“ No evidence exists to suggest that something unique or defective is in the female condition that prompts such behavior. Rather, something biological, legal, and cultural would seem to make false rape allegations inevitable. If rape were a commonplace victimization experience of men, if men could experience the anxiety of possible pregnancy from illicit affairs, if men had a cultural base that would support their confidence in using rape accusations punitively, and if men could feel secure that victimization could elicit attention and sympathy, then men also would be
making false rape accusations. ”
making false rape accusations. ”
Kanin, Eugene J. 1994. “False Rape Accusations.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 23(1): 81-92
An extremely back-handed compliment (Hey ladies, you don’t lie because estrogen makes you deceitful hos. Heck, if society screwed men the way it does you, men would be accusing you of rape! kthxbye.) from a paper documenting the proportion of rape accusations recanted by the accuser - a whopping 41%- over 9 years in a small midwestern town. That number is way more than the number typically quoted from FBI data, around 8%. That may be because the FBI data only records such recantations if they take place before arrest, not after (pdf). Or it may be that reporting of crime statistics is fucked up in general, I don’t know. But 41%? Jebus, sistahs.
