The False, False Rape Allegation Epidemic
In response to the controversy surrounding The Trump Tapes, Donald Trump’s supporters have taken to Twitter with the hashtag #nextfaketrumpvictim to voice their belief that the accusations against him are all a Clinton campaign conspiracy. Many of these Twitter users are angry that Donald Trump’s good name is being besmirched and are concerned that the media is giving unfair coverage to the fraudulent charges. Their hatred doesn’t stop with the women accusing Trump, however. Over and over in the #nextfaketrumpvictim tweets, women as a whole were condemned for their use of rape allegations as a manipulative, vindictive, or attention-seeking tactic. The message woven throughout their tweets was clear: women who cry rape cannot be trusted. This isn’t a sentiment unique to Trump’s voter base, either. Consider the words of rape culture apologist and men’s rights advocate Ann Coulter about a particularly frightening trend sweeping our nation :
“If we’re drowning in this epidemic of rape on college campuses, why are all the cases they keep giving us hoaxes? Can they give us a real one? In fact, what it illustrates is an epidemic of false claims of rape.” –Ann Coulter
Unfortunately, Coulter isn’t alone in this outrageous belief. I’ve heard it discussed at parties, in bars, in classes, at the dining hall, and amongst my friends. I’ve read about it in news articles, seen it plastered all over my Facebook feed, been warned about it in the workplace and it’s even been discussed in my own home. With all of the chatter around the country about rape hoaxes, you’d think there would be some concrete statistics that people like Coulter could reference to justify their fears. There aren’t. Coulter lists off a few statistics about allegations of false rape, citing studies like this one from 1994, which has been heavily critiqued for a myriad of reasons. There are quite a few additional studies out there boasting similarly high numbers of rape hoaxes, but their methodologies are equally as problematic and the numbers they produced are representative of very small, secluded populations. Many of these studies fail to develop consistent definitions of false rape, and instead rely on qualitative observations, such as the number of rapes the police determined to be false. On the flip side, it is also important to note that there are just as many commonly cited studies that have produced very low numbers with methodologies that are equally as problematic. False rape allegations and failure to believe rape survivors is a very polarizing issue that has motivated both sides to manipulate numbers and carry out incredibly biased research.
The most reliable number currently available and easily accessible comes from a 1996 FBI crime index report. The report states that “Eight percent of forcible rape complaints in 1996 were ‘unfounded,’ while the average for all Index crimes was 2 percent,” which seems to indicate false rape accusations are occurring at 4 times the frequency of other falsely reported crimes. Even though that number demonstrates that over 90% of rape accusations are legitimate, it is a bit worrying to see that rape is the most unfounded crime in the country by such a large margin. However, due to an inherently flawed methodology, the FBI’s 8% statistic is inaccurate, as the definition of ‘unfounded’ varies all around the country. Some precincts considered a rape unfounded if the survivor did not attempt to fight off the attacker, while others labeled cases with too many inconsistencies unfounded, and yet others defined cases with no physical evidence to be unfounded. Ergo, the 8% figure isn’t actually describing the number of rape allegations found to be false and malicious. On top of that, the report is 20 years old with questionable relevance to the issue as it is reported today.
The FBI only released statistics on ‘unfounded’ rapes for 3 years (‘95, ‘96, and ‘97). In that 3 year span, the number stayed consistently at 8%, so this issue is fairly representative of findings in the late 90s. It could be argued that America has undergone substantial cultural shifts in the last two decades and that number could have increased as a result. That argument is easily deconstructed when the trends surrounding rape prosecution are examined in the current day. For instance, college campuses have a lot of incentive to discourage sexual assault survivors from pursuing justice, as well as incentive to cover up cases that survivors do pursue. As proof of how difficult it can be to attain justice in sexual assault cases in college, only around 30% of students found guilty of sexual assault are expelled, while 23% receive what amounts to a slap on the wrist, and the rest only face temporary suspension.
It’s difficult enough moving forward with the process of reporting and seeking justice in a legitimate rape case and even once the assailant is found guilty there’s a 1 in 4 chance nothing will happen to them and over a 3 in 4 chance that they won’t receive any sort of serious consequence from the school. Outside of universities the numbers are even more staggering. According to RAINN, only 5 out of every 100 rape cases lead to a felony conviction, and only 3 of those 5 rapists will ever spend a day in prison. The felony proceedings that lead up to these very rare prosecutions take months, possibly even years, and cost quite a lot of money. A prolonged rape case could potentially cost the accuser thousands of dollars in lost wages. Hourly wage employees can’t afford to take time off, and don’t have access to vacation days. The accuser additionally has to bear the burden of the social stigma surrounding being a victim of sexual violence. Rape culture softens the blow to a man’s reputation if he is accused or found guilty of rape, while a woman who accuses a man of rape has made herself vulnerable to slut shaming. It simply doesn’t make any sense for someone to make a false rape report- this isn’t something a woman can casually do. Reporting a rape and pursuing action against the assailant is something that will take over your life for a significant amount of time.
The widespread fear of false rape accusations is a symptom of a larger problem: America’s rape culture and the collective indifference that accompanies it. Rape and other forms of sexual assault have in part become so trivialized because of how commonplace the experiences seem to be. Many deny that sexual violence is a widespread issue simply because it is reported on so often. When a form of violence becomes a daily trend, the public seems to become numb to the crime’s true horror. Society is quick to forget how traumatic rape actually is, which leads to a misallocation of accountability. Instead of focusing on the attackers and sexual predators,much blame is placed on the victims. Consequently, the institutions that should be pedestals of justice often fail to arrive at a guilty verdicts in legitimate rape cases. Even if a guilty verdict is reached, all too often these institutions fail to deliver adequate punishment. One of the most difficult facets of any sort of institutionalized oppression like sexism is the passive acceptance of statistics without acknowledging the actual atrocities that give way to those numbers. When these trends are analyzed however, it becomes apparent that false rape accusations are not a valid concern for men, especially considering that the majority of men are not rapists. It’s more beneficial to be a man in nearly all aspects of American life, and that especially shines through in the courtroom. As men, we need to confront our privilege head on. The first time I heard someone argue that “the best way to prevent rape was by teaching men not to rape,” my gut reaction was to defend myself and all other members of my sex category. I felt I was being attacked, as many men do in response to that rhetoric. But, it wasn’t me being attacked. It was an attack on rape culture, and rape culture is something we should all be working towards eradicating. I think it’s safe to say a lot of men buy into the false rape narrative because they equate an attack on rape culture with an attack on all men. This fallacy is evidence that as men we have a responsibility to work harder to separate ourselves from such a toxic culture of violence and misogyny, and there is no such thing as staying neutral on this issue. You are either working to change rape culture, or you are participating in it and allowing it to thrive. Let’s stop being the country that produces the Brock Turners, the Donald Trumps, the Jameis Winstons, the Bill Cosbys, and the Jerry Sanduskys. Let’s stop being a country of men burdened by privilege and paranoid of the girl who cried rape.
