False accusation is one of the most hurtful and damaging thing that can be done to a human, it changes your person as you grow, your trust pattern, your view about people or the way people see you, your lifestyle and so many other things change.
Just picture yourself working down a busy road, neatly dressed to flex in the evening and suddenly you hear loud noise from behind but before you turn to know what’s happening, your dress is torn, bag seized and a mob is on you. Now your mind is gone, you’re dazed, nobody is saying anything about what you have done except “na she”, your heart is beating, you’re searching the crowd for answers, a reasonable face to reason with, you’re looking for just anybody to hear you out but you’re just alone.
Now imagine being falsely accused of rape because of jealousy, money, revenge, heart break and whatever reasons accusers can think of.
What happens to that man spending his life in prison who was falsely accused, what about that millionaire who suddenly became poor because of a greedy woman, what happens to that boy whose life was cut short by a mob because “he broke my heart”?. Do we pay attention to the false accusers or we just say “oh, you lied, don’t do that next time, you’re free to go” and accepts some kind of apology that does nothing to the broken spirit of the victim?
A false accusation of rape is the reporting of a rape where no rape has occurred. It is difficult to assess the true prevalence of false rape allegations, but it is generally agreed that, for about 2% to 10% of rape allegations made to police or campus authority, a thorough investigation establishes that no crime was committed or attempted.
Statistics
While we tackle and will still keep tackling rape but what do we do to false accusers, they go Scot free or the same punishment should be meted out to them According to the National Crime Records Bureau, a total of 38,947 rape cases were reported in India in 2016. In 10,068 cases – about a quarter – the women claimed it was rape on false promise of marriage. In Andhra Pradesh state, 45% of all rape cases filed in the past two years fell into the false marriage category. Judges have moved to ensure that women driven by revenge and self-interest will no longer be able to make spurious allegations when relationships end in India.
A person suspected of making a false accusation of rape may be charged with the civil crime of “wasting police time” or the criminal charge of “Perverting the Course of Justice” in the UK.
Over a five-year period ending in 2014, a total of 109 women were prosecuted for crimes related to making false accusations of rape.
Another report identified 121 charging decisions involving allegations of false accusations of rape and an additional 11 false allegations of both domestic violence and rape between January 2011 and May 2012 and found of these cases, 35 were prosecuted based upon false accusations of rape, a further 3 were prosecuted based upon charges of false accusations of both rape and domestic abuse.
While false accusations of sexual assault occur, statistics show they are rare. A widely respected 2009 study, authored in part by a University of Massachusetts professor, concludes that 92 to 98 percent of sexual assaults, in which the suspect is a no stranger, are real but as long as crimes are reported by humans, there will be some small chance of a false allegation.
What about the rest of the world?
Even the rich and powerful have to face false accusations for example Neymar, who recently got accused of rape, thank God for social media and camera he was able to vindicate himself before it got out of hand
but what if all he had was “I did not rape her”, would we take his word for it or assume because he is a known figure or “a man” he is capable of rape?.
Jhonny depp whose case is still in the court was accused of assault for a long time with very few people on his side, he lost movie roles, his credibility, and so many other things. Morgan Freeman and others had their taste of false accusations.
Unlike most people, celebrities have enough money to properly fight these cases in court, what about that man or boy who has no one to fight for him or no accessory to prove his claim. Studies have found that false accusations are rare but when they do happen, they tend to share several important characteristics. To anyone familiar with false rape accusations, the striking thing about this story is that it’s so undramatic. False stories typically have a lurid quality, often involving bizarre forms of cruelty that don’t always strictly make sense.
In the past few weeks, Dr Oluwafunmilayo who resides in the UK was accused of rape and of course people jumped to believe the story without hearing the other side of the story which always happen in 95% of all female accusations, “believe the victim”. Days after, Funmi explained what conspired between his accuser and himself only for people to realize its all a revenge plot. The accused turned to the victim but the female on the other hand has gone into hiding after receiving several letters from Dr’s lawyer.
Another case is that of Izu who committed suicide after he was falsely accused of rape by a girl who liked him but didn’t get the feelings in return. Izu didn’t want a relationship with said girl but was opened to sex which she rejected, she reported it was a “non physical sexual assault” and added him to a list of rapists. She tarnished his image, he lived with this burden for the short period of his life knowing he did no wrong.
Now a young man is dead, will justice be served?
Why accusations may happen
An accuser may have several motivations to falsely claim they have been rape as not all allegations of any crime, including sexual assault, are real. Reasons for false accusations sometimes stems from;
- Material gain: to receive money, professional promotion or other material benefits.
- A false allegation is used to cover up other behavior, such as being late or absent to an appointment.
- Revenge: to retaliate against a disliked person by damaging the reputation, freedom or finances.
- Attention: an attempt to receive any kind of attention, positive or negative, by anyone.
- Sympathy: a special kind of attention-seeking whereby the complainant tries to improve a personal relationship with a specific individual.
- ‘A disturbed mental state’; this may include false memories (“sexual hallucinations”) or pathologic lying.
- Relabeling: consensual sex is relabeled ‘rape’ to the police, because of its ‘disappointing or shameful character’.
- Regret: after having had consensual sex, a complainant experiences negative feelings such as disgust, shame, and sorrow; when others notice this and ask about the source of these negative feelings, they are prone to view the encounter as rape and put the complainant under pressure to file an allegation.
False accusers are making it difficult to believe the actual rape victims hence, the need for punishment!
Jemma Beale, 27, from Hounslow, west London, was jailed for 10 years in August 2017 after claiming she was sexually assaulted by six men and raped by nine over the space of three years.
She had been awarded £11,000 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and had told a former girlfriend she had lied to get the money, the court heard. Lady Justice Hallett said: “The idea that a woman could send an innocent man to prison for years solely so she could obtain compensation beggars belief.”
Another example from a prosecutor was a rape case in which the “victim” ultimately admitted she falsely claimed consensual sex was rape, after her boyfriend found out about her affair with another man.
Similar events have played out on a more public stage. The infamous case of Tawana Brawley’s 1987 allegation of sexual assault comes to mind. A grand jury found it to be a hoax
Across the board, people need to make an effort to wait until the facts are in before jumping to a conclusion about whether an allegation of sexual assault rings true. Every allegation must be viewed individually. Women’s rights advocates, who demand we fall in line without hesitation or risk being labeled misogynists, are not helping their cause. And skeptics, for their part, need to retire the dated cliché that delayed reporting means it didn’t happen. It is fair to consider a delay in reporting, but that cannot be the end of the inquiry.
The society at large focuses on whatever story the female gender decides to cook up without investigating or hearing the male’s side of the story. I wonder, would that be the case if the role is reversed?
Do we hate men that much or women are just used to getting their way with a sprinkle of tears and a sob story of rape to push the agenda that men are “toxic” and a danger to women?
There are two choices. We can keep up the scorched-earth battles over public allegations of sexual assault. Or, we can make a choice to consider the facts before letting our partisan impulses get the best of us and bring out the worst in us.
Justice should be gotten for men who were falsely accused and justice should be gotten for men who have suffered in the hands of false rape accusations.
Women play the victim of their own devious game and get away with it by just apologizing but The falsely accused needs justice too.