This is a tough one to figure out, much like the police brutality issues. We all know there are victims in both circumstances, but it makes it easy to paint everyone with the same brush. Naturally the media and politicians will use them like tools to get whatever they want. JMHO

by Anonymous 5 years ago

Sexual assault is a serious crime. Making the accusation is equally serious. If someone falsely accuses, seems to me they should be punished in much the same way the assaulter would have been if it were true. No more making crime pay - no more.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

Of course,if you are falsely accused no one believes you are innocent.It was always in the back of mind when teaching that a kid could ruin me with one.Anyone making false accusations should have the book thrown at them.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

I have to agree with you! Some of the things I did in High school were pretty wild but then the 60's were. I never raped anyone ever but sure had some fun and the girls were just as willing as the guys! Glad I'm not running for any public office or I would have plenty of "supposed" sexual events someone would complain about. What happened to the statute of limitations?

by Anonymous 5 years ago

There's a part of me that thinks that if you wait too long to report and if you can provide no evidence, then it's too bad for you. That doesn't prove that it didn't happen. But it means you can never prove that it DID happen. And therefore there can't be any legal repercussions.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

You're making it sound like the amount of false accusations is anywhere near the amount of actual rapes, it's a minuscule problem in comparison. Also, you probably know more rapists than you think, why would they tell you? Not to mention a lot of people still seem to think that if a person isn't physically fighting back and screaming no than it isn't rape, so there's are certainly many rapists going about their lives truly believing they aren't rapists, maybe you know some of these people, maybe you don't. I guarantee you know multiple women who have been victims to rape or sexual assault. Not your scenario of a polite boyfriend touching a breast but actual assault. Obviously before legal charges can be laid due process needs to be followed and it's tough to provide real evidence 30 years later. The good thing about the me too movement is hopefully it will make it easier for victims to feel more comfortable reporting attacks at a time when legal evidence is easier to obtain.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

If you are assuming that I know a lot of rapists, then you are incorrectly assuming I run in the same circles that you must run in, if the number of rapes in your circle of friends is that high. How can you "guarantee" that I know multiple women who have been victims of rape or sexual assault? An assumption like that is almost comical. As to your assumption that legal evidence is easier to obtain now, I hate to break it to you but "evidence" has been easy to obtain for decades, including a LONG time before the period the Bimbos making the allegations are talking about. Some bimbo wanting a big paycheck 30+ years after an "alleged" incident took place by simply accusing someone, is not evidence, and should never be considered as such. Show me ANY evidence in these cases.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

As far as I know I know zero rapists, it's likely enough I know some I don't know about, same with you. I'm still comfortable with my guarantee you know women who have been raped or sexually assaulted. The number of women who have been sexually assaulted is high enough that unless you only know your mum and your sister the chances are you know some of them. I didn't say evidence was easier to obtain now, what I mean is that evidence is easier to obtain when the assault has happened more recently. A lot of victims are scared to come forward immediately or are pressured not to. The process of the investigation can also be quite traumatizing to victims and many would rather try and forget it instead of going through that process. What I was saying is that with the me too movement more victims may feel comfortable reporting their assaults at a time when more can be done.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

The reason why people may not have come forward years 30+ years ago is because they knew they wouldn't be believed, just like they aren't believed today. Remember that one time you were a child and you did something and you kept it from your parents because you were afraid you'd get punished? This is a similar thing. These victims didn't want to come forward because they were afraid they'd get in trouble by their parents because they were being "promiscuous" or they "shouldn't have been wearing something so revealing." It wasn't until they were older and stronger that they were able to come forward. I can personally attest to this. My roommate freshman year was raped in our room while I was gone. She told her parents and they immediately blamed her. What's worse is that this wasn't the first time she was raped. And her parents *STILL* blamed her. I can count all of the women in my life who have been assaulted and could not come forward in fear of being blamed for the actions, my mother included. So don't say we shouldn't believe someone for not coming forward when years of expectations silence their voices.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

I figure most of us have noticed the * exploding* "me too" movement. I have not felt at all led to to believe that 9 out of 10 guys are sexual predators, though. It's been a troubling thing for me as well, for a very long time, how easily a false accusation can taint a person's reputation and really screw up their lives. It is terrible, and I agree that those who knowingly make a false accusation should be penalized for their crime of defamation. Then there is this...as an older women, there are few women I've ever discussed this subject with who have NOT experienced very unacceptable, *inappropriate* and in no way invited sexual sort of behavior from a man. Few of them ever reported those incidences to anyone, except sometimes to a trusted loved one. There are many reasons for that, and they vary in individual circumstances. Just out of curiosity, I'm going to present one scenario. A young woman has been employed as a waitperson in a popular restaurant, and it's her turn to vacuum and make sure the dining areas are tip-top. The owner of the place ambles in and starts saying some odd insinuating things to her, while she is down on her knees retrieving stuff from under a table. He grabs her head and crams it into his crotch, and he is stronger...then laughs and walks away. He is a real family supposed "Christian" type guy. If that woman heard that he was in the running for some position of power, do you think it would be wrong for her to mention what he did?

by Anonymous 5 years ago

False accusations are already dealt harshly with. You can be punished severely for lying to any law official. And it should be that way since these allegations can ruin a person's career and even their life. But at the same time, accusers need to be heard. There are many reasons why people wait to go public as we have seen with victims of the Catholic Church. You can't just dismiss an allegation on the basis of how long ago it happened.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

Dru, two guys convicted of rape, 1 spent 11 year and the other, 26 years before they were cleared and the "victim" admitted she made it up. The woman won't face charges because the statute of limitations has expired, the Associated Press reported. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/05/07/convictions-vacated-26-year-old-rape/588406002/

by Anonymous 5 years ago

It happens. I know of people who were just about ready to be executed and were saved because people recanted their stories. https://www.amirite.com/user/justjimcolo

by Anonymous 5 years ago

False accusations can only be dealt with harshly if they can be proven. I agree with hearing the accusations, but the court of public opinion has real detriments that need to be addressed if we want real justice for both people. It shouldn't be a lose lose proposition for the people involved.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

Almost every single woman I know has been abused,assaulted,or even raped. Some more than once or by different men. Stop this garbage. False accusation is not the problem. Rape culture is the problem. It took 60 women or more for people to finally start to believe Bill Cosby did it. Interestingly, Kevin Spacey abused men...and his victims were IMMEDIATELY believed and supported. It's disgusting and immoral that women are saying "no,you can't rape and abuse us" and people are trying to say "oh, they're making it up anyway." ENOUGH!

by Anonymous 5 years ago

If a woman came up to me and said I have just been raped. I would call the police, take her to a hospital for treatment (Physical as well as for any mental stress, and to obtain evidence) and help her in any way I could. If a woman came up to me and said she was raped 30 years ago by a famous person (who was all of a sudden is in the public eye because of a political appointment that she didn't like), but didn't call the police or report it to any other person, until now, and had no evidence, I'd probably call bullshit. You say EVERY single woman you know has been abused, assaulted, or raped. I'd have to call bullshit on that as well. You can't honestly expect anyone to believe that every woman you know has been sexually assaulted. Rape is a terrible crime, as is ANY crime. An false accusation of rape, to me, is just as bad as rape because no crime was committed and some person just lied to ruin an innocent person's life. It's pretty easy to prove a "real" rape". Unfortunately too many men have spent years in prison and had lives ruined because of lies. Some women claim they were raped at some point just for the attention.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

How dare you try to dismiss what they've been through? First of all I did not say EVERY I said almost every. It's also not always rape, it could be assault,physical,mental,emotional, or even financial abuse. You are disrespecting me, my loved ones, and every other victim with this ignorance and behavior.

by Anonymous 5 years ago

You also have to acknowledge the fact that there are in fact false accusations though...

by Anonymous 3 years ago

I would've agreed if it wasn't for your comment on the 30+ years later accusations. I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding something here...for what I can see, if you don't understand by now how a rape/abuse victim could have felt that being quiet was the better thing for them, then I have to say you're missing the point of the me too movement. The reason you see so many people talking now is because they feel safe to do so - meaning they didn't feel safe before. There's abusers and rapists who walked away or got lighter sentences even with evidence or witnesses. Bill Cosby still has people defending him and supporting him. Roy Moore is still defended by plenty of people. I see accusers being villanised and accused humanised all the time. No matter the evidence, people will call the victims sluts and much worse, threaten and harass them, call them liars, say all evidence is fake, say all witnesses are being paid... that doesn't sounds like an environment that would make a rape victim feel comfortable to come forward to talk about what was done to them. The me too movement is very much needed. And it's doing plenty of good. But is some people lying? For sure. They tend to get the spotlight, though, because nothing sells your propaganda against a movement better than a bunch of people abusing that movement. Use them as the heads, paint the rest as the same, and voilá, people start associating the movement with the bad apples and will start being annoyed by it soon enough. About the false accusers being penalised for their lies... they most certainly should. Maybe a few years in jail should teach them the importance of not messing with the life of an innocent person. This is a serious accusation that stays with you for life. Using it just to fuck up someone you don't like is beyond wrong.

by Anonymous 5 years ago