This may be a newsflash to many here...women do in fact lie about rape. Rape is a crime where men are not afforded due process due to anyone accused of any other crime in the US. If a man in the US is charged with rape, it is a forgone conclusion that he will be convicted, especially if he is a minority. These numbers can be obscured with absurdities like including theoretical "unreported" rapes in the calculations but that is absurd on its face. The rules of due process go out the window when one is charged with rape and we have a justice system that makes it safer to plea bargain and ruin your life but have a possibility of getting out one day in lieu of going to prison for life with the stigma of "rapist" for a crime you did not commit.
I guess you're wondering, why would someone write such an article here of all places?I am a man who lives in fear that he could easily be accused of rape and have little no no possibility of making out ok. At the bare minimum I would be out thousands and thousands of dollars and she would be out......nothing.
I present you with the story if Brian Banks. http://abclocal.go.com/...
The criminal here was Wanetta Gibson. She lied about rape and with nothing but her word ruined a mans life and got 1.5 million dollars in a settlement from the school district. Rape is a terrible crime and this makes real rape victims suspect in the eyes of many.
At age 16, Brian Banks had been a popular student at Polytechnic High in Long Beach, an athlete being scouted by eight colleges.
He verbally accepted an offer to attend the University of Southern California on a four-year scholarship when a serious accusation came from a fellow classmate and childhood friend.
Wanetta Gibson, then 15 years old, claimed Banks had raped her when he accompanied her on-campus.
"We went into an area on campus that is known as a makeout spot, we kissed, we groped we touched, but we never had sex. We ended things on a good note. I went back to class, by the end of the day I was in custody," he said.
After ten years, she was willing to admit it, with a catch
But the case turned when the alleged victim contacted him through Facebook asking to be his friend.
"Why would you friend request me?" Banks asked Gibson over Facebook. "The reply was, 'I figured you and I could let bygones be bygones. I was immature then, btu I'm much more mature now.'"
Then came a face-to-face meeting. Gibson admitted that she lied and was willing to help Banks clear his name, according to court records. But there was just one problem -- would she have to pay back the $1.5 million? It was a fear that made Gibson weary of telling her story to prosecutors.
But according to defense attorneys, Gibson admitted she was worried about having to pay back the money during a second meeting with Banks that was secretly recorded. Defense attorneys quoted Gibson as saying, "'I will go through with helping you but it's like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don't want to have to pay it back.'"
There are no repercussions for making a false rape accusation that ruins someones life. The lack of due process and complete lack of accountability(she will not be charged with a crime and the 1.5 is long gone.) For Banks, a young black man with the deck stacked against him was advised of the situation and his only viable option was to take the plea and admit to being a rapist, giving up most opportunities in his life but knowing he wouldnt spend it all in prison. If he were rich and white it would have gone to trial and he would have had a fighting chance. A large young black male accused of rape though? The guaranteed 6 years was better than the guaranteed 41.
I guess this is the part where I give my solution to this situation. I think the key is establishing a difference between a lack of evidence and outright fraud. Things like rape shield laws and other affronts to due process need to go because taking away one persons rights to the benefit of another is wrong. If a person is found to have lied about being raped that should at least get the same sentence as the accused would have gotten and be labled a sex offender for life, just like their victim.
Do I think this will deter some rape reporting? possibly. Do I think this will deter some false rape reporting? ABSOLUTELY. Right now there are no repercussions and this should be offensive to every one. We either have due process or we don't, we either have equal protection under the law or we don't.