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CRYING RAPE: False rape accusations exist, and they are a serious problem.
SLATE ^ | 09/20/2014 | Cathy Young

Posted on 09/20/2014 5:15:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

In the emotionally charged conversation about rape, few topics are more fraught than that of false allegations. Consider some responses to the news that singer-songwriter Conor Oberst had been falsely accused of sexual assault. Last December a woman writing in the comments section of the website xoJane, going by the name Joanie Faircloth, claimed Oberst raped her when she was a teenager.

The charge spread across the Internet; Oberst denied it and brought a libel suit against Faircloth when she refused to retract the story. In July she completely recanted, admitting that she had made it all up to get attention. Yet instead of showing sympathy for the ordeal of the musician—one known for being supportive of feminist issues—some chided him for taking legal action to defend himself against a false, career-damaging charge. In the Daily Dot, pop culture critic Chris Ostendorf decried the lawsuit, arguing that it could intimidate real victims of rape and that it promoted the idea of men as victims of false accusations—even though that’s exactly what Oberst was. After Oberst dropped the suit, Bustle’s Caroline Pate praised his decision and referred to the saga as “a roller-coaster for both parties”—treating the false accuser and the wrongly accused as morally equivalent—and called the revelation of Oberst’s innocence “crushingly disappointing.”

False rape accusations are a lightning rod for a variety of reasons. Rape is a repugnant crime—and one for which the evidence often relies on one person’s word against another’s. Moreover, in the not-so-distant past, the belief that women routinely make up rape charges often led to appalling treatment of victims. However, in challenging what author and law professor Susan Estrich has called “the myth of the lying woman,” feminists have been creating their own counter-myth: that of the woman who never lies.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: campus; falserape; rape
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1 posted on 09/20/2014 5:15:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

I teach at Steubenville High School, and we’ve been in-serviced well on rape. Not only are false accusations rare, but they are also easy to detect forensically. #waronwomen Slate. Keep it classy.


2 posted on 09/20/2014 5:18:00 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: SeekAndFind

a person who falsely decries being raped and gets another in serious trouble b/c of it, is worse than a rapist, imo. ought to be treated worse.

it destroys someone’s life. try to rebuild a reputation after that. if falsely jailed and losing years of your life what kind of job can the guy get, and his 2a rights are gone.

rape fakers are worse than rapists. i don’t care what anyone else thinks.


3 posted on 09/20/2014 5:20:16 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Surprised but glad to see Slate take on this topic.


4 posted on 09/20/2014 5:22:37 PM PDT by GrootheWanderer
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To: SeekAndFind

People who falsely cry rape are just as bad as those who are rapists, in my opinion.


5 posted on 09/20/2014 5:23:18 PM PDT by Politicalkiddo (Power always thinks.. that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws. -John Adams)
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To: SeekAndFind
False Claim = Power and Control ,
In a media that is pre-letigilous, the claim is just as harmful as a conviction
as you are already convicted without benefit of trial.
6 posted on 09/20/2014 5:24:23 PM PDT by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: SeekAndFind

It got insane when the Packwood circus excuse of “It’s the seriousness of the charges”, not the facts. From that day on, guilt or innocence became irrelevant. It was now only the seriousness of charges that matter.


7 posted on 09/20/2014 5:24:59 PM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Rape surely happens.Statutory rape and “non-statutory”.Some of them are women and girls who've been dragged into the bushes on a dark night,others are committed by men/boys known to the woman/girl.But I refuse to believe that *all* accusations of rape made in this country are justified.Most? Very probably legit.All of them? No way!
8 posted on 09/20/2014 5:25:33 PM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Islamopobia:The Irrational Fear Of Being Beheaded)
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To: Politicalkiddo

Agree.


9 posted on 09/20/2014 5:28:51 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear
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To: goodwithagun

Do you have a reference for the forensic evidence of rape?


10 posted on 09/20/2014 5:29:06 PM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: goodwithagun

Gosh, you guys HAVE had to deal with a lot.


12 posted on 09/20/2014 5:30:08 PM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear
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To: SeekAndFind

If you’re the type for one night stands you may want to set up video and audio recording to protect yourself


13 posted on 09/20/2014 5:30:16 PM PDT by Figment
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To: SeekAndFind
Brave woman to write this for Slate.
14 posted on 09/20/2014 5:30:19 PM PDT by JennysCool (My hypocrisy goes only so far)
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To: SeekAndFind

Feminists often cry rape... but one look tells you its bogus. Feminists are always FUGLY!

Officers should be able to dismiss shrill feminist claims based on the fact that nobody would go near those fat cows!


15 posted on 09/20/2014 5:31:00 PM PDT by Viennacon
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To: goodwithagun

A girl has sex with a guy so she has his “dna material” inside of her. Perhaps the sex is a bit rough. She gives herself a few bruises after the fact.

There is no way to distinguish this “forensically” from a real rape and if the man is convicted and sent away no one knows the difference.


16 posted on 09/20/2014 5:31:27 PM PDT by Catphish
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To: SeekAndFind
This is a violation of the Ninth Commandment, and nearly the worst sin that can be committed.

Punishment should at least match the punishment for the fraudulently alleged crime.

17 posted on 09/20/2014 5:33:53 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (America, a Rule of Mob nation)
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To: Figment
If you’re the type for one night stands you may want to set up video and audio recording to protect yourself

I suggest keeping the evidence "in the cloud".

18 posted on 09/20/2014 5:34:53 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("Now is not the time for fear. That comes later.")
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To: Catphish

Wrong. In both instances there will be evidence on the cervix. In the rape situation, there will be evidence on the vagina’s entrance. If the female gets off on the roughness, there will be no significant evidence on the vagina’s entrance.


19 posted on 09/20/2014 5:35:18 PM PDT by goodwithagun (My gun has killed fewer people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: F15Eagle

it’s why i think people who lie about crimes are worse than real criminals are. they delibertely mislead everyone, they make divisiveness and put grous against groups for lies, and wrongfully inflate a problem just because they want to draw attention to something that didn’t even happen.

it is sick, calculating, manipulative, and turns people against other people for nothing. for a lie. and it adds a layer of mistrust to people who genuinely suffer something terrible. they can destroy people’s careers and lives, jail people on lies.

they should get at least the same sentence a real criminal would, maybe more for lying and deceving the court, destroying peoples’ reputations, being jailed.


20 posted on 09/20/2014 5:38:55 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man ( Gone Galt; Not averse to Going Bronson.)
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