Why Are Women Lying About Being Sexually Assaulted and Raped

There is a preconceived notion that women lie about being raped or sexually assaulted. Right smack between sexuality and gender is where the politics of rape cases lie. Teetering between the two, these cases are fraught with arguments over the controversy of many aspects. Consent, penetration, duration, and identification are all concepts of rape and sexual assault that have to be dealt with in a case. As if the act of assault and rape in and of themselves aren’t bad enough, victims have to go through the process in court to hope that they’re attacker will be prosecuted accordingly. However, because the idea of consent is nothing something easy to prove and clear cut, victims are vulnerable to a completely guilty defendant walking free. An aspect of rape and sexual assault cases that needs to be changed is the identification of the victim themself. A victim should have every right to completely conceal their identity to outside press, be excused from courtroom appearances, and above all else have as little to no contact with their attacker as possible. Obviously this poses issues in a variety of ways, which will be discussed. Because of our system of law, it is true that one is innocent until proven guilty. Yet with rape and assault, proof and evidence are not easy to have or provide. Women have to go through extensive and painful procedures to produce a rape kit. Also with the longevity of their cases, their attacker is still roaming free for months up until the final verdict is served. Until there are better precautions and rules set in place to protect these victims who are trying to pursue legal action against someone who physically violated them, these victims will still be victims no matter what verdict is served.

The most important fact to understand about rape and sexual assault is that it can happen to anyone. Men and women, children and the elderly, etc. And only 6% of accusations over a 10 year period were proven by a study to have been false allegations. (VAW) Rape and sexual assault are not something to take lightly, yet those who take their attacker to court end up exposing their identity only for their attacker to go free or in cases like Brock Turner, serve a measly 3 months while minorities serve life for drugs in prison. How is it that possession of marijuana is worth more in jail time than abusing and physically violating a human being? We have to ask if the court system is doing right by victims of rape and sexual assault and if not, why?

The Central Park Jogger case, exemplifies how horrendous a case of rape, sodomy, and assault can somehow end up with DNA evidence proving an attacker, yet they still walk free. Trisha Meili was a female jogger out in Central Park in April of 1989 when she was physically assaulted to the point she was left in a coma for 12 days. One of the most publicized cases of the 1980s, Trisha has confirmed in her 2003 memoir on the attack that she still experiences physiological after-effects of the attack such as memory loss. And while in 2002 a man by the name of Matias Reyes was found guilty of the attack through DNA evidence, because of the statute of limitation by the time he had confessed, Reyes was not prosecuted for Meili’s assault. A woman who was literally found 4 hours after her attack, tied up, gagged, and covered in mud and blood, did not get her due justice by a court of law. A woman who lost 80% of her blood due to 5 deep stab wounds, suffered from hypothermia, severe brain damage, and class 4 hemorrhagic shock had her name released just 2 days after her attack while she was still comatose. The cruel fascination we have for the accuser and victim and not of the accused needs to end.

Another case to also delve into is that of Patricia Bowman’s. A who would’ve kept her identity a secret had it not been outed by those at the Boston Globe and New York Times. The verdict for her case was not guilty. This came as a surprise to very little people after the judge disallowed testimony from 3 other women who also claimed her attacker had sexually assaulted them in the 1980s. Then the jury took a mere hour and 17 minutes to make their decisions, not asking for any testimony or asking the judge questions. With her attacker’s prominence as the nephew of JFK and a Kennedy himself and his family’s ability to call upon the best attorney money could buy with an immaculate track record, Bowman unfortunately did not stand much of a chance at trial. Her trial was a disaster as the defendant managed to instill reasonably doubt within the jury. And while unfortunate as it may be, Bowman was even shown to be distrusted because of a child born out of wedlock, previous use of cocaine, and 3 abortions she had had. All of this merged into case of at most a blemished reputation for Bowman’s attacker. Still a Doctor, still a Kennedy, he left the case with at most the inability to go back into a silent oblivion. Yet 3 women’s stories of sexual assault by him were never heard by the jury or the public. And Bowman, her identity given to the world without her consent, still receives mail on the case, yet no justice.

In reviewing these cases, there is something that has to come to terms. In rape and sexual cases, there will always be a hint of doubt. Because these cases are circumstantial and based off word of mouth, they can easily get swept under the rug and a rapist can go free. There needs to be change within the system to prevent rape and sexual assault and punish those who incur it on others. There needs to be a change to how we prosecute and handle these cases and a fix to make sure guilty people do not walk away scot free. The victim is called a victim for a reason, they have been assaulted and beaten and broken and physically and emotionally wounded. 93% of victims walk away with PTSD for the rest of their lives. They are also 10 times more likely to indulge in serious hard drugs and even 33% of them contemplate suicide. Rape and sexual assault are not accusations that any woman or man who is looking for justice takes lightly. And yet many do not get the due justice they so rightfully deserve.

These statistics show this is a legitimate problem that needs to be dealt with accordingly. With something so serious as rape and sexual assault, why are so many guilty parties walking free because of DNA evidence like Matias Reyes or only serving 3 months in jail like Brock Turner? There is a systematic result of courts being unable to prosecute these rapists because of the terms of court. A victim who cannot stay anonymous in their court case may not feel it’s worth trying. A victim who sees Brock Turner walk away practically scot free may feel it’s not worth their money and effort. A victim who pulls and researches previous cases of rape, only to find that if their abuser was caught selling marijuana would get a longer sentence than for their own rape can be put off from trying their case. And finally, a victim who cannot emotionally handle confessing about their rape until after the statute of limitations, is just plain out of luck.

There is something we can do to aid in rape and sexual assault cases. First and foremost, identity. Press should be barred from these cases to respect the privacy of the victim. Any press that outs the victim who did not want to be identified, should be prosecuted accordingly. Also the defendant should have a right to testify without their attacker present or to refuse to testify due to trauma from the event. Having respect for the victim and their emotions should be first and that is very rarely the case as is. If a victim is outed to the world, they can experience more emotional trauma than they already have. It is also important to comprehend that this is a human who has a life, who isn’t just defined by their rape case. But if this victim is identified, they may very well have this case hanging out their head and their reputation for the rest of their life. And no one, no one, should ever have their rape and sexual assault haunting them forever due to press or court errors.

Another aspect of rape and sexual assault cases to alter would be the statute of limitations. This seems to be a large reason why many guilty parties go unprosecuted and unnoticed. Rape is not a cut and dry action, it’s traumatic and stressful and emotional. How a victim handles their assault could take months, years, and most of the time the rest of their life to move on from. While a statute of limitations is in place for a reason, it definitely needs to be extended in some form in order to allow victims who can’t or don’t have the ability to speak up until later after their assault to still have a fair and due chance at justice.

Finally, most importantly, consent needs to be better defined. It is likely this is never possible and we as a race will never be able to completely and fairly define consent. This is what can make or break a case depending on the credibility established for the attacker or the victim. If the attacker is a perfect 4.0 GPA doctor and the victim is a hard drug user should make no difference. A victim is a victim no matter who they are. If any expensive and fancy lawyer can instill reasonable doubt in a jury, then we’re allowing any rich and well off rapist and attacker to do as they please while those below them pay the price with their emotions and their body. Consent is a fluid thing. It can be given or taken away, it can be cold cut and it can be unclear. The important thing to understand about consent though, is that the person who gives it knows if they’re consenting. A girl accusing an athlete of rape should not have to “prove” beyond a reasonable doubt that she consented at the time. Peer pressure, alcohol, drugs, and many more things can impede a person’s judgement. If a victim is sitting on the stand and saying plain and simple, I did not give my consent and it was rape, there shouldn’t be an argument. This is because we have to come to terms that we can apply the usual rules and laws of a case to consent. It will never be within our grasp to prove without a doubt, so instead we must bend the rules to respect others by creating a new way of prosecuting and using evidence in sexual assault and rape cases.

Overall, there is no way this system of injustices can ever be repaid and there is no way it can change overnight. But there is a distinct possibility to change the way we prosecute possible rapists and attackers and make sure we are serving justice to those guilty at the highest extent. The fact that today rapists and attackers can get off scot free due to lawyers, the statute of limitation, and many more loopholes, means that as a country we are not protecting the Americans who are assaulted every 2 minutes.