See here. Over a four-year period from 2003-2007, 31 per cent of sexual assault claims that Ottawa Police investigated were dismissed as unfounded — which, in this case, means "never happened," as opposed to "unsubstantiated," which means there isn't enough evidence to follow the case.
It is well to note that of all the "unsubstantiated" claims (whatever that percentage might be), likely included are a fair number of sexual assault claims that "never happened," but no one can say for sure what that number is.
And beyond that, for sexual assault claims that aren't "unsubstantiated" but where the evidence is disputed, unquestionably a fair number of those "never happened," either, but no one can say for sure what number that is.
So we know that 31% percent of all sexual assault claims "never happened," but the actual number of sexual assault claims that "never happened" is likely a lot higher.
But let's only talk about what we know.
My educated guess is that of all the rape claims made, a percentage much smaller than 31% can definitively be called "actual sexual assaults." Maybe 15 or 20 percent. So, if we limit our discussion about the prevalence of false sexual assault claims to those claims we know were either sexual assaults or false sexual assault claims, then likely the vast majority are false claims.
Armed with this information, what do you think the objective journalist who wrote the news story did? He, or she, went out and dug up a lawyer named Blair Crew to discuss the 31 percent.
Who is Blair Crew?
"During his Masters’ studies at Cornell , Blair’s research topics included the application of constitutional limitations to private security providers, and issues relating to the representation of sexual assault survivors in the criminal justice process. Blair’s primary research interests focus on pro-feminist perspectives on criminal law." http://www.commonlaw.uottawa.ca/en/blair-crew.html
Sigh. So, what did Blair Crew say about the 31 percent? (Can you guess?)
"The fact that [sexual assault] has got a rate that is ten times higher than any other crime suggests that perhaps there are not as many unfounded cases as perhaps the Ottawa police think there are," Crew told CBC's Ottawa Morning.
And perhaps you're a dead wrong feminist not worth responding to, perhaps.
Thanks for the link to Bill.
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11 comments:
31% seems like a fairly reasonable number.
In the UK, the only survey I know that categorised ALL rape allegations made nationwide for a whole year classified 12% as false allegations.
However you must remember that for the UK Police to classify a rape allegation as false the accuser must admit that it is false on the record, so it is a real absolute minimum, lowball number.
As you can see the leftard CBC does not allow commenting on the story.
I'm actually *living* in downtown Ottawa right now, I'm going to be a lot more freaking careful from now on.
Journalists who don't value truth are the worst.
AfOR - ”However you must remember that for the UK Police to classify a rape allegation as false the accuser must admit that it is false on the record, so it is a real absolute minimum, lowball number.”
This is the same tactic that has been suggested by SGI-activists over here as well as part of their effort to counter-act Kanin. They wish to use the same “high bar” criteria for determining an allegation to be false. They've even argued that a confession that the allegation wasn't true could be “suspect”, as the police may have coerced that confession. [Funny? They never seem to have such a issue with police likewise coercing confessions out of those accused of rape, and never seem to suggest that those confession might be “suspect”].
And, in a number of the small-scale studies where they've applied this tactic, they have also determined similar percentages of allegations which they would categorize as false – typically between 8% and 12%. They argue that this represents too small a number to be concerned about, of course.
And, if you actually read the article, it discusses how this figure appears to be wrong. My education (B.Sc.) in research and statistics says something's fuzzy about that number, being that it is more than four times the rates of comparable cities, multiple times that of comparable crimes and rape being the most UNDERreported crime.
As does my personal experience with the Ottawa Police Service: In the early 2000's I reported that I was being stalked and receiving threats of harm via a website that was publicly viewable. The officer refused to investigate, saying that they do not get involved in "lovers' quarrels" even when I broke crying saying that we never so much as went on a date and I was a virgin so I couldn't have slept with him. Thankfully, for me, he was soon forced into psychiatric care for different reasons so it just went away. I sometimes wonder if the Constable would have even felt guilty if something did happen to me, or thought he was appropriate "given the circumstances."
I also know people who have had Ottawa officers or Police Service employees refuse to take reports of crimes, such as residential robberies. There are problem with their statistics.
False accusations are hurtful enough. Don't denegrade your position with inaccurate information.
Anonymous - ”And, if you actually read the article, it discusses how this figure appears to be wrong.”
I read the article, but all I could find was the article discussing how Blair Crew was insisting that the figures MUST be wrong. And, he made reference to that 2-3% figure which is supposedly the rate of false reporting for other major crimes (where is that study, or studies, BTW? We keep hearing that same number, ever since Susan Brownmiller claimed to have heard it from a police official, even though there is no record of such a study having been done prior to her assertion. Has such a study ever actually been done, or is this just the ghost of Brownmiller still haunting the discussions?).
There is no “discussion” about how or why they are supposedly wrong, just one guy saying that they must be wrong because they disagree with what he wants to believe.
Are we really supposed to be convinced by that alone?
Even if the number of false claims is "only" 31% it's still a huge, totally unacceptable number of men being raped by the system -- with their abusers getting away with it.
False rape accusations are as bad as rape, if not worse.
Any accusation that cannot be proved by the usual criminal proof standard is false. Half the cases tried in the UK are lost by the prosecutor but that doesn't tell the full story. Out of ALL the females who report to the police that they were raped 88% are dismissed by the cops or prosecutors as being unbelievable, without any merit and impossible to get a conviction. Of the remaining 12% that go to trial, half are lost which gives us a 6% conviction rate based on all of the cases reported to the cops.
Personally I think even that rate is too high and that most of those men are innocent because the current definition of rape is entirely too broad; the defence is limited to what evidence that can be used;the female's past conduct is not allowed into evidence(she may have made other accusations in the past or habitually gets drunk and brings men she picked up home or has psychiatric problems or has been in a psych hospital or uses drugs both legal or illegal that may impair her judgement and perception or may even have a criminal record etc etc) It's important that a jury know these things so they can evaluate her credibility. It is the defendant who has the rights not the accuser and no one should ever be convicted in these "rape" cases simply based on the word of what may be a deluded or vindictive witness.
Anonymous said...
And, if you actually read the article, it discusses how this figure appears to be wrong. My education (B.Sc.) in research and statistics says something's fuzzy about that number, being that it is more than four times the rates of comparable cities, multiple times that of comparable crimes and rape being the most UNDERreported crime.
As does my personal experience with the Ottawa Police Service: In the early 2000's I reported that I was being stalked and receiving threats of harm via a website that was publicly viewable. The officer refused to investigate, saying that they do not get involved in "lovers' quarrels" even when I broke crying saying that we never so much as went on a date and I was a virgin so I couldn't have slept with him. Thankfully, for me, he was soon forced into psychiatric care for different reasons so it just went away. I sometimes wonder if the Constable would have even felt guilty if something did happen to me, or thought he was appropriate "given the circumstances."
I also know people who have had Ottawa officers or Police Service employees refuse to take reports of crimes, such as residential robberies. There are problem with their statistics.
False accusations are hurtful enough. Don't denegrade your position with inaccurate information.
I SAY, pardon me lady...but how do we know yer stalking accusation, and mental illness stories of stalkers are even "Real"??? Were there any "Aliens coming out of the sewer drains, scratching backwards B's on the cheeks of virgin girls around there also???
Somewhat off-topic, but at least loosely related, a couple of items of potential interest WRT the subject of rape from a couple of women bloggers:
Rape Definitions – What about this?
&
How Many?...How Many?
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