I support the believe women movement because all genders (men and women) are significantly more likely to be raped than they are to be falsely accused of rape.
But from what we can tell: yes, men are more likely to be raped than be falsely accused of rape.
According to the most reliable data we have, the average adult man in England and Wales aged 16 to 59 has a 0.03 per cent chance of being raped over the course of a year (based on 2016-17 figures).
The best data we have — the number of people prosecuted for making false allegations — suggests that the average adult man in England and Wales has a 0.00021281 per cent chance of being falsely accused of rape in a year. (That’s based on 35 prosecutions for false rape allegations in 2011 compared to 16.5 million men aged 16 to 59 living in England and Wales at the time).
By this measure, a man is 230 times more likely to be raped than to be falsely accused of rape.
And many conservatives don't support believe women out of the fear that some are innocent. However, most conservatives also support the death penalty even though there is a chance that some convicts are innocent. I am willing to take a little bit of risk to secure justice.
Hi to TheUnderdog,
I think our system has many flaws. It is not perfect. Nevertheless, the presumption of innocence must stand and not be tainted. If it slips for one innocent person, then no one will be safe. The slope is too slippery in this situation. While it may be true that the statistics bear out a false dichotomy between those raped v those falsely accused, this does not necessarily mean that this presumption ought to change or be reversed.
Every accused should have the right to face their accuser. I think likening it to the death penalty is unhelpful. The outcome does not justify the means. The journey and the destination are both equally valuable. The process is important.
Rape is a criminal offence. And so it should be. Yet, perhaps we are looking at this the wrong way. In the old days, sex outside of marriage was considered immoral and required punishment. True, the world has moved on, but at least then the line was very clear in the sand. Of course it is also true that nowadays rape occurs within the marriage - which demonstrates how far the world has moved on.
Yet, now sex at least since the sexual revolution has moved from the sacred bed within marriage to a social recreational activity. We are encouraged to not get trapped in the old traditional ways of being too serious about sex. Yet this paradigm shift in sexual activity and its purposes have obviously also produced a change in our attitude towards it in relation to its seriousness and sacredness. This shift in attitude about sex has drifted into how serious the offence of rape is. "It was just a bit of fun". "It's not that bad". Gee, it is only skin. "It's no big deal". For many young men it is no different to playing a game. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. And if you cheat and don't get caught - good for you. Consent - is not a big deal when it is just a game and recreation. Consent is only a big deal when we are talking about serious things like a contract or getting married or whatever.
Rape according to Germaine Greer, the feminist writer, is just "bad sex". In some ways she is right. It depends upon what you think sex is for and whether it is serious or not serious or even sacred.
I am a bit of a traditionalist. I think sex is serious. Yes it can be fun and delightful - but it is more like fire than it is like a play water fight. It is good and excellent in its proper place - draw a line there I say. Yet, changing the law - especially a fundamental presumption of law which is one of the foundational planks of our legal system is dangerous and will end up not achieving what you hope but will end up penalizing many innocent people. And is a tool that a deviant government will use for its own ends,
