As the wheels seem to be coming off of the Rolling Stone story on a gang rape at the University of Virginia, one would hope that now could be a moment for reflection and reasoned improvement of policies surrounding investigation and punishment of sexual assault. One fact standing in the way is that the universities, supposed to be sources of research and knowledge, instead are often disseminators of misinformation. Under the banner of debunking rape myths, websites at the University of Virginia, Stanford, Michigan, UMass, Arizona, and many other universities publish claims that the FBI estimates the rate of false accusations of rape to be around 2%, the same or less than the rate for other offenses. (The statistic is repeated in other contexts as well). But the source, the number, and the comparison to the rate in relation to other offenses all seem to be mistaken.
Writing in the journal Violence Against Women, Dr. Kimberly Lonsway, research director of End Violence Against Women International explains that this statistic is erroneous:
In fact, the FBI does not publish the rates of unfounded crime reports (including forcible rape) every year. However, they are available and can be requested by contacting the FBI. I recently received a summary of the unfounded rates for seven offenses tracked as Index Crimes between 1989 and 2008. For forcible rape, the unfounding rate was 8.4% in 1989, and it generally declined over time to a rate of 5.8% in 2008. Unfounded rates for the crime index total were much lower but showed a similar pattern of decline from 2.3% in 1989 to 1.3% in 2008. Rape is thus the crime with the highest unfounded rate, at 6%. Nonetheless, the 2% statistic continues to be used in the field, frequently showing up on “myth and fact” sheets and in educational presentations on the topic.
A widely cited review of the literature suggests that a more accurate conclusion of reliable studies is between 2 and 10%. But CUNY Dean Michelle Anderson published an article the conclusion of which on this point seems solid to me: “In fact, there is no good empirical data on false rape complaints either historically or currently . . . As a scientific matter, the frequency of false rape complaints to police or other legal authorities remains unknown.” A more recent National District Attorney’s Association study reviewing the same literature, while debunking absurdly high estimates from some unreliable studies, agreed: “Of course, in reality, no one knows—and in fact no one can possibly know—exactly how many sexual assault reports are false.” We (and by this I mean the public at large, people involved in the educational system, and the legal community of prosecutors, defenders and judges) rarely know the accused or the complainant and never know the truth; we can only make decisions based on the evidence in the particular cases. There is no rule of thumb to rescue us from that situation of uncertainty.
And it cannot go unremarked, in a season where, in my opinion, at least, there is good reason to believe that African American men suffer from the consequences of myths imposed on them, that a belief that an accusation has a 98% chance of being true imposes a special burden on minorities. White lacrosse players at Duke deserve false accusations against them no more than anyone else, but at least they are likely to have financial resources and, from some important quarters, receive the benefit of the doubt. Falsely accused African Americans may not be so fortunate. Many spectacular university-related gang rape charges which were disproved involved African American men. Tracey Owens Patton & Julie Snyder-Yuly, Any Four Black Men Will Do: Rape, Race, and the Ultimate Scapegoat, J. Black Studies offers much history and context and a sad tale from Iowa State. The fact that accusations were debunked in these cases might suggest that the system works. But if the young Black men at St. John’s or Hofstra had neglected to record their encounters, I for one, would not be a bit surprised if they were in prison for life.
Posted by Jack Chin on December 6, 2014 at 09:28 PM
Comments
Again, thanks!! Nothing was more important to me than my reputation! Now a penniless, destroyed, dethroned college professor from a vindictive, malicious liar ( https://vid.me/Gyx).
Thanks for bringing to light that women DO IN FACT LIE about rape. And in my case it turns out she’s involved in a series of shady accusations. Even with actual 911 calls and proof ( audio ) posted here at this link, https://vid.me/Gyx , yet STILL the falsely accused find their career’s are ruined, “no one wants to risk liability or to deal with it,” or, “it’s too complicated,” – but the extortionist mugshot.com image readily Googled, tells a flat-out wrong but simple enough story for everyone. My colleague said it’s like you stepped in ” sh@t” and no one wants to be around you anymore.” The falsely accused are tarred and feathered “He’s a Witch” EVEN with hard proof. It’s a modern day Salem witch hunt!
Sincerely, Barton “Bart” James Christner
Lost are my 20 years tireless efforts, Both BS and MFA degrees, significant community service, a textbook published “DIGITAL MEDIA: A VISUAL ENCYCLOPEDIA” years of mentorship, youth development, I worked directly for the President of Dicks Sporting Goods, President of Daytona State College, and President of The Dominican Republic. I had broken off a 6 month dating relationship with “Pamela K. Geldart” to go back to a prior relationship with a wonderful woman ( whom I have since happily married) and Ms Geldart had threatened, “No one leaves me!” threatened us both, then subsequently targeted Commissioner Robert Gilliland on match.com (Google both he and his ex-wife Cindy “steak knife murder” and recent assault mugshot Oct 2014) and she targeted my tenure committee chairman Robert “Bob” Arcuri ( Google he and his wife Jody Arcuri ” murder, drugs, violence – both of them), and lied to them both about me. Mandated reporting, right?! Or Google John Korchinsky of Delray Beach ( dead), or Ronald Blum of Melbourne ( died – ” suicide” – Aug 12, 2014) or James Geldart ( Ms. Geldart’s ex-husband) all five, all in relationships with Ms. Geldart, these men ALSO reveal mugshots online with domestic violence/rape/assault charges online. STILL the “system” towards Ms. Pam Geldart, despite being caught in multiple false accusations, multiple variations, multiple stories and having created three know fraudulent identities (fake Facebook and Linked In profiles in the name of her falsely accused, as an attempt to falsely implicate him) has faced NO repercussions for this heinous behavior, perjury/lies.
http://www.avoiceformalestudents.com/avfms-mega-post-10-reasons-false-rape-accusations-are-common/
Posted by: Barton Christner | Dec 17, 2014 5:26:36 PM