The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

Should False Accusation Of Rape Carry a Sentence?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 20
Avatar for inhuman
inhuman
2
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3013207/Woman-jailed-falsely-accusing-two-soldiers-trying-rape-ashamed-drunken-cocaine-fuelled-threesome.html

She got two and a half years.

I agree with it, it should carry a prison sentence. The question is how long. And that is difficult. It's not always that straightforward (imagine the woman comes out with the truth way before a possible trial of the accused, should that be a sentence at all and if surely not as long as someone who goes all the way to trial where it comes to light she is lying).

Anyway, bottom line is yes, of course, it has to be punished by prison.
Original post by 0to100
Yea but false acc is normally when there literally is no evidence, because she lied or exaggerated, not a lack of finding the evidence.


if its historic...theres often NO evidence as its historic...
This is kinda like with cyber justice or whatever it's called. I learned from those hidden camera pedo predator shows that if the girl is underage and gets raped by the guy she knew was an adult after meeting up, she gets time as well :u:
Original post by shawtyb
if its historic...theres often NO evidence as its historic...


"Historic?" You on about cold case files. They're not eligible to be tried if time is up to investigate. So there would be no way of finding out it did happen if they stopped investigating...
Original post by the bear


Lel 22? Hahha
Absolutely but how severe I don't know. It could either be a typical obstruction of justice kind of charge, or I've seen some suggestions of them facing the same punishment the accused would have faced if found guilty.
Original post by 999tigger
It already carries a sentence, so what is it you wish to discuss?


lmao yea that's what I was getting at with the underage girls who still get with the adult, I've heard they can also be arrested :h:
Original post by p3ssimist
I understand girls can ruin a boy's reputation. I think there should be some other way to combat that?

The reason why actual victims might be scared of being accused of lying is because rape is hard to prove. Too many rapists get acquitted of rape because of lack of evidence.

What happens when a genuine victim does not have enough evidence and so the rapist goes free? Is the rapist allowed to turn the case around now and say that as he was acquitted that must mean the girl was lying? Will the victim be sentenced?


That would happen regardless though, if there is no evidence on what grounds is the CPS convicting on? Some he says she says? If the jury found him not guilty then realistically that just means there was no real hard evidence.

Further there is no real alternative for the false accusations? What do you suggest? I understand your view that it causes fear in victims but if the evidence was not substantial then the CPS has no grounds to prosecute even if the rape did take place. In this country the CPS have to prove guilt so if they fail to do that then the person is innocent.
another depressing tale of lies:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/wales/10169257/Woman-who-made-a-string-of-false-rape-allegations-is-jailed.html
Original post by 0to100
"Historic?" You on about cold case files. They're not eligible to be tried if time is up to investigate. So there would be no way of finding out it did happen if they stopped investigating...


wow

have you missed my point completely?!

he/she gets raped in the past, doesnt report it for what ever reason and then reports it months or years later. there is no evidence asd its been so long therefore it will get thrown out of court due to lack of evidence
people may call this a false rape accusation or a cold case. either way, people have to be careful accusing people of making false accusations especially as some (not all) may very well be true
Original post by shawtyb
if its historic...theres often NO evidence as its historic...


Theres no way these cases should be taken to court, and if the CPS do they are often left red faced.

Yes historic rape happens, but again in this country you have to prove GUILT. If there is no evidence what exactly are you using as evidence that it happened?

I see your point but strictly speaking if there is NO evidence then the police bin it, as otherwise they look stupid in court.
Reply 31
Avatar for quinn f
quinn f
4
I understand everyone here saying yes - I agree to an extent, especially if the falsely accused is sentenced wrongly. BUT I think arguing "ruining reputation" is a petty justification, when looked at in practice.

In a perfect world, yes there should be a sentence for falsely accusing someone. However, this would make it far far too easy for rape victims to be accused and sentenced instead when they stand up - all too often are victims already not believed. It will mean rapists face even less chance of being convicted than they already do. There is currently only a 16% chance a rapist will be sent to prison - when they are it is often a very short sentence.

Having a sentence for false rape allegations will just increase victim blaming and mean even fewer victims will come forward in fear of being attacked in return. Currently only 39% of rape cases are reported to police, usually for these reasons - fear and victim blaming. This likely would only worsen.

Also, only 2% of rape accusations are false.
(edited 7 years ago)
What is it you people don't get?

It is a crime to falsely accuse someone of rape in an attempt to get them into trouble.
Its also an offence to give false testimony.
Reply 33
Avatar for quinn f
quinn f
4
Okay, different question for you then: how would you prove someone has falsely accused a person of rape?
The victim should ALWAYS be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to rape.
Original post by shawtyb
wow

have you missed my point completely?!

he/she gets raped in the past, doesnt report it for what ever reason and then reports it months or years later. there is no evidence asd its been so long therefore it will get thrown out of court due to lack of evidence
people may call this a false rape accusation or a cold case. either way, people have to be careful accusing people of making false accusations especially as some (not all) may very well be true

Why are you even yelling right now. I know what you mean and you just answered your own question.

So...?
The evidence needed to prove rape is all up to the female.

Because you only prove rape if there were witnesses, if there was CCTV, or if she went right after and they could check her privates.

But women foolishly either don't report for whatever reason :rolleyes: or they lied.
Original post by quinn f
Okay, different question for you then: how would you prove someone has falsely accused a person of rape?
The victim should ALWAYS be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to rape.


Lmao. That is what leads to false acc happening. :colonhash:
And then you have to prove this. But again it brings us back to the female. is she willing to report straight away? Is she hiding something?
Yes, of course
Reply 38
Avatar for math42
math42
20
This is quite difficult. I feel it should be criminalised, but at the same time, I'm sure there are cases where there is simply no satisfactory evidence, despite the fact a rape occurred, and it would be rather intimidating to rape victims if they could be called out simply due to this. You could say only allow such charges to be brought if there is a water-tight alibi or clear inconsistencies I guess. I dunno, my knowledge of the law is weak.
Original post by 1 8 13 20 42
This is quite difficult. I feel it should be criminalised, but at the same time, I'm sure there are cases where there is simply no satisfactory evidence, despite the fact a rape occurred, and it would be rather intimidating to rape victims if they could be called out simply due to this. You could say only allow such charges to be brought if there is a water-tight alibi or clear inconsistencies I guess. I dunno, my knowledge of the law is weak.


True. But apparently you can already get done for false acc, says @999tigger here. But I'm sure women have not reported rape way before that. It's probably because they accept some accountability like they were drunk or went to his house sober or something like that and then got sexually assaulted and might feel the rape would humiliate them in court and for nowt. But false acc is false acc. If 999tigger is right that you get charged for it then let's cue him to pull up one of the cases where this happened and see why this happened. So we can know when it is likely or what deems something false acc. It can't just be lack of evidence even though that happens across the board that people get arrested for lack of evidence proving what they said, or lack of witnesses corroborating.

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you