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

[Michael Domitrz <>]

This article is full of problems.

1) The article is using "reported rapes" as the standard in one town  
for its "research."

2) The rate of reporting would be expected to tremendously lower in a  
culture where some women can be considered as "shaming" their family  
for even being found in a sexual situation (thus tremendous victim  
blaming that reduces reporting).

3) Considering #1 and #2 above, may the "researchers" have a  
predisposition to finding women as "false reporters" of rape?

4) One of the two cases the article sites WAS A RAPE.  The rape  
involved a "false report" of who the attacker was -- to avoid getting  
family into trouble.  That case is an example of the "Shaming" culture  
and how that leads to very difficult reporting issues for survivors.

Mike Domitrz, CSP
The Date Safe Project
"Teaching Boundaries, Respect, & Sexual Assault Awareness for  
Teenagers & Young Adults."

==============================

Toll-Free:  800-329-9390
E-mail:  

Website: http://www.DateSafeProject.org






On Jan 4, 2009, at 8:36 PM, Ben Atherton-Zeman - Feminist, Actor and  
Husband wrote:

This can't possibly be true, right?  Does anyone know studies that  
refute these claims?

Until the violence stops, Ben.

Ben Atherton-Zeman, Maynard, MA USA
Actor, Comedian, Feminist and Husband
Presenting a One-Man Play: "Voices of Men," http://www.voicesofmen.org
Booking information: 978-897-3619

Quote of the Month: January 2009:
"We should ask men why is it that when a woman comes up to us and says  
"don't beat me and don't rape me", we say, 'oh, you must not like men.'"
- Chuck Derry, Gender Violence Institute, 
.
Come to the Men Can Stop Rape conference in Washington, DC April  
14-15: http://mencanstoprape.org/conference/
 ----- Original Message -----
 From: Marc Angelucci
 To: 

 Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 2:36 PM
 Subject: New Study in India Shows 18% of Rape Claims are False


 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/18_rape_cases_false_Study/articleshow/3910217.cms

             Printed from








             18% rape cases false: Study
             29 Dec 2008, 2306 hrs IST, TNN



             NEW DELHI: A little less than 20% of sexual-assault  
cases reported in and around Delhi are false, shows a five-year study.  
In almost every fifth incident, or, in 18.3 % cases to be precise,  
rape is used as a weapon to malign and attempt revenge, found a group  
of psychologists who assist Delhi Police in investigating sexual  
assault allegations.

             The conclusion was drawn from 113 cases in the last five  
years. Anger towards the accused prompted allegations of rape in 25%  
of the false charges. An equal number of such cases were filed at the  
behest of family members. Every fifth false allegation was made by a  
minor `coached' to cry `rape' as an attempt to settle family scores.  
About 15% were situations of panic after clear consent, while the  
remaining 15% defied categorisation.

             In September 2007, the Supreme Court had alerted lower  
courts to attempts at misusing the rape law, noting "the courts should  
bear in mind that false charges of rape are not uncommon.''

             Rajat Mitra of Swanchetan, the NGO that conducted the  
study, says the false cases can be complicated at times. He talks of a  
16-year-old girl from West Delhi's Dabri area who accused her father  
and another man of rape. The girl claimed insanity post-assault,  
saying she would see faces of men all around her attacking her. The  
girl broke down on being asked by counsellors whether the images were  
in black and white or in colour. She confessed her brother had asked  
her to accuse their father. With her father in jail, believed the  
girl, her brother would get the property and she would get to marry  
the person of her choice. In the end, withdrew the case.

             Another case was of a medically proven rape of a 13-year- 
old in Dwarka. The girl had accused three men but the police found  
their investigations did not show these men's involvement. After a  
quiet talking-to by psychologists, the girl finally got the courage to  
speak the truth. She said the three men who had raped her were family  
members who had threatened her. To protect them, and out of fear, she  
had accused three others. In this case, the chargesheet was filed  
against the real culprits.

             In the face of such cases, the five-year study assumes  
significance. Sexual assault is tricky to investigate and wrong  
convictions can harm the falsely accused and discredit the ordeal of  
real rape victims. Zero tolerance to sexual crime has a flip side to  
it as a person's testimony can be taken at face-value in the absence  
of evidence or corroboration.

             It is important for investigators of sexual assault to  
be alert to the grey areas of such crime, says Mitra, a clinical  
psychologist. "While 34% of all cases showed acute PSTD in the  
immediate aftermath of the attack, almost 30% displayed no obvious  
signs of trauma," he said. The no-sign cases can mislead because the  
average policeman identifies trauma with incessant cathartic bawling,  
and a silent person may be viewed as not being traumatized, he says,  
while the person may likely be numbed.

             Collection of evidence is often difficult, as cases are  
frequently reported too late for physical examinations to yield  
conclusive results. This is when counselling can help, as  
psychologists are skilled at reassuring victims and can get them to  
open up and recount incidents.

             In cases of false allegations, it's the structure of the  
stories that most often give the game away. "The pre and post- 
sequence, the language used and the structure of events is obvious  
when it is coached,'' says the clinical psychologist. Instead of  
recalling, a person making a false accusation reconstructs the  
incident, building in the details as it would gel with her  
interrogators.


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