that darn kat

Never Sarcastic: Next step: we stop calling it “pseudo-rape”

Having worked with rape survivors on and off for the past nine years, I actually really disagree with this. False rape allegations are extremely rare (no more common than false reporting for other crimes).  If two out of 100 people who report a theft are lying, am I going to use those two people as an excuse not to believe the other 98?  No — unless I’m pointedly looking for a reason to discredit them.  People who don’t believe rape survivors will use any excuse.  While false rape allegations are abhorrent, they’re not the cause of actual survivors not being believed.  At the end of the day, this line of thinking is actually just another way to shift blame from where it belongs — the rapists — and assign it to women.

(And yes, not all rapists are men, and not all survivors/false reporters are women.)

(via meowsense)

In response, I have to say first of all, I am very much aware that not all rapists are men and not all victims/false reporters are women. My original response was getting very bulky so I decided to keep it simple and use terms that pertained to the DSK case which was about a woman accusing a man because that was where my original argument stemmed from. In no way is that meant to imply that the woman in the DSK case was a false accuser, either. 

I don’t know how or why you say you completely disagree with me. Because of those two people who lied in reporting a “theft” (to use your example), in the eyes of the court, the claims of the rest of the 100 people who reported thefts are now also suspect. That’s why when people report that large, insured items have gone missing, if the situation is questionable, the police will do an investigation to make sure that the person isn’t lying to collect insurance money. In the case of rape, that sort of thorough investigation is much more personal, especially to someone who has already been physically and emotionally violated. Even if it is only one woman (or man, or child persuaded by a parent) lying or making a false accusation, it throws doubt onto every single other accusation that comes through the door, real or not.

I’m definitely not saying we should discredit or seek to disprove women (or men or children) who make rape accusations. Absolutely not. We should fully support them and take every step possible to make them feel safe and that justice is being served. But what I am saying is that, even if there aren’t that many people making false allegations), those few who do are just as much at fault for the perseverance of rape culture as the rapists are themselves.

Here’s how I think of it. My boyfriend is a teacher. My mom is a teacher. If anyone ever leveled a false rape allegation at either of them, I would certainly hope that the legal system would protect them as much as it would a genuine rape victim. Because in the case of a false rape allegation, the victim is the person being accused. 

tl;dr If people would just be fucking honest and not lie in court, the world would be a better place and rape victims wouldn’t have to undergo the traumatic experience of having all their dirty laundry aired out in courtroom.

(via ryeisenberg)

Oh, the thing about rapists/survivors being of multiple sexes/gender identities wasn’t aimed at you!  I should have specified!  I just know from previous Tumblr (and other) situations that this is an easy point of derailment by people who don’t actually care about rape.

And I don’t completely disagree with you — I’m sorry if I gave the impression that I did.  It was really just the idea that people lying about rape in any way contributes to actual victims not being believed.  Even if 100% of accusations were 100% true, rape denialists would still be looking for reasons not to believe the accusers.  I know you personally aren’t looking for reasons to doubt survivors (I did read your original post and do realize we’re on the same side of the issue); I was just saying that this argument is often used by people on the other side, and that it just becomes another way of blaming someone other than rapists for rape.  I think maybe my tone wasn’t clear in my original response — I agree with most of what you said; it was just that one piece I took issue with.  The point you raise in response to my theft example is interesting, too.

Never Sarcastic: Next step: we stop calling it “pseudo-rape”

Having worked with rape survivors on and off for the past nine years, I actually really disagree with this. False rape allegations are extremely rare (no more common than false reporting for other crimes).  If two out of 100 people who report a theft are lying, am I going to use those two people as an excuse not to believe the other 98?  No — unless I’m pointedly looking for a reason to discredit them.  People who don’t believe rape survivors will use any excuse.  While false rape allegations are abhorrent, they’re not the cause of actual survivors not being believed.  At the end of the day, this line of thinking is actually just another way to shift blame from where it belongs — the rapists — and assign it to women.

(And yes, not all rapists are men, and not all survivors/false reporters are women.)