Criminalizing fake rape ‘victims’…
‘According to a news report on BBC One presented in 12 November 2007, there were 85,000 women raped in the UK in the previous year, equating to about 230 cases every day. According to that report one of every 200 women in the UK was raped in 2006. On average 1 in 6 women will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetimes.’
A staggering amount of men and women are victims of rape and sexual assault and what gives us greater unrest is the fact that many rape victims don’t come forward.  What’s more, is a few of those who have come forward have been accused of making ‘false allegations.’
One of whom is local woman – Faye Pendlebury, Rotherham’s fake rape victim, who has recently been sentenced to eight months in jail for making false allegations.
The burning question is – should we criminalize those who are accused of false allegations?
As ever there are two sides to every story but one side leaves me more uncomfortable than the other.
Let’s imagine that you invite your new partner over for dinner and things get steamy after the dessert but both adults consent. It’s only after that one of you regrets what you’ve done and the regret turns into resent and then low and behold that partner doesn’t get in touch. Well resentment doubled with regret is uncomfortable so to ease your own conscience you decide that the sex was not consensual and call the police.
Imagine being that innocent partner who gets named and shamed for a horrendous crime they did not commit? A nightmare I could never imagine but now let’s imagine a different scenario…
You go round to your new partners house for dinner and start to feel uncomfortable as no dinner has been made and there is just a bottle of wine on the table. You oblige and have a drink and start to feel more comfortable.
Before you know it your new partner is leaning in for a kiss. Again you oblige until your new partner starts touching your leg – you let this happen a bit longer until your new partner goes even further. You whisper ‘no’ but they continue – you are paralyzed but again you utter to them ‘don’t’ and again they carry on until they tug at your clothes… we can only attempt to understand the nightmare that then entails.
The next day you are left in a state of shock and a feeling of guilt, anger and dirtiness. These emotions may dwindle eventually but will now become a huge part of your life and yet you don’t tell the police. Why?
It is this latter question that is the most difficult to answer as it can be one of numerous reasons from feelings of guilt and ‘it was my fault’ or ‘I was wearing the wrong thing’ all of which hare many feelings that victims have but can only begin to understand with the right support. The last thing we want is for rapes and sexual assault’s to go unreported as victims are not only petrified at the thought of court but that the hand may turn against them and even worse they themselves maybe prosecuted.
I can’t imagine the shame and torture it is to be wrongly accused of a crime you did not commit especially one as vulgar as rape but surely what is even worse is the thought of being the rape victim yourself … any victim of any crime needs support and strong foundations put in place to help them survive the crime. The last thing any genuine victim needs is to be accused of making false allegations if the perpetrator is not convicted in court.
We must remember the courts have to find the accused person, guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt,’ therefore, the chances are that they won’t be prosecuted especially for crimes such as rape and sexual assault as they are very hard to convict and find absolute evidence.
Nonetheless, those who wrongfully make allegations are vial and deserve their comeuppance but in a contained and controlled way. We must be cautious so that we do not scare away genuine victims of rape and sexual assault from reporting the crimes – after all it is the victims we must put before the perpetrators.
For more information for victims of rape and sexual assault please see:
Address:
Rape Crisis (England & Wales)
BCM Box 4444
London
WC1N 3XX
Co-ordinator: Christine Bennett
Email info@rapecrisis.org.uk or chris@rapecrisis.org.uk
Policy Officer: Angie Conroy
Email policy@rapecrisis.org.uk or angie@sericc.org.uk
