Most Rape Accusations Are False, Idaho Sheriff Says

[doggie]

real good sheriff here wonder why woman don't want to report rapes well here you have it. waiting on the MRA's to say the guy is right. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...-consensual-idaho_us_56e96c58e4b065e2e3d7faf6

 

Quote

In the state of Idaho, officers like Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland get to decide whether to have a rape kit tested.

The problem is Rowland doesn't believe most rape victims were assaulted in the first place.

Rowland complained that state lawmakers were trying to force local agencies to get every rape kit tested. Rape kits contain DNA samples taken from the victim that include the assailant's blood, saliva or semen. A lab can cross-reference the DNA with a national database to identify the assailant.

"They need to let us decide if we're going to send the kit and when we send the kits in," he said to local TV station KDIK on Tuesday. "Because the majority of our rapes, not to say that we don't have rapes, we do, but the majority of our rapes that are called in, are actually consensual sex."

The backlash was swift and nationwide, likely because Rowland proved -- very publicly -- that some law enforcement does indeed blame the victim. His remarks demonstrate why two-thirds of rapes go unreported. An estimated 79,770 rapes were actually reported to law enforcement in 2013, according to the FBI.

 

[Terrie]

"Medical study finds Sheriff's brain lodged in his colon"

[docmom]

And all the burglaries reported in his county were actually committed by people who had been given consent to take the items by the owners, right?

[Alicja]

can I get some statistics to back this claim up?

dude needs to have several seats. the numbers aren't in his favor, fortunately, since false rape reports make up 0.1% of all rape reports.

[paganbaby]

Infuriating. I have to keep telling myself attitudes actually have improved, even though there are people like this sheriff still around.

Because it can't get enough attention, I'm linking this story from ProPublica about a woman who recanted a rape accusation under pressure from not just police but her "friends." Then some shocking evidence came to light:

https://www.propublica.org/series/an-unbelievable-story-of-rape

 

[sawasdee]

WTF. I am a nice, non armed,  anti gun european liberal. Where is the closest place I can buy a BB gun to pepper this sheriff? And as for Lynwwod, this pacifist is looking for non violent ways to WAKE THEM UP!

When is law enforcement going to accept that rape is a crime of violence - and not just an escalation of weeny waggling? It has little to do with sex, and a great deal to do with dominance and non sexual physical assault.

[Howl]

Keeping up with the Malheur occupation via FJ, the occupiers made many references to constitutional sheriffs.  So, I googled "Craig Rowland + constitutional sheriff?" and yup, there he be.  If you want to see a picture of what stupid looks like, go here: http://idahocs.org/Bingham.html  

Quote

 

Bingham County Sheriff Craig Rowland was asked during a forum prior to his election how he would handle it if the feds mandated taking firearms from citizens. His reported response was that he would deputize all citizens owning firearms.

 

 

Sovereign Citizen and rump militia types believe that a county sheriff is the highest office deserving of recognition.  It sounds as though Sheriff Rowland doesn't want any Idaho state oversight all up in his Bingham County bidness.  I would be way interested in knowing his other beliefs. 

Bingham County is between Idaho Falls and Pocatello. 

 

[Mercer]

Nope, no cognitive dissonance here at all...

Quote

Because the majority of our rapes, not to say that we don't have rapes, we do, but the majority of our rapes that are called in, are actually consensual sex."

[samurai_sarah]

I posted without thinking it all through, but I don't speak for everyone. My experience does not reflect someone else's. Sorry.

[Whoosh]

Sadly, plenty of people still hold beliefs similar to those expressed by this sheriff.  That is one reason why some people firmly believe that everyone should give all alleged rape/sexual assault victims the benefit of the doubt unless there is clear proof the story is false.  Of course, others disagree.

[Jingerbread]

When so many rapes aren't reported, how can anyone think that most of the ones that are are fake?  Statistically, a lot of women on this forum were raped.  I'm in that group.  How many of us reported it to the cops?  I didn't, because what evidence was there?  Almost no one will report a crime like this just for fun.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

The Idaho legislature has passed the law requiring all rape kits to be tested. It's just waiting for the governor to sign it. (Granted, the governor's a bit of an idiot, but he usually follows whichever way the wind is blowing.)

http://www.ktvb.com/mb/news/local/capitol-watch/rape-kit-bill-awaits-governors-signature/83955772

Quote: 

"The bill would ensure medical clinics will use rape kits to collect forensic evidence after a suspected sexual assault.
The bill would also ensure that clinics will send that evidence for DNA testing unless the victim requests otherwise."

[bashfulpixie]

10 hours ago, paganbaby said:

Infuriating. I have to keep telling myself attitudes actually have improved, even though there are people like this sheriff still around.

Because it can't get enough attention, I'm linking this story from ProPublica about a woman who recanted a rape accusation under pressure from not just police but her "friends." Then some shocking evidence came to light:

https://www.propublica.org/series/an-unbelievable-story-of-rape

 

Should not have read that article before bed.  Now I'm more than a little creeped out.  How horrifying for that poor girl to have everyone basically call her liar including the cops, just to have irrefutable evidence presented like that years later.  So sad.

[paganbaby]

14 hours ago, bashfulpixie said:

Should not have read that article before bed.  Now I'm more than a little creeped out.  How horrifying for that poor girl to have everyone basically call her liar including the cops, just to have irrefutable evidence presented like that years later.  So sad.

Maybe I should have added a trigger warning. I thought given the subject matter, it was understood, but this truly is a haunting story. I couldn't believe she forgave her friends, but it sounds, sadly, as if she never had anyone she could really trust, at least up to that point. I hope she has better people in her life now. The story implies that she might.

[ShepherdontheRock]

Oh, for fuck's sake, not this shit again. 

I'm so glad everything worked out for Marie. And that the fucker that did it is behind bars, but Holy Shit!

[violynn]

Thing is, even just reporting is difficult.  When I was raped, there was also a beating involved, a gun was used to terrorize and assault me, and there were clear marks and bruises showing violence had occured. 

Trigger warning:

He told me if I didn't fight him during the actual rape that he'd let me go home to the kids.  He wanted it to " be the way it used to be for us".

Smart of him, because it opened up the possibility of consensual sex to the police and a jury.  While I was being examined during the rape kit at the hospital, when the dr. announced "no vaginal tearing or bruising" for the record, I actually felt doubt and shame!  I was so afraid of not being believed, of the look the detective gave the dr. when she announced I wasn't bruised, I wanted to slink off the table and out the door.  I was 46 years old at the time and had lived through more than my fair share of hard knocks.  I honestly cannot imagine how awful that would be for a young person, unsupported.  Then not to be believed by anyone, shunned by friends, charged with a crime!

No one who hasn't been through it can imagine how utterly demoralising, dehumanizing the rape experience is.  I am gobsmacked when I hear of someone who cries rape and lies, but it is so important that victims are believed first.

[paganbaby]

14 minutes ago, ShepherdontheRock said:

Oh, for fuck's sake, not this shit again. 

I'm so glad everything worked out for Marie. And that the fucker that did it is behind bars, but Holy Shit!

Marie's story should have been a cut and dried case of what even the misogynistic bastards would call "legitimate rape." The rapist was a stranger who broke into her apartment and tied her up. She still wasn't believed, and they not only threw out the evidence, they charged her! If they'd believed her, he almost certainly would have been caught sooner.

When I was younger, I never heard the phrase "date rape." It was called, "getting you drunk and taking advantage of you," and it was the woman's responsibility to avoid the situation. People snickered at the silly concept of marital rape. Since then, there's been growing awareness of how traumatizing it is to be assaulted by someone you know and should be able to trust. Marie was violated first by a stranger and then by the people she should have been able to trust!

[paganbaby]

9 minutes ago, violynn said:

Thing is, even just reporting is difficult.  When I was raped, there was also a beating involved, a gun was used to terrorize and assault me, and there were clear marks and bruises showing violence had occured. 

Trigger warning:

He told me if I didn't fight him during the actual rape that he'd let me go home to the kids.  He wanted it to " be the way it used to be for us".

Smart of him, because it opened up the possibility of consensual sex to the police and a jury.  While I was being examined during the rape kit at the hospital, when the dr. announced "no vaginal tearing or bruising" for the record, I actually felt doubt and shame!  I was so afraid of not being believed, of the look the detective gave the dr. when she announced I wasn't bruised, I wanted to slink off the table and out the door.  I was 46 years old at the time and had lived through more than my fair share of hard knocks.  I honestly cannot imagine how awful that would be for a young person, unsupported.  Then not to be believed by anyone, shunned by friends, charged with a crime!

No one who hasn't been through it can imagine how utterly demoralising, dehumanizing the rape experience is.  I am gobsmacked when I hear of someone who cries rape and lies, but it is so important that victims are believed first.

I'm so sorry that happened to you. It's more than just ignorance, it seems like a deliberate lack of empathy. You reacted not just logically, but intelligently, in the face of a threat.

[Imrlgoddess]

Trigger Warning

 

This has always been a strange subject for me personally.  Every woman I know...from my mother down to friendly acquaintances has, at the very least, been molested or assaulted in some way.  Some violently, others (like myself) less so, even crossing into the grey area of consent/nonconsent.  That moment either in the middle of the act where you know in you mind you DO NOT want this to continue but you either stay silent and deal or you say it but don't fight if they don't stop.  Or those moments at the very very beginning when you do say no...and they press and press however sweetly or not and you cave simply so they leave you alone.  Cases where perhaps the act was consented...it starts off pleasant and somewhere in the midst becomes far rougher than you're ok with...the way you feel at the end is far from where you started.  

Sadly, there are the times...when grown women or older teenage girls do lie about it.  The severity of rape in general has been downplayed over time.  I'm ashamed to admit this but growing up in a small town, I heard many many times young women tell their friends "I'll just say he raped me" in exchange for whatever ill he may have done.  In certain places the easiest way to get your ex beaten up by your brother was to make that claim.  It's a bad cycle: the ones who lie perpetuate the idea that each accusation *could* be false...thus real cases that are not the cookie cutter, perfect, tv sitcom force are taken for granted and excused as just another broad trying to get one over because he broke up with her or she "changed her mind".  I think until the severity of the act can be made poignant-from both a female and male standpoint....those who make it hard for the victims will continue to perpetuate that cycle.  

 

My personal deamon has always been this question:  at what point does not quite willing equate nonconsent?  

 

[violynn]

17 minutes ago, Imrlgoddess said:

Trigger Warning

<snip>

Sadly, there are the times...when grown women or older teenage girls do lie about it.  The severity of rape in general has been downplayed over time.  I'm ashamed to admit this but growing up in a small town, I heard many many times young women tell their friends "I'll just say he raped me" in exchange for whatever ill he may have done.  In certain places the easiest way to get your ex beaten up by your brother was to make that claim.  It's a bad cycle: the ones who lie perpetuate the idea that each accusation *could* be false...thus real cases that are not the cookie cutter, perfect, tv sitcom force are taken for granted and excused as just another broad trying to get one over because he broke up with her or she "changed her mind".  I think until the severity of the act can be made poignant-from both a female and male standpoint....those who make it hard for the victims will continue to perpetuate that cycle.  

 

My personal deamon has always been this question:  at what point does not quite willing equate nonconsent?  

 

To the first bolded:  that's the biggest slap in the face to rape victims, I think.  Not just women lying to cause problems for someone, but the fact that a large percentage of rapes are attackers known to the victims.  It turns every case of someone accusing someone they know of rape into an absolute he said/she said situation.  It also makes it even harder for people who go through a stranger rape, the percentage of those is small enough to bring doubt to some minds, add that to the "women lie/cry rape all the time" and it's so hard to get anyone to believe a report, and even harder to get victims to report!

Second bolded:  I was raped maritally for years, according to the guidelines.  I would refuse and would either wake up being entered or I would say no, and he would treat the children so badly until I agreed that I felt I never had a choice.  There are so many people who go through something like that in their relationships.  But calling that rape becomes problematic for some because then you get into those who say yes immediately to "get it over with" but don't really want to comply...it's a really tough call.  It's so damn sad that those who want to have sex can't simply take no for an answer and be decent about it.  

@paganbaby, thank you.

[Imrlgoddess]

 

 @violynn  like you, I wish there was a more.... civilized? method to it all. 

I'm sorry that your husband was so awful, I can't imagine that as a life. I live in hope that each generation gets a more clear understanding & passes it down. 

[violynn]

20 minutes ago, Imrlgoddess said:

 

 @violynn  like you, I wish there was a more.... civilized? method to it all. 

I'm sorry that your husband was so awful, I can't imagine that as a life. I live in hope that each generation gets a more clear understanding & passes it down. 

Thank you, and me too!

[sawasdee]

Trigger  Warning

Two examples of  how rape was treated in 1980s UK.

Case 1. A group of criminals(3) break into a vicarage in Ealing, in London. (I am not outing anyone here, the horrible Sun newspaper named the victim).All three rob the house; they tie up the father, knock out the boyfriend, (both of whom suffered fractured skulls) of a 21 year old girl. Two decide to rape her, vaginally, orally and anally. The third tried to stop them. She was a virgin before the attack.

When it came to court, the judge sentenced the one who didn't rape her to a longer sentence, as he considered him the ringleader of the robbery, and said he didn't think the rape victim had been that badly affected. This was because she did not break down in court.

She has since become a victim advocate.

Case 2.

A judge (Christmas Humphreys)(and yes, that is his name)heard two cases in succession. The first was a case of mugging - a hit, grab, and run. He got 5 years.

The second was a woman who was raped, at knifepoint,  in her own home with her two year old present. She did not fight, out of fear for her child, and she talked to her child throughout, in the hope that he would not be traumatised.* Judge Humphreys said she obviously wasn't very upset by the events as she managed to keep talking throughout.

Her rapist  got 3 years.

*I think she is one of the bravest women I have heard of.

[roddma]

Im sorry for what some of you went through. It's a shame it took until the 1970s for minds to start changing, and until 1993 to be outlawed in all states. I still think some mind sets are like the jurist in 1736.
BTW THis guy should not be sheriff.
http://time.com/3975175/spousal-rape-case-history/

[sparkles]

That ProPublica story is horrific. It seems like no matter how a rape victim acts before, during and after an attack, it's going to be wrong. So the best thing she can do is, what? End up dead? But even then, they'll claim it was because she was into kinky stuff that just happened to go wrong. See Levin, Jennifer and the Central Park "Preppy Murder."