We see it in headlines, “NBA Player Falsely Accused of Sexual Assault” or “Actor Accused of Sexual Assault And it Was a Publicity Stunt.” In reality, how frequently is false reporting actually happening and how often does it go far enough in the legal system to negatively affect the person who was accused? According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, false reports of sexual assault are actually rare, with research showing it only happens between 2-10% of the time. We hear about false reports a lot in media due to a concept called agenda setting. The basic definition of agenda setting is that media outlets can pick and choose which headlines appear first or if they appear at all. When these headlines are published above other articles, or pushed heavily through media, it makes people believe that false reports are happening more frequently than they are.
False reports don’t happen often, but if they do many of them never get to the point of legal charges being pressed. According to Quartz news “When one looks at a series of fabricated sexual assaults, on the other hand, patterns immediately begin to emerge. The most striking of these is that, almost invariably, adult false accusers who persist in pursuing charges have a previous history of bizarre fabrications or criminal fraud.” This often signals to police and prosecutors to look deeper into cases before pressing charges. This is not to say that sexual assault couldn’t happen to someone who makes false reports, but this does make the police take a second look at cases. For this reason it is less likely false reports from these individuals will negatively affect the person they are accusing.
If someone you know ever discloses sexual abuse or assault to you the first step to helping them is believing them. With how rare false reports are and how hard it is for survivors to come forward, we need to support our friends, family, and community. Let that person know it’s not their fault and connect them with supportive services like Safe Passage.
Sources:
https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics
https://qz.com/980766/the-truth-about-false-rape-accusations
Written by: Beth Ganion
Edited by: Kirsti McNeece
