109 Women Prosecuted For False Rape In Five Years: But How Many Were Lying?
The ‘campaigners’ say 109 women were prosecuted for false rape claims in five years. The story lacks a key fact.
Sara Laville writes:
On Tuesday, the charity Women Against Rape (War) is taking its campaign to the House of Commons, where some of those who have been jailed for lying about rape allegations will speak out against their treatment by the authorities.
The vast majority of the convictions in the last five years, 98 out of 109, involved prosecutions for perverting the course of justice – which carries a maximum life jail term – rather than the lesser offence of wasting police time, which has a maximum tariff of six months in prison or a fine…
But Prof Claire Ferguson, a forensic criminologist from the University of New England in New South Wales, Australia, said it was not the norm to prosecute women for false allegations and that only those in the most egregious cases were charged, often where the accused man had spent time in custody.
Activists are lamenting the women who might have been judged wrongly. But what of the men?
Nottinghamshire Police have successfully prosecuted two women in the last 18 months for making false rape allegations. One was Rosie Dodd, 20, who was jailed for two years after accusing three men of raping her. Police say she made the claim because she was embarrassed she’d slept with them in one night.
Support groups for men falsely accused say the problem doesn’t end when the accusation is proved untrue, as the claim remains on their criminal record until they apply to get it removed – which can take several months. The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) confirmed that details of an accusation and the fact it was proved to be a lie, would remain on a police record for six years.
The stress:
An investigation has been launched into the case of a woman who was prosecuted over an alleged false rape claim – and then killed herself.
Eleanor De Freitas, 23, had bipolar disorder and left notes saying she was frightened of going to court.
She said she had been raped but later faced trial for allegedly perverting the course of justice.
So. How many false accusations were there?
Posted: 2nd, December 2014 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
