There are few things as divisive or as controversial as false allegations of sexual assault.
It’s an uneasy subject to talk about and one we’d rather forget – but in a culture of cancellation, where patience is short, tempers high, words irresponsible and due process often circumvented, it’s a problem to be discussed, whether we want to or not.
Its very nature makes false allegations hard to properly quantify - but many have done so, wading in with foregone conclusions.
Often this voice waves the problem away as mountains made of molehills.
‘How many people are affected?’ They scoff.
Often to muddle the issue amongst the trivialities of being struck by lighting, winning the lottery, being eaten by a lion or squashed by a piece of space debris.
But is that how it really works?
Because what is insignificant to society, is not insignificant to those impacted by it.
And where do we stop?
What are the chances of someone robbing a bank? Pretty long odds I’m sure, but that doesn’t delegitimise the crime, or condone those who do it.
Breonna Taylor was just one of two Black women killed by police last year, in all of America – does she fall short of our minimum order of compassion too?
No, she does not.
And nor should she.
Her tragic death was immortalised by memorials, vigils, testimonials, protests and outrage, with Black women placed, rightly so, as protagonists of the BLM movement.
So what about these allegations?
Are they to be ignored because of our own discomfort?
And are they really as trivial as many claim them to be?
Home Office Report – https://tinyurl.com/4t2yyjam
This data has also been used by the BBC to create a great documentary here –
I am not a Rapist – https://tinyurl.com/59eyvac7
Images by Max Larochelle of Unsplash