?

I don't know what to make of his behavior.

[Lars39]

23. Yes, that was rape.

:hug:

[Just Me]

24. And to think, I tried to excuse his behavior,...

,...responding that I would have participated had I been given the choice.

:cry: I said that AFTER he said, "Isn't that sick." :cry:

SICK FUCK!!! :grr: I can't decide whether to feel sick, sad or pissed. I feel confused.

[Lars39]

25. ~~~

You might want to call a rape crisis center. :hug:

[TahitiNut]

32. I hope you can learn to love and honor yourself more than that.

You deserve it.

[Just Me]

37. I think I confused love and loving with tolerance and,...

,...well, I'm still trying to figure why I allowed myself to be manipulated by someone who sought out "just me". I'm trying to figure that personal weakness of mine. He was SO GOOD to me and my son for the first five months of our relationship. Then, "Mr. Hyde" seeped through over a period of the following three months.

Here's the epitome: this has been the greatest day I've had in over a year in spite of this,...sad and painful event. While I cry over this humiliating moment, I am still possessed by a day of successful productivity in work, a little extra tax return in my account (when I had only $14, yesterday), a happy and expressive son helping with preparing dinner, a relatively peaceful environment in my own rural homestead, two dogs just dying for my attention,...and a whole body and mind still, right here, right now.

[TahitiNut]

45. Once upon a time ...

... I had some friends visiting for a couple of days. I'd been working on designing a (fake) 'certificate' as a way of thanking someone who'd done some very nice things for a relative. I'd printed drafts on my (somewhat) new color printer as I tweaked and improved the design. I'd thrown the drafts in a wastebasket. I'd also saved some cardboard tubes from paper towel rolls to use as 'mailers' for this 'certificate' and others I had in mind. Well, the male friend fished one of the throwaway 'certificates' from the trash, took one of the cardboard tubes, and mailed the 'certificate' to his (grown) son. He did this when I wasn't at home.

When I discovered this, I was perplexed that he didn't ask me. I brought it up with his wife (my good friend, too). She said she told him to ask but he'd said I "wouldn't mind."

I thought about my feelings in this. Was there any monetary value? Nope. I was throwing the draft away. Would I have said "OK - Of course" if he'd asked me? Of course I would. So why did I feel offended? Well, I felt offended because he didn't empower me to say 'yes.' He disrespected me by robbing me of the choice - taking a 'power of attorney' without being given one. I felt disrespected. (I don't even have to think about his son not being told it was my work.)


When I compare those (reasonable, I think) feelings over a totally trivial matter to what I can't even imagine - someone using my sleeping body for their own pleasure - I can only think they'd be lucky to be alive 30 seconds after I discovered it! It's the grossest kind of disrespect - and someone from whom I'd have the best reason to expect respect me as an individual!

Yes. It's rape.

[Balbus]

29. No doubt about it.

And you should file charges because he'll probably do it again, if not to you, to someone else.

[TahitiNut]

31. I'd say it's time to get a new boyfriend ... and file charges.

As a male who's shared his bed with wives/lovers thousands of times over the years, I can't even conceive of such behavior. Indeed, unless there's a (sober) reciprocal interest, we're not even talking 'al dente'!! (Maybe I'm just "wired" differently, but it'd be anatomically impossible for me.)

[progressivebydesign]

42. Sorry.. that's rape.

If you are not conscious to consent to sex, then having sex with you is rape. Doesn't matter if it's a bf or husband.. if you do not have the capacity to resist if you dont' want sex, then they are forcing themselves on you. I would divorce my husband if he did that. Immediately. It shows a total lack of respect for you, and treats you like.. well.. a hole.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

22. Depends.

Are you a "ghetto ho?"

:sarcasm:

[Neil Lisst]

26. We would want to know if you lied or told the truth the time before.

We would want to know if you ever got treatment for it, and if so, if the shrink made any findings or diagnoses.

If there were any similarities in the report you made then with this one, we'd want to know that.

It's relevant, but until the facts are known better, we don't know how much of it will be in evidence. If it's relevant, if it has probative value, and if it's not prohibited by the rape shield law (which it probably isn't), the evidence will come in. It is probative of the issue of whether she has a pattern making false rape allegations, whether she has a pattern of filing false reports, and whether she's told any shrink or other person the prior alleged rapes didn't happen.

[rucky]

27. A common trait of rape & molestation victims is promiscuity...

which could lead to other situation wheres rape is likely.

So it wouldn't surprise me if lightning struck twice - especially when 1 in 8 women will get struck once.

[Just Me]

40. I'd appreciate documentation of that assertion.

As it stands, your assertion is merely a myth.

Nothing personal. I simply reject such unsupported assertions as pure myth, even lies, without proof of the veracity of such accusations.

I suppose a "wink" at you could fit into your definition of "promiscuity".

Jus' sayin',...if you get that.

[rucky]

56. It's only unsupported if you haven't researched it.

www.google.com

there's plenty written, and I guess it's up to you how credible the sources are. I learned it in a college class on rape many years ago, so... If it's been debunked since, then I suppose the burden of proof is on you.

BTW, I do not understand the "wink" thing you were trying to say.

[progressivebydesign]

43. I think you mean after the rape?

I think I know what you're alluding to, as I've read that young molestation victims often act out sexually... because of the molestation or rape. I think you meant it that way.. not that they are raped because they are promiscuous. right?

[rucky]

52. correct.

And I definately don't mean to allude that it's somehow the victim's fault.

Trauma is the danger, just like a soldier coming back from Iraq is more likely to commit domestic violence. PTSD.

[NaturalHigh]

28. It means that we should examine each case...

and decide on its merits.

[Beaverhausen]

30. One doesn't have anything to do with the other

[matcom]

33. or, if you were lying then...

you MIGHT be lying NOW

[Hell Hath No Fury]

34. I have a girlfriend...

who was raped twice by the time she was 28. She had also been sexually abused by her father as a young child.

People like that are out there.

[nashville_brook]

36. it means the defense is playing hardball

[Egalitariat]

38. There are 4 options....

1. It was true then; it is true now
2. It was true then; it is false now
3. It was false then; it is true now
4. It was fals then; it is false now

Nobody here knows which of the 4 is correct in the Duke case.

[Mandate My Ass]

39. Well said! Except the accuser and she's not talking to the press.

The accused know one. For the rest of us, all options are open and none can legitimately be given greater weight than another. We know the least of anybody. :thumbsup:

[progressivebydesign]

41. Thanks for posting this thread.. I was getting really upset!

Apparently, being attacked twice means that you're a liar... cuz that's all I'm hearing today, EVEN from people on AAR. How the hell would news that she had reported an attack when she was younger have ANY freakin' bearing on what happened to her? Once again, the victim is on trial ONLY Because she is accusing athletes.. rich ones at that.. from a formidable school. If she was attacked in downtown Houston or Chicago or anywhere else by three working guys, none of this would be even played out in the media. It's the stupid Paris Hilton mentality that has gripped America.. the guys (being rich and athletic) are being given a free pass by so many and she, the accuser, is being villified. Does ANYONE here KNOW how many college students (like the accuser) strip or dance for money while they go to school?? Lots.. many agencies only hire college students. She wasn't a prostitute, she wasn't beaten or raped by a pimp (as some here tried to assert), she wasn't walking the street.

It makes me ill to see how this woman is being dragged through the mud. I know A LOT of women who have been raped more than once. Since when does it automatically jeopardize her case because she was attacked before.. at 14?

If the accused are found innocent after a REAL trial, with an untainted jury (which probably doesn't exist now that the defense has publicly trashed this woman), then fine. I'll shut up. But I still have NOT attacked the character of the accused attackers at all, but try feebly to defend the woman who was alleged raped, from vicious attacks on her.

[jazzjunkysue]

46. It proves she knew what she was getting into....That's the point.

She knew full well that she shouldn't be going door to door to drunken college boys to take her clothes off.

It means she looses the "poor innocent unsuspecting me" plea.

It doesn't mean she's lying or that she deserved it, only that she was smart enough to know that it wasn't a good career move.

(Added) and that I was right from the beginning and should not have been deletted the first time, for things other people have said since I was deletted, and far worse.

I never insulted anyone here on the board, and I deserve an apology.

[Evergreen Emerald]

63. Really!

The bitch! She should have known that rich white college boys throwing a party would rape her. It IS her fault.

(sarcasm, dripping with)

[femmedem]

47. Let's say I was mugged, and 10 years ago I made a similar accusation

does that mean it didn't happen to me this time?

Or does it mean that I was lying then, and lying now?

Or could it be that it was true then, just as it is now?

Nobody would question someone being mugged twice, so why is it an issue with rape?

So many women have been raped. So many people have loved ones that have been raped. I'm stunned and flabbergasted and horrified that there's still so much misunderstanding about rape.

[pitohui]

50. your insurance company would question yr repeat claims

your assertion is not based on fact, indeed i know someone threatened w. arrest the v. first he made a claim of being robbed

much less a second claim

so your claim that nobody questions people being mugged twice is just silly, because they are of course questioned, and not just by the insurance co. even their mom cusses them out and tells them to move somewhere else!

[H2O Man]

53. In general terms,

I find it strange that anyone would think that it is unlikely that a person could be the victim of a violent crime twice in a 14-year period.

[helderheid]

54. um, that was me. n/t

[cherokeeprogressive]

57. It's really simple: If you SAY you were raped, you WERE raped.

And the fucker you point your finger at should hang. I mean it. I think rapists should get the death penalty. Same as child molesters.

Fuck a bunch'a innocent til proven guilty silliness.

[Neil Lisst]

58. I hope you're kidding.

[cherokeeprogressive]

60. I'm not kidding. Tell me why I should be.

A good friend of mine dated a woman he worked with. I counseled against it. He was higher in the "chain of command" than she was.

The date went swimmingly. The relationship lasted six months.

In the end, she accused him of some pretty horrible things. His career was trashed. She kept her job, he lost his.

He's a guy I've known since the sixth grade. He dated my sister. She has nothing but glowing things to say about him and they dated 25 years ago.

I know him like a brother. I know in my heart that he would NOT do the things this woman accused him of.

Isolated incident?

[Neil Lisst]

61. if you're saying a man accused of rape is presumed guilty, I agree

actually, it's a man accused of any sexual impropriety with anyone, child or adult, and if his accuser is a female, he's guilty until he can prove she's lying

[salin]

64. true, because we know the rate of false accusal is of epidimic heights

that nearly one in three men are accused of such crimes between the age of 15 adn 40, and that evil women just make stuff up all the time because the real incident of rape is so low and they are always believed whether or not it is a real or false accusal - and the courts are just tied up with the gazillion of false accusal rape cases.

What an absurd assumption/claim.

False accusals happen - and they can have horrendous impact. I do not dispute that fact. But to suggest that those making accusations (of real or false) of rape are generally believed, and thus cases pursued is laughable. Rape is still a very underreported crime due to the way victims are treated by the legal system, and the many social taboos and fears - that no one would believe the victim.

How many rape victims do you personally know? Of that set of individuals - how many went to the police? Of that set of individuals how many had cases pursued by the police? Of that set of individuals how many actually resulted in court cases?

I know many rape victims (and am one myself). I know none personally, who went to the police. I do know OF a few (friends of friends) who went to the police.

[Neil Lisst]

65. and your personal experience has skewed your view

Both of these statements are true:

There are many, many false reports of rapes.

There are many, many rapes that are not reported.

[salin]

66. Okay, I will buy that - however

when you add the qualifier of the false accusal going beyond the first contact with the police, in terms of investigations that last more than a few hours - does that number decrease? I am referring to instances where there are full investigations, and charges brought (which would be the result of the presumption you suggest above, that the accused is always presumed guilty until he can prove the accuser is lying) - do you suggest that the magnitude of frequency is similar (in terms of false accusals vs under reports?) I would guess that many of the false reports are washed out rather quickly.

[Spike from MN]

69. Here are the stats you were asking for.

Salin, sorry to hear about you and your friends' experiences. Hopefully all of you have good support systems, counselors, etc. to help you recover from the ordeal.

As for the stats you were looking for, here's what I have found so far. Granted, they're from 1999 but I don't think that invalidates them to any real significant degree. If someone finds newer stats, please feel free to post a link.

72% of rapes/sexual assaults are not reported to the police. Those rapists, of course, never serve a day in prison. <1999 NCVS>

If the rape is reported to police, there is a 50.8% chance that an arrest will be made.

If an arrest is made, there is an 80% chance of prosecution.

If there is a prosecution, there is a 58% chance of a felony conviction.

If there is a felony conviction, there is a 69% chance the convict will spend time in jail.

So, even in those 28% of rapes that are reported to police, there is only a 16.3% chance the rapist will end up in prison.

Factoring in unreported rapes, about 5%—one out of twenty— of rapists will ever spend a day in jail. 19 out of 20 will walk free.

Link:
http://hcs.harvard.edu/~casv/stats.htm

Only one out of 20 rapists ever does jail time. One out of twenty. And of the rapes that are reported, there is only a 16.3% chance the rapist will end up in prison. If it so hard to get a conviction in a case where an actual rape has occurred, imagine how much harder it is if the accusation is false.

Given that 72% of rapes and sexual assaults go unreported, I find it rather disturbing that if a woman DOES report a rape to the police, there seems to be a group of people that for some reason, immediately goes on the defense and vehemently attacks the woman, accusing her of lying and any number of other things. (She's a slut, a whore, a druggie, etc.) It doesn't matter WHO the woman is or how much evidence there is to back up her story. The exact same character attacks are trotted out every single time in every single rape case. This group believes EVERY rape report is a "false accusation." To them, rape doesn't exist. Only "alleged rape victims" that "falsely accuse" others of raping them exist.

I think we also need to distinguish between a case of "mistaken identity" and a "false accusation." In a mistaken identity, a rape took place and the victim was raped by John Doe but mistakenly picks Jason Doe out of a lineup because they look very similar. Jack should be able to clear his name because the DNA won't match (if there is any), he has an alibi, etc. But those that are arguing about "false accusation" charges on these threads deny that any rape ever took place. To them, the victim is just making shit up out of thin air. In the Duke case, they will say the woman wasn't raped a decade ago and she wasn't raped recently. Both stories are just complete outright lies according to the "rape deniers" because EVERY rape case is a "false accusation." I think that says a lot more about the people that write those posts than it does about the woman involved.

And remember, 19 of 20 rapists walk free. If that doesn't scare the hell out of you I don't know what will.

[TahitiNut]

59. You gotta be kidding.

:eyes: That's a really bizarre notion. Just "collateral damage" huh? :puke:

[TorchTheWitch]

73. Wow. That's just bizarre

Given the fact that there are false accusations however few they may be compared to the ones that aren't, that's a pretty damn ridiculous notion. We also know for a fact that due to mistaken identity there are indicents where the person raped accused the wrong person.

I would never want to live in a country with no judicial process where anyone can point the finger at someone with no evidence to back up their claim and the accused was just thrown in jail with no opportunity to defend themselves. That's just wacked.

There's a process for a reason... a very good reason. There's things about the process that I don't like and I believe are harmful, but it's better than no process at all.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DanCa]

67. No it doesn't

About this whole Duke thing, I am staying out of it. Rape is a horrible horrible crime and for privacy's sake I am not voicing my opinion. I do think we need harsher penalties for those who committed the crime. That's all I got to say about the matter.

[NaturalHigh]

68. You're right...

We do need harsher penalties for rapists. We also need harsher penalties for anyone who makes a false rape accusation. One woman raped is too many. One man falsely accused of rape is too many.

[KingFlorez]

71. No it doesn't

I say let the evidence speak for itself in court and see how it plays out

[Nobody]

72. I'm curious: if there is a 1 in four chance of any given woman being raped

What is the chance of any given woman having been raped twice in two separate instances?

Rape is not like chicken pox. Once you've been raped, you are most definitely NOT immune from further attacks.