The subject of rape (both response to false accusations of rape and actual rapes that don’t get followed up on) has surfaced in a couple of blogs lately. However, neither of those threads was the right place to engage in a deeper discussion of the topic. I was one of those interested in discussing the issues further, so I am creating a place to do so.

I believe in the right of women to choose whether they are willing to have sex or not, who they are willing to have sex with, when, how, etc. I believe in the right of women never to be coerced into a sexual relationship.

Every woman has the right to refuse to become or remain sexually intimate with any man. These rights of women are inalienable. They are not conditioned upon economic means, social standing, or race. In their strictest sense, they are not even conditioned upon the laws of the country in which she lives.

If government has a responsibility to do anything, it is to protect firstly the persons and secondly the property of all those within its jurisdiction.

One of the blogs really brought it to my attention that perhaps we have a big problem of injustice in how the government responds to rape. It was a post by Rob Richards regarding a homeless woman who was repeatedly raped. According to him, the local police refused to investigate the crime.

There are aspects of this issue about which, at this time, I cannot claim to be an expert. I’m just a young college student. I’m fortunate in that I’ve never been the victim of a serious crime. I hope that I never will be. If I am, then I hope that my case will receive the attention it deserves by the police and the legal system.

I am confident that the government has a responsibility to protect women from sexual abuse and equitably seek to bring rapists to justice. That doesn’t mean every case will be resolved. Perhaps, there may not be enough evidence. There is a time when it is preferable to punish no-one than to risk punishing an innocent person. But accusations of rape must not be ignored. Rape of any woman must be taken very seriously and a good-faith effort made to resolve every case.

Another issue surrounding reports of rape surfaced following JT’s post of crime statistics for Olympia. This was that many reports of rape are declared “unfounded”. Several bloggers, including myself, have posted thoughts regarding this situation on his blog. At least one person advocated legal penalties for women who made false accusations.

In light of the concerns raised above, I think it is fair to question who gets to call an accusation “unfounded” on what basis. I think great care should be taken in cases where there is any question as to whether an accusation was founded or not. If a precedent were to be set – or even appear to be set – that a woman who files a rape complaint will be penalized if there is insufficient evidence, it could have a chilling effect on real victims. Women who have suffered sexual abuse may decline to file a report out of fear that they will be punished if they can’t produce enough evidence to back up their assertions.

That being said, I think it is reasonable to prosecute women who clearly make down-right false allegations. Punish them for wasting resources that our needed to help real victims and track down real criminals. Punish them for tarnishing the reputation of an innocent man. Punish them for the waste of physical and emotional energy by everyone who tried to help them when they cried wolf. Punish them because a world in which people only seek help they need, is a world in which people who need help are more likely to receive.

So here’s a place to discuss responses to rape accusations. How should accusations be processed? How are they processed? Is there enough protection for victims? What about false accusations? How can problems in the system be fixed?