System Failure: Who Lies About Rape
The more often we talk about sexual abuse in Russia, the more resistance we face. Allegations of harassment and rape are not the cause of sympathy and indignation among many, but fear for their own safety and suspicions of lying. Suffice it to recall one of the main scandals of this year - a public discussion of the moral character of Diana Shuryginoy, a 17-year-old victim of violence, who became the heroine of Andrei Malakhov's talk show on Channel One. It seems that Shurygin was condemned by everything, and the main line of defense was a statement that from now on all sex could turn into a criminal case for a partner. A man's gloss stamped instructions on how to avoid accusations of rape, and humorous shows competed in an ingenious bulling based on the girl's confessions. The recent Hollywood scandal around star harassment only added fuel to the fire. Opponents of public discussion of violence were marching against "female slander", in whose orbit, in their opinion, everyone can now be. We understand whether there is such a danger in reality.
Drugs and Munchhausen Syndrome
False allegations of rape do occur, but each of the cases received publicity is quite exotic. Lying about an imperfect crime can stem from a painful desire to be in the spotlight. British Gemma Beals, for example, accused of raping 15 men (with some of them sex happened on her initiative). Investigators say that Beals did this to attract the attention of the family and her own girlfriend (Beals defines herself as a lesbian), and found enough evidence of the innocence of men. The girl was sentenced to ten years in prison this summer and was nicknamed the "pathological liar".
For a similar reason, an American woman named Sarah Ilen was jailed - a woman said that at least seven men had raped her (two of them had a completely reliable alibi). The woman was exposed when she once again came to the police with painted bruises, which were easily washed off with water. In addition, for two years, Ilena managed to receive money for the treatment of end-stage cancer from the state and private donors, although it turned out that she had never been diagnosed with such a diagnosis. Ilen and her like heroines often suffer from the so-called Munchhausen syndrome, in which people pretend to be sick and non-existent symptoms, in general, in every way require increased interest and pity for themselves.
Sometimes we can talk about pathological lies. For example, Crystal Mangum in 2006 falsely accused three guys from the lacrosse team from Duke University of rape. The court did not find evidence of this, and the girl suddenly doubted her words. The case received a huge response, because Mangum was a stripper (members of the lacrosse team ordered Crystal to strip the party), and even African-American, while the guys were "model white men" and allowed themselves racist attacks on her. The false accusations of Mangum could be associated with a complex set of problems: rape in childhood, drug addiction (the girl interfered with antidepressants with methadone, and therefore she had problems at work) and a general psychological state. As it turned out in the course of the investigation, Mangum had already accused the rape of another man of the case of the lacrosse team - also false. As a result, she went to prison in 2013, killing her own boyfriend.
During several journalistic and one police investigations, it turned out that the girl had simply invented participants in the events. Obviously one thing - Jackie experienced great stress, but it is completely unclear, because of what
False accusations of rape are sometimes made by young girls who are not aware of the consequences of their actions. So, an underage Englishwoman accused her father of raping her six years in a row. During the investigation, it turned out that all the girl’s testimony almost literally coincided with the text of the novel “Fifty shades of gray”, and the girl made the accusations because “the father broke her life,” although he never used physical violence.
A similar case was dealt with in the UK - a fourteen-year-old student of an expensive private school said she was raped three times by a geography teacher. Later it became known that the girl didn’t like this place: at numerous sessions with the psychotherapist, she admitted that classmates and teachers scoff at her. The schoolgirl had panic attacks, eating problems and depression. It quickly became clear that there was no rape, despite the fact that the girl’s parents hired an expensive private detective who tried to intervene in the investigation to prove the teacher’s guilt.
In 2014, Rolling Stone magazine published the story of Jackie, a student at the University of Virginia, in which she said that she had been raped by five guys. During several journalistic and one police investigations, it turned out that the girl had simply invented the participants in the events, the time and place of the alleged rape. Moreover, she used fictional details not only in conversations with journalists, but also with friends and relatives. Obviously one thing - Jackie experienced great stress, but it is completely unclear because of what.
In the course of the investigation, it became clear that the man did not solicit the girl in any way, all the evidence was fabricated by his mother-in-law
Among liars, there is a special type of people who simply seek to receive money from the state as a result of the trial - then not only attempts to break a hand on the stairs, but also accusations of rape are used. In 2002, a 47-year-old American woman stated that she was raped by a man in one of the office buildings in Chicago. At that time, the woman owed about 100 thousand dollars in tax payments, so she sued not only the man, but also the state of Illinois, demanding compensation of 400 thousand dollars - and won. The case was later reconsidered - during the new investigation, no trace of the accused’s DNA was found and no witnesses were found who, according to the testimony of the victim, should have heard her screams. In addition, it became known that the woman had already complained to the police about rape in an office building about twenty years ago - also groundless. A man accused of violence, was released in 2013. However, this behavior can be attributed to regional specifics: it is far from everywhere you can get compensation if you are raped in the territory related to state property.
Relatives and youth
In the case of sexual violence, the victim is far from always appealing. For example, several studies indicate that close "victims" make half of the false accusations of rape. For example, in 2012 in the Krasnodar Territory, a woman tried to prevent her daughter’s marriage and deprive her of her parental rights. She persuaded her granddaughter to give false testimony and accuse the new stepfather of sexual abuse. During the investigation it turned out that the man did not solicit the girls, all the evidence was fabricated by his mother-in-law. Obviously, in the wake of anxious relatives, as a rule, are very young and dependent on the relatives of the girl.
In 2011, a fifteen-year-old Briton had sex with a peer by mutual consent, but after frightened that she got pregnant. Due to her inexperience, she didn’t find anything better than to tell her parents and friends that she had been raped, so she hoped to avoid scandal. A similar story happened in the US state of Virginia, where a fourteen-year-old girl with cognitive impairment stated that she had been raped by a peer, just so as not to anger her mother - she admitted slander only a few months after the investigation began.
In 2011, a fifteen-year-old Briton had sex with a peer by mutual consent, but after frightened that she got pregnant. Due to her inexperience, she didn’t find anything better than to tell her parents and friends that she had been raped.
The most famous case of infantile declining responsibility occurred in 2016 in Germany, causing an international scandal with Russia. Thirteen-year-old Lisa from a family of Russian migrants disappeared from home for more than a day. When she returned, she told her parents that she was abducted and raped by migrants from the Middle East. The police began an investigation and quickly found out that Lisa had lied: on the day of the disappearance, she stayed overnight with her adult boyfriend because she ran into problems at school and did not want to show herself to her parents. In the course of the investigation, it turned out that Lisa had sex with her twenty-four-year-old boyfriend who videotaped the process, and this goes through the category of making child pornography. Sex was not violent, but at that time Liza was not yet fourteen years old (the age of consent), so the man received a suspended sentence and paid a fine of three thousand euros.
Sometimes false accusations are made in order to avoid slamming (accusations of "licentiousness"). So, in 2009, a Hofstra University student accused five guys after a party for gang rape. Absurdly, the men were helped by the video, in which it was obvious that the girl did not resist and did not call for help (although this could have been a reason for accusing him of illegal filming). After the video was taken to court, the girl withdrew her claims. It turned out that the student went to the police because she did not want to destroy her only tying up monogamous relations.
DNA and Clinton
It happens that false accusations are connected with the mistakes of the investigation: rape does occur, but the wrong people are behind bars. As a rule, this happens due to the negligence of DNA tests. For example, in 2009, Lawrence McKinney was released, who served thirty-one years in prison for rape, which he did not commit. All because of the inattention to the DNA test - after a review of biological evidence, investigators found out that the man is not related to the crime.
After 28 years in prison, Clarence Moses-El was released - he was accused of rape, ignoring the results of the DNA test. The girl did not know who specifically attacked her - the police had three suspects at once. In the end, she pointed to Moses-El, because "she saw him in a dream." In 2013, another man (previously accused under the same article) confessed that he had raped the victim.
In the case of ordinary women, complex motives, stereotypical commercialism and the desire to punish every guy who did not call back after one-night sex sound paranoid.
DNA tests help to avoid mistakes in finding the culprit, and in the case of false charges. True, if the victim does not have time to go to the police quickly enough, they will not help much. For example, it happened with the controversial accusation against Bill Clinton. In the past, a nurse, Juanita Broaddrick, has long said that she was raped by a former president - while there are no witnesses or a DNA test. In this case, the question remains: who do we believe? A woman who can not provide solid evidence, but which could theoretically be subjected to violence, or Clinton, in whose biography is an unethical, but completely voluntary, affair with a subordinate Monica Lewinsky? Should we believe Donald Trump's anonymous accusations of raping a thirteen-year-old girl, given the series of adult charges and his statements on the subject of harassment?
Obviously, if these accusations are false, then it’s not just personal revenge or attempts to hide rash acts - this is a struggle for power and resources. But in the case of ordinary women, the complex motives, the stereotypical mercantile spirit and the desire to punish every guy who hasn’t called back one-night after sex, sounds paranoid.
Null statistics
Fears of opponents of slander are at least exaggerated - only 15% of victims in England, up to 18% in Canada and 31% in the United States (in Russia, not more than 10% at all), in principle, report to the police about crimes related to violence. An average of 2% to 10% of the total number of such allegations is considered false, and this is a rather insignificant figure.
The charge of rape may seem trivial to someone - as if the victim went to the store for milk, just turned into the police station. In fact, this is a traumatic experience: a woman is obliged to go to the police as soon as possible after the crime, share the details of her sex life with strangers, pass a mandatory examination by a gynecologist. It is easy to imagine what these formalities can lead to in Russia. Without haste, removal of beatings and collecting DNA material, it is almost impossible to win the case - the same applies to Western courts. So the prospect of turning every one-time sex into a criminal case is simply unrealistic.
We have repeatedly written about why women of the world, especially in Russia, rarely reach the police and the court. Contrary to the stereotype that a stranger should rape, up to 65% of the attacks fall on the victim’s acquaintances — and if you are familiar with what kind of violence may be involved, the conservative guard thinks. Watching a girl is often accused of provocation or that in fact sex was initiated by her. And "drunken sex" with the use of violence is considered to be an apology for the abuser, and not an aggravating circumstance.
Reporting violence, and even more so to lie about such things, is at least unsafe - you can face straightforward physical revenge on the part of the exposed attacker.
To think that the stars in such a situation have to be easier, not worth it. Recall that Hollywood actresses who posed for the famous Time cover experienced quite dramatic harassment from the agents of the producer Harvey Weinstein: blackmail, intimidation and bribery were used. Victims of violence may face serious reputational losses, and if there is a suspicion that the accusation is false, they risk, if not a real deadline, then at least a loss of court confidence in the event of an attack in the future (a false accusation in the past will always be considered not in favor ).
In the Russian context, where a woman like Diana Shurygina is ready to persecute the whole country, she has a lot of courage to charge her with rape charges. For false denunciation, you can go to prison for up to five years; to report violence, and even less to lie about such things, is at least unsafe. You can face both straightforward physical revenge from the exposed attacker, and the army of haters on social networks ready to intercede for the rapist.
World statistics also indicate that false accusations are, as a rule, dismissed at the stage of consideration of the case. Thus, according to one of the most detailed British studies of the beginning of zero, out of 216 cases of false denunciations, only in 126 cases the “victim” writes an official statement, of which only 39 declare suspects, only six cases reach detention, and only two - before arrest.
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