Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Brie Akins" <>]

Regarding false allegations, a big consideration is how false allegation is
defined and how that affects how law enforcement cases are categorized.  Our
organization defines false allegation as "a fabricated report of sexual
assault where the elements of the crime are not met that is made with
deliberate deceit to a law enforcement agency."

Unfortunately, there is not one single definition for "false allegations"
that is used by all law enforcement agencies.  Therefore, much of the
research that focuses on false allegations uses differing definitions and
includes a wide range of data sources.  There are two major classifications
of cases that frequently are included into the category of "false
allegation": 1) recantations and 2) unfounded cases.

Recantations are when victims, for whatever reason, decide to go back and
say that something did not actually happen.  As many of us know, this is
very common for victims to do for many reasons such as (a) victims not
feeling believed or support by the criminal justice system, (b) outside
influences and pressure from as family, friends, community members, (c)
religious, cultural, or other beliefs which influence how the specific
circumstances of the crime are perceived or judged and the possible risk of
alienation, (d) the victim's own sense of self-blame and guilt, and many,
many more reasons.

Unfounded cases, as defined by the FBI, are those that are baseless or
false.  "Baseless" means that the report does not meet the elements of a
crime (it does not mean that something didn't occur).  Again, "false"
reports are lumped together in this category with baseless reports, making
it confusing since they are two very different things.  Unfounding is also
sometimes used improperly and can be used to categorize a case where the
victim recants, where they are unable to locate the suspect, or if there is
a lack of evidence.  These are all very different things.

The important thing to stress is that a "false" classification should only
be used when there has been a thorough investigation that conclusively finds
that the victim was intentionally try to deceive law enforcement.  This
cannot be determined solely based on an initial report, a particular
person's "feelings" about the case, or the inability to prove a case.

For more information about this, our agency recently provided a presentation
on False Allegations that can be found online at:

http://www.oregonsatf.org/documents/False_Allegations_4-07.pdf

Additionally, our SART handbook addresses reluctant or recanting victims in
the chapters on law enforcement and prosecution, which can be found online
at:

http://www.oregonsatf.org/SART/handbook.html

I hope this is helpful.

Brie Akins
Prevention Program Coordinator
Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force
93 Van Buren Street
Eugene, OR 97402
P: 541.284.8275
F: 541.343.0316
www.oregonsatf.org 
 
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