Being Falsely Accused of Rape

It is well known that a rape allegation is very easy to make but very difficult to disprove. Despite this, the conviction rate for rape allegations is shockingly low, at around 5% of all complaints made to the police. Often, the only witness is the person who makes the allegation. There is no need to show medical evidence to support the assertion that the complainant has been raped. In a lot of cases, DNA evidence may show that the accused and the victim had intercourse, but the question is that of consent. Because of the nature of rape allegations, it is very often one person’s word against another’s.

Why Does it Happen?

Unfortunately, allegations of rape can be made flippantly and without any consideration for the consequences. The alleged ‘victim’ could be angry, could have been coached into believing that they were raped, for example, by a counsellor or other professional, or they could simply be trying to shed blame onto someone.

How False Allegations Often Start

If a ‘disclosure’ is then made to a third party, that is when the lie begins to gather pace of its own. As people ask more questions, the ‘victim’ can find themselves being given a lot of attention. By the time the proper interview is given to the police, the ‘victim’ may have told their lie so many times that many details about the offence start to surface. This is different from a real allegation of sexual assault, in which the victim’s account generally remains intact throughout the investigation and any subsequent court proceedings. A false allegation changes subtly but rapidly. As a result it is up to the accused to be able to expose the lie, or risk being convicted and facing a prison sentence.

What Can You Do?

There are two things that you can do to help to get yourself out of this situation: first, be consistent in the way you present your version of events; and second, ask yourself what was going on at the time in the ‘victim’s’ life. Although this might sound strange, and you might think that the last thing you want to do is empathise with the person who has falsely accused you, there is an extremely good reason for doing this. If you can identify what was happening at the time, you are in a better position to find out the reason for the false allegation.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• Were they angry with you, or someone else?
• Were they going through a particularly stressful time?
• What reason did they have for wanting you out of the way?
• Were you absent from their life at the time they made the allegation? If this is the case, could it be that they are blaming you or punishing you – when the reality is that it was because you were emotionally or physically absent from them at the time?

If you find the reason for the lie, you can expose the truth.

 http://www.separateddads.co.uk/being-falsely-accused-rape.html