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I am writing an article for my English coursework at college concerning false rape allegations and attention seeking. I am looking to speak to people who have falsely accused rape and also by the victims who are falsely accused. I would be much obliged if anyone could spend their time to tell me their story.
Thanks
I do not think you will find any woman (or man for that matter) who is prepared to admit they have deliberately made a false allegation of rape. After all they will face prosecution if they admit this!
As for those who have been falsely accused - have a browse through this site and you will find plenty of information. If you need something more personal, please feel free to contact me.
Well done for raising the profile of these false allegations - they are far more prolific than anyone initially thinks.
I am a victim of a false allegation and would be happy to assist your studies. Incidentally, according to published studies, attention seeking, accounts for approximately 1/3rd of false allegations. Understandably the vast majority of this 1/3rd have an underlying psychiatric disturbance, commonly Munchausen, Borderlime Personality Disorder and Histrionic Personality Disorder.
It would be interesting to hear from someone who had falsely accused on this forum, anonymously of course. I am sure most contributors would listen objectively to their motives.
someone very close to me has been falsely accused of attempting to rape a woman, and condemned to 3 years in jail...
If through your studies you find any helpful information on what to do in these cases, please let me know (this has happened in Australia though). I am trying to help but since I am not in Australia I am a bit lost. you can write to my e-mail pollito_ny@hotmail.com
Hello
Thank you to all of you for responding to my message.
I would just like to ask Ashley how he coped, what the situation was and why did it happen?
Saffron, I noted that you said your husband had been falsely accused, as his wife, how did you deal with it?
Thanks again,
Claire
God knows how I coped. for the first 9 months in prison I didn't, every time I heard the jangle of keys I believed they were going to open my door and tell me it had all been a big mistake and I was free to go. Of course, that didn't happen, I was on the very edge of a complete breakdown, thoughts of suicide were overwhelming and I knew if I didn't ask for help I would never survive. I did, I was given medication (which I still take) and assigned an independant psychiatric nurse to help me cope with the depression. Even so, every day felt like a mountain to climb. The medication only smoothes out the swings in mood in general terms,, I needed to adopt other coping strategies. Fortunately one of them also helped with depression, I hammered myself in the prison gym. I threw myself into fighting my conviction and telling myself ' tomorrow will be mine'. Eventually it was, for me tomorrow came.
You ask why did it happen. I could never be 100% certain. I spent a lot of time researching false allegations, understanding why does ,go some way ,to helping you cope. In actual fact I did so much research that one of the points of my appeal which the Court felt it unnecessary to hear (they quashed my conviction on the 1st point) was the woman who accused me was subject to a particular psychiatric disturbance that is associated with pseudoligica fantastica (pathalogical lying) and false allegations. That is not to say that all people suffering from the disorder make false allegations, or that all people who make false allegations suffer from the disorder. In my case however there was more than sufficient evidence to suggest it is a likely explanation. I could write reams on the subject, if you wish to take your studies or personal interest a bit further have a look into this disorder- Borderline Personality Disorder, go a little bit further than the general diagnostic crietria. Look at some reported clinical research, you can get American Psychiatric Press on line.
I am not really sure how I dealt with it. We have a young son, and I think he played a major part in forcing us to hold ourselves together.
When he was accused, my husband fell apart completely. He received death threats, he lost his job, was suicidal, self-harmed, became irritable and very short tempered, was afraid to go out in public, couldn't socialise in any but our closest circle of friends, and slept with a knife under his pillow as he feared for all our lives.
In fact he was so traumatised that I had no option but to cope. I had to pay the mortgage, pay our son's childcare fees and financially support my husband as well as maintaining a front for our son.
We didn't tell our families what was happening until 2 weeks before the trial. We had been so certain that the case would never get as far as a trial, because there was no prosecution evidence other than his accuser's word. When we did finally tell them they were utterly horrified but exceptionally supportive.
My husband is now in prison for a crime he didn't commit. His accuser has been spreading further malicious rumours about him, claiming that he had been accused before, and that her testimony finally nailed the serial sex attacker. She is also telling all his ex-colleagues that his sentence is 5 times longer then it actually is.
As a family unit, we are still dealing wth the trauma, and it will never go away. The only thing that keeps me going is the thought that one day there will be grounds for him to appeal, and that his name will finally be cleared. I have to stay focussed on making a good life for our son, and a warm home for my husband to come home to. Our families have been wonderful, kind and supportive, and their unwavering faith in my husband has reinforced my belief in his innocence.
As a couple, this whole thing has made us stronger, more honest, more supportive and appreciative of each other. It makes us relish every moment we have together, and when he comes home, we will start making a new life for ourselves. Nothing will be the same again.
hi saffron i no excatley how you feel since this happened to my son he has changed to a degree that i feel i don't no him anymore he was a thoughtful kind loving out going young man now all he does is let people down with draws into his own world argues with his g/friend to a degree where she is always in tears altho sometimes i do beleive she nags him which doesn't help when your hubby comes home i hope and pray he doesn't change like my son has this has completly destroyed him he is not an never will be the same person again x
Perhaps your son could be suffering from depression. There's a good website on getting over depression and what to look for in a therapist, which I think some other people here might benefit from as well: http://www.clinical-depression.co.uk/
I cannot begin to thank both you, Ashley and Saffron you have been so kind. Your responses have been fantastic and have really helped me with my research. I have a friend who was falsely accused by another friend. It's so sad, the amount of pain he had to go through because of her, thank god though that it did not reach as far as the police because her accusations are false and were an act of revenge. The girl unfortunately suffers with mental problems and desperately needs help but will not seek it. This is the reason I chose to do my article on this subject because I feel it is widely unheard of.
Can i ask for permission from you both in using parts of your story in my article? Of course no names will be mentioned as I feel confidentiality is very important. Unfortunately I am unable to offer you anything for your agreement apart from a whole world of thanks.
Thanks again, it really means a lot to me, I hope justice will prevail.
Claire
I am one of the Lewis abuse scandal case 14 of us were arrested and charged we have web site it is http://accused-at-lewis.tripod.com The case was dropped but not after all 14 suffered so badly at the hands of the public who considered us guilty without even knowing any other that the info given by the police and social workers.
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