Slate Column Examines Research On False Rape Accusation Rates

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Public Health
Article Date: 06 Oct 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Since the recent well-publicized case of a female Hofstra University student who recanted rape allegations against five men, the question of how often "women falsely cry rape ... has been flying around the Internet," Slate columnists Emily Bazelon and Rachael Larimore write. They ask, "[I]sn't the rate of false rape charges an empirical question, with a specific answer that isn't vulnerable to ideological twisting? Yes and no."

According to Bazelon and Larimore, while some of the research on the frequency of false rape accusations is "careful, ... much of it is questionable." A majority of the "good" studies indicate a rate of about 8% to 10%, the columnists write, though they note that the research "isn't quite definitive enough to stamp out the far higher estimates." In addition, "even if we go by the lower numbers, there's the question of interpretation," they add. Bazelon and Larimore ask, "If one in 10 charges of rape is made up, is that a dangerously high rate or an acceptably low one?" Based on figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics that show about 200,000 rapes in 2008, "we could be looking at as many as 20,000 false accusations," they write.

Bazelon and Larimore examine several studies and legal articles on the subject, starting with a 1952 Yale Law Journal article that took a suspicious view of rape survivors. They also cite Susan Brownmiller's 1975 book "Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape," which said only 2% of rape accusations are false. Brownmiller cited findings by female police officers in a New York City rape squad. However, the "problem" with her figure is that although they have been "widely repeated, ... no one has ever tracked down its source," Bazelon and Larimore write. They also examine a 2006 Columbia Law Journal article by Philip Rumney that surveyed research "at the other end of the spectrum," including studies purporting false rape allegations from 40% to as high as 90%. Bazelon and Larimore examine a group of U.S., British, Canadian and New Zealand studies indicating a rate of 8% to 10%.

Although the available research makes it difficult to know how common false rape allegations are, "[w]hat is clear ... are two problems that are the flip side of the same coin," Bazelon and Larimore write. They add, "False charges of rape are an absolute nightmare for the men caught in their net. And the specter of made-up allegations is a real problem for law enforcement -- which means they are also a problem for women who are telling the truth." Therefore, the issue of false rape accusation is "a problem that a men's rights movement shouldn't trump up" and "one that feminists can't dismiss," they conclude (Bazelon/Larimore, Slate, 10/1).

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