Hopefully this doesn't deter victims of rape from coming forward, and being believed.
That's the problem with the belief that the Facts Matter Less Than The Narrative - it is, in effect, crying wolf, and it delegitimizes those who need real help.
I agree. The problem is that false reports of rape constitute about 2% of all allegations.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/business/media/rolling-stone-retracts-article-on-rape-at-university-of-virginia.html?_r=0
Rolling Stone magazine retracted its article about a brutal gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity after the release of a report on Sunday that concluded the widely discredited piece was the result of failures at every stage of the process.
The report, published by the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and commissioned by Rolling Stone, said the magazine failed to engage in “basic, even routine journalistic practice” to verify details of the ordeal that the magazine’s source, identified only as Jackie, described to the article’s author, Sabrina Rubin Erdely.
Hopefully this doesn't deter victims of rape from coming forward, and being believed.
That's an interesting statistic. Based on what?
Only about 2% of all rape and related sex charges are determined to be false, the same percentage as for other felonies (FBI). So while they do happen, and they are very problematic when they do, people claim that allegations are false far more frequently than they are and far more frequently than for other crimes. Put another way, we are much more likely to disbelieve a woman if she says she was raped than if she says she was robbed, but for no good reason.
On a related note, only about 40% of rapes are ever reported to the police, and this is partly because victims know that if their claim becomes public, their every behavior will be scrutinized, they will be shamed for their sexual history, and they will be labeled as lunatic, psychotic, paranoid, and manipulative. Just because someone does not report their crime does not mean it did not happen. Furthermore, only one in two claims lead to prosecution, so if the DA decides not to prosecute, that says nothing about whether or not it happened. (http://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates)
I don't see how an obvious liar can have that much of an impact on someone who was raped and whether or not that person comes forward.
..Only about 2% of all rape and related sex charges are determined to be false...
I don't see that as even related to "the problem" of this particular incident.I agree. The problem is that false reports of rape constitute about 2% of all allegations.
When a college rape allegation happens in the future, watch for the people who cite the Rolling Stones article. I guarantee there will be many, many who do.
Um. Your link does not say what you quoted. It instead is discussing the rates of incarceration. And even there I can spot a major assumption flaw - that each rapist only rapes one woman.
But I spot an error here:
That's not the same as "2% of allegations are false". That's "2% of allegations are proven false, and a (likely higher) percentage of others are left ambiguous".
You are correct that 'false' and 'determined to be false' should not be used interchangeably. I apologize.
The collateral damage from this disgraceful lack of journalistic ethics will go on for years. The anti-Greek people used this lie as a way to attempt to destroy the already vulnerable Greek system at colleges. UVA suffered unnecessary bad PR. It makes it less likely that women who are legitimately raped at college parties will come forward.
Rolling Stone was always a rag. This just confirms it.
When did a music magazine get any sort of cred anyways? Mother Earth went the same path.
Oh, I've seen plenty of leftists use the words of that idiot Matt Taibbi as Gospel.
And continually more selective in our outrage, as this piece points out. A Tale of Two Rapes :: SteynOnlineOr whatshername, who is the creator of Girls. Or the famous Tawana Brawely case. Or the Emma Sulkowicz rape story. Or the hyperbolic false rape statistics pushed by the President.
We are getting more hysterical about rape as it becomes less of a problem in our society.
Mother Earth had to change focus when the 'back to the land' movement petered out and Rolling Stone had to change gears the day the music died. Both chose to go Left thinking their audience, who they figured were unable to think critically, would follow.When did a music magazine get any sort of cred anyways? Mother Earth went the same path.
When a college rape allegation happens in the future, watch for the people who cite the Rolling Stones article. I guarantee there will be many, many who do.
Hopefully this doesn't deter victims of rape from coming forward, and being believed.
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