Denial that rape and sexual assault are significant issue that societies need to address comes in many forms but one that is common is that most claims of rape and sexual assault are false/made up. This often results from individuals having highly stereotyped and narrowly defined opinions about how rapes and sexual assaults occur e.g., they may believe that rapes are committed by strangers in certain public spaces/places, such as in dark alleyways, or secluded parts of a city park.
When they hear about a rape that doesn’t conform to their model, they don’t believe it actually constitutes a rape e.g., sexual assaults aren’t committed in people’s homes by people they know etc.
Because of such a narrow definition, especially if it involves stranger-rapes which are far less common than those committed by friends, friends-of-friends, work colleagues and acquaintances , rapes and sexual assaults don’t appear to be frequent or widespread i.e., a very limited issue, and because of this most of the claims of rape are deemed/seen as “false”.
It is not just who committed the rape or where it took place that creates such narrow definitions, ideas about how the victim “should have” responded will also play a part e.g., a person may believe that if someone didn’t fight back, scream, explicitly state that they weren’t consenting etc., then no offense was committed i.e., they weren’t a “real” victim. These very narrow definitions of what sexual assaults look like can cause people to deny the extent of sexual violence and believe that most claims made are actually “false”.
High profile cases which turn out to be “false” can reinforce such opinions. In a November 2014 article in Rolling Stone magazine, journalist Sabrina Erdely, wrote an article entitled, “A Rape on Campus”.
The article detailed a gang rape of a female student by members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, at the University of Virginia (UVA), as part of the fraternity’s initiation ritual for new members. The article attracted much media attention and the UVA President, Teresa Sullivan, suspended all fraternities on campus.
After other journalists began to investigate the incident, it was discovered that there were major discrepancies in the story and that the alleged victim appeared to have made up large parts of it. A Charlottesville Police investigation also failed to find any evidence that confirmed the account detailed in the Rolling Stone Article, and the UVA President confirmed that the account had been discredited.
In April 2015, Rolling Stone retracted the article and issued multiple apologies concerning it. Whilst this was just one case of a false claim being made due to the amount of media attention it gained, its significance and relevance was elevated. For those wanting to believe, for whatever reason(s), that most rape claims are false, and that sexual assault is an over-stated issue, this event acted as confirmation.
Such high-profile cases can present a distorted view of reality and undermine the claims of others who have been victimized. In truth, studies estimate that only 2–10% of rape reports are false, a rate that is consistent with other types of crime. Yet, some people incorrectly interpret this minority as being representative of all cases.
Of all the cases of rape and sexual assault that are reported to law-enforcement, few make it to trial, and of those that do, very few result in a conviction (in England and Wales, for 2020, the conviction rate for all rapes recorded by law-enforcement was 2.6% ).
In a criminal trial the burden of proof is, “beyond reasonable doubt”, which is a very high bar to pass. If the defense can put doubt into the minds of a jury, that the individual assaulted may have in fact consented, then a conviction is unlikely.
When we consider that most rapes and sexual assaults are committed by individuals the person knows then this can become an extremely murky issue for a jury (which may be influenced by certain rape myths ) to consider e.g., did they consent to having sex with their partner’s best friend and then regret it or fear getting caught and so made a claim of rape etc.
The Defense may frame evidence such as bruising and even injury as the result of consensual “rough sex”, making it difficult for a jury to determine beyond reasonable doubt as to whether an actual assault took place.
The fact that stranger rapes in public places are easier to prosecute can reinforce stereotypical ideas of what “real” rapes look like. With prosecution and conviction rates for the most common types of sexual assaults so low, and higher rates for stranger-rapes etc., it is somewhat understandable why the public/society may have such an unrealistic and distorted view of the realities concerning sexual violence.
There can also be a degree of cognitive dissonance surrounding the realities of rape and sexual assault. For many people, acknowledging that sexual violence exists can be somewhat distressing. For some, the discussion of sexual violence is a taboo subject. A simple coping mechanism that our species uses when facing something that makes us uncomfortable is to simply deny or discount its existence.
Nobody wants to believe that their friends, the people they know, could be sexual predators and so by denying the realities of rape and sexual assault (that most rapes are committed by people the victim knows etc.), and convincing themselves that most claims are false or erroneous, allows them to deny or discount the extent to which these offenses occur. We are incredibly good at self-deception, and practice it in many areas of our lives, to the point where we firmly believe the lies we tell ourselves. Distancing ourselves from the truth means that we don’t have to deal with it, and accepting certain rape myths allows us to do so.