U.S. Forensic research into false allegations of rape

[largactyl1]

Take a look at this site - it is very interesting. It is a U.S. study but all stats are likely to be reflected in UK. Has a particularly interesting section on "Telling the truth from Lies" which outlines different stories, wounds, moods etc of people telling the truth re. a rape and people who are not.

http://www.theforensicexaminer.com/archive/spring09/15/

Jen

[Casehardened]

Well done Jen, for unearthing this, it's fascinating stuff!

Should be required reading for everyone in Parliament and the 'justice' system though I suppose those who won't like the stats will just dismiss it as something that's come from America.

If only we could correlate these stats to cost here in the UK (where legal fees are paid by the taxpayer) and show that the cost of investigating and prosecuting false claims is, say £3bn annually, then undoubtedly action would follow.

[largactyl1]

Well there has been a recommendation in the Stern Review of rape reporting in England and Wales that there should indeed be research into False Allegations, this is what she says:

"It was suggested to us that women often make false allegations of
rape. Beliefs that many allegations are false are said to affect the way
rape complaints are dealt with by police, prosecutors and juries. The
research that is available on false allegations gives a wide range of
figures for how many there are, although those we spoke to in the
system felt that there were very few. Nevertheless, the effect on those
who are falsely accused can be severe. The public holds very strong
views about sex offenders, and those who have been under suspicion
of rape are likely to suffer considerably from the allegation having been
made, even when they have been cleared and the allegation has been
established as false. The penalties for making false allegations and
persisting with them through the legal process can be commensurately
severe. The complainant making false allegations can be given a
substantial prison sentence.
Since the subject of false allegations comes up so often in discussions
about rape, and the information about the prevalence of false
allegations is so scanty, we have recommended that research be
undertaken to establish their frequency".

http://www.equalities.gov.uk/pdf/Ste...ing_1FINAL.pdf page 13.

This research is pretty recent. Hopefully this recommended research will be carried out.

Best wishes
Jen