Sexual assault is a controversial topic that many have strong opinions and emotional reactions about. It is an occurrence which 1 in 6 American women and 1 in 33 American men will go through in their lifetime. The topic has been brought into the mainstream light once again with the controversy surrounding music artist Kesha and her manager Dr. Luke. There were charges brought against Dr. Luke in 2014 for “sexually, physically, verbally, and emotionally abused [Kesha] to the point where [she] nearly lost her life” and failed to release her from her contract with Sony after a New York Judge considered Kesha’s claims to be fabrications. The scandal has opened many doors in the conversations about sexual assault, and was even touched upon during this year’s Oscars awards ceremony when Lady Gaga performed an emotional piece, “Until it happens to you,” with survivors of sexual assault sharing the stage with her. Nearly everyone has a strong opinion on how to handle sexual assault cases- and what to believe when faced with two different sides of an accusation of having done one of the most harrowing crimes a person can go through.
The problem lies in the discrepancies between the stories of the accuser and the accused; it is almost always a he said/she said (or he said/ he said, she said/ she said). For the most part, we tend to side with the accuser (who more often than not turns out to be the true victim in the case, with 90% or more rape accusations being truthful.) However, there are those cases in which the accuser ends up not being a victim at all, and it is found that the story was fabricated, which ruins the life of the person who has been accused. False rape claims have occurred in nearly 8%-10% of all rape accusations. There is a 50.8% chance of an arrest being made after a report of rape and an 80% chance of persecution thereafter according to RAINN (The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network). Nearly everyone knows the severity of sexual assault and the severity of reporting, and the good majority of sexual assaults reported have actually happened. The vendetta is how do we make sure that true victims of sexual assault and rape are taken care of but also properly handle the cases in the 8%-10% range?
The current legislation has many aspects that thoroughly punish the rapist and assailant, with rape being classified as a felony. According to the law, a sexual assault, like rape, in the first degree:
- Is a Class B felony unless the victim is under twelve (12) years old or receives a serious physical injury in which case it is a Class A felony.
- A person is guilty of rape in the second degree when being eighteen (18) years old or more, he engages in sexual intercourse with another person less than fourteen (14) years old.
- Or he engages in sexual intercourse with another person who is mentally incapacitated.”
These punishments, if they go through can and often damage the life of the rapist, including being put on the sex offenders registry if the assailant attacked a minor, and being faced with prison time and other possible battery and assault charges. According to RAINN, there is a 58% chance of a felony conviction once the rape has been reported and prosecuted, and if there is a felony conviction, there is a 69% chance that the rapist will spend time in jail. The punishments that we have available for rapists/assailants who commit these atrocious crimes are severe, and can rightfully damage the life of someone who ruined the life of someone else. But what is done when a case in the 8%-10% is present and a person who was wrongfully accused of rape is placed in jail and has his or her reputation ruined beyond repair?
In order to protect those who have been falsely accused of rape and sexual assault as well as those who have been through the horrible crime of sexual assault, we must create a law or a system in which the person who is found to have falsely accused someone of rape is given prison time/stuck with a massive fine. As it currently stands, there are no concrete laws that punish false rape/sexual assault accusers, and no laws that protect men or women who were faced with false rape accusations. According to the Washington Examiner, these accusations are only on the rise. “With feminist activists telling young women that they can claim rape over every regretted sexual encounter, the number of falsely accused men is climbing — as is the number of lawsuits against universities alleging denial of due process.” Since even a false rape accusation can have irreversible damage on a person’s reputation, we must have a concrete law punishing women and men who make false rape and sexual assault accusations the same way we punish true assailants, with a decided amount of jail-time akin to those we give real rapists based on the individual case or a monetary compensation that would be decided on a case to case basis. This would serve to teach them that accusing someone of rape is not a joke, is not a way to get revenge and is not something to be taken lightly.
Take Action: To learn more, visit the official website of RAINN (The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network)
