comment by NotPhil

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comment by NotPhil

NotPhil · 5019 days ago · link · · parent · post: Julian Assange's sex-crime accusers deserve to be named

I'm sorry, but people are people, whether they're male or female, and some people will lie about quite serious things. When lying about one of those serious things automatically provides you with anonymity, well ... you should probably expect some abuse to occur.

Here are two articles from two different forensics journals which indicate that a significant amount of lying is going on about this sort of thing:

http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume6/j6_2_4.htm http://www.theforensicexaminer.com/archive/spring09/15/

Considering the amount of damage even an accusation of sex-related crimes will cause the accused, this represents a serious problem in our society.

You worry about the girl who accused someone having her name in the papers. Good for you, but why aren't you worried about the boy having his name appear in the papers too? His life will be ruined no matter whether the accusation is true or not.

This is probably why we hear so many accusations of sexual impropriety made about politically-involved people. These sort of accusations can be dangerous weapons, especially when those who wield it can do so anonymously.

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thenewgreen · 5019 days ago · link ·

NotPhil, I am far too familiar with the ease in which a person can accuse another of a sex crime. I won't get in to details here, but trust me I know. It's scary, horrible-horrible-horrible shit. Aside from raping someone, the worst thing you can do to another human being is accuse them of raping you. The word itself carries so much potency and venom that the mere whisper of it can destroy a persons life -I know. When it is justifiably associated with someone, it should carry this venom, it is an atrocious act and should carry the highest penalty outside of death. You are right in suggesting that the boy will have his life ruined, in fact even if he is completely exonerated of all wrong doing he may always carry with him a feeling of self doubt or a fear of intimacy. These sort of things are very "dangerous weapons" and for that reason I understand why you would want to eliminate the anonymity given to the accuser.

Here is why I think it's important that the victims remain anonymous:

The emotional pain that a false accusation brings is enormous, there is no doubt about it. But there is no way it could compare to actually being raped. No way. Every time that your name appears in a paper, every time it's used on television more people know what's happened to you. It's essentially like pro-longing the brutality.

There is no perfect solution to this. Your points are valid, very valid. My suggestion would be that somehow if you are found to have falsely accused someone of rape then people should know about it. Your name should then be in papers, TV etcetera. -I'm sure this is unrealistic, but perhaps that would dissuade the false accusers.