A Twofer!

Wichita Falls, TX–A false rape claim and false data about false rape claims, all in one article here (kswo, 10/27/08).  Ya gotta love it. The article is about a woman, Trisha Bonney, who decided she needed a day off work so she did what any reasonable person would do – she reported to the police that she’d been raped.  The police started investigating the “case” and, when things didn’t add up, Bonney tried it again.  She claimed she had a second intruder in her house. 
At least three men were detained and forced to give DNA samples.  Hundreds of police hours later, Bonney admitted it was all a fabrication.   How many tax dollars were spent dealing with this woman’s irresponsible behavior?  In addition to jail time, it seems like she should be forced to reimburse the community for the additional police time spent investigating her non-case. If that’s not enough, the article about the fabricated rape case cites fabricated rape case statistics.  Specifically it cites the long-disproved claim that only 2% of rape claims are false. So that everyone will know, both the Columbia Journalism Review and Villanova Law professor Michelle Anderson have looked into the 2% figure and found it utterly without foundation.  As Anderson wrote in 2004, “no study has ever been published which sets forth an evidentiary basis for the two percent false rape complaint thesis.” So where’d it come from?  Feminist Susan Brownmiller confected it from thin air in 1975 and it’s been quoted as true ever since.  Responsibly done studies by the U.S. Air Force and by Professor Eugene Kanin show that between 27% and 50% of rape allegations are false.  And that doesn’t mean simple misidentification of the perpetrator in real rape cases.  It means fabrications like the one here. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to let this station know that they’re citing false data. Thanks to Jeremy for the heads-up.