STUDY: False Reports of Sex Assault Are Not 2% as Claimed. False Reports are Closer to 40%
The assertion from forces against Brett Kavanaugh that false allegations of rape or attempted rape are extremely rare is rebutted by a number of studies. Mr. Turvey’s 2017 book, “False Allegations: Investigative and Forensic Issues in Fraudulent Reports of Crime,” looked at a range of bogus reporting, including on rape and sexual assault. He examined existing studies and police statistics. One academic study showed that as many as 40 percent of sexual assault charges are false. “False reports happen, they are recurrent and there are laws in place to deal with them when they do,” he wrote. “They are, for lack of a better word, common.”… “There is no shortage of politicians, victims’ advocates and news articles claiming that the nationwide false report for rape and sexual assault is almost nonexistent, presenting a figure of around 2 percent” states Mr. Turvey. “This figure is not only inaccurate but also it has no basis in reality. Reporting it publicly as a valid frequency rate with any empirical basis is either scientifically negligent or fraudulent.” Mr. Turvey quotes a study by researcher Edward Greer, past president of the Association American Law Schools. He traced the one and only source for the “2 percent” assertion to a 1975 book, “Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape,” which quoted statistics from New York City, not from across the nation. Mr. Turvey cites 10 studies that debunk the 2 percent assertion in the U.S. and abroad. “The power of any lie is equal only to our desire to believe it,” Mr. Turvey wrote. “Specifically, our need and eagerness to believe it. This is the problem with belief — which is accepting something as true or correct without proof.”
washingtontimes By Rowan Scarborough
