Celivia, thanks again for a thoughtfull post. I wish a few of the anti-feminist crowd you give due credit to your honesty.

I'm not sure if you saw my reference to the idea of adolescent feminism and adult feminism elsewhere. The adolescent feminist is probably in denial about issues like this, the adult one will confront them honestly.

onlyone, any thoughts about the way the process could have been made fairer while also reducing the harm to genuine rape victims?

From what I've read the issue at the moment seems to be that the protections that are such an important part of our justice system are being wound back for some alleged crimes because of the harm that can be done to victims by the trial process.

Are there ways we can both mimimise the impact on genuine victims and preserve the presumption of innocence and the right to defend yourself?

R0bert

Robert, I thank you very much for starting this, so happen that I was looking for help on the issue and stumbled in this forum, immediately joined and here I am, telling you all my story so far.

I am an old man, lived all my life with strong principles which I tried to pass on to my children, I believe of having achieved that.

I have been falsely accused of rape, when you ask the question "which is worse?" I can only give you and everyone my side of the story, I can't possibly pretend to know what a rape victim (male or female) feels at the time and for the rest of his/her life.

I can only tell you all the effects that the false accusation has had on me so far.
1) Destroyed my 41 years marriage.
2) Destroyed the imahe of a man who was considered to be a man whodevoted his life in helping others.
2) Completely ruined the relationship I had with my son and my daughter.
3) Because the person that falsely accused me of rape has an intevention order against me and I now know (little too late) what she is capable of doing, I have locked myself in my house, refusing to go out fearing I might stumble on her and she will then accuse me of having breached the intervention order.
4) I have lost faith in God, there can't be a God if things like that happen.
5) Lost the respect and faith I had in the justice system.
6) Lost the full respect I had for officers of the law (police and others)
7) Lost all my friends, especially female friends, obviously they believe the accusations top be true
8)Lost my self esteem
9)Completely lost my own dignity......... Continues

Continued.....
10) I am unable to sleep, eat, concentrate, looking after myself so much so that I hardly take a shower or shave.
11)Lost my willingness to live
12) Attempted suicide once already and did not succeed, I don't really know if I will ever try again, knowing that it's so hard to prove the opposite to what this woman has alleged I did is a nightmare, been to courts twice already, now waiting for the Committal Hearing, after that if the charges are not dropped, if this woman doesn't decide to finally tell the truth, I will face a jury, as I said lost my faith in the justice system, my feelings are that I only have a 10% chance as most probably political correttness will decide my fate.
As I said I can't pretend to know how a rape victim feels, but I do honestly believe that what I feem at this point in time is much worse that what a rape victim feels. Why someone may ask, the answer is very simple, a rape victim has the availability of various forms of support, including family support, I have NONE, no one will ever support a rapist.

The fact that allegations have been made and conviction perhaps obtained, is understandable that no one will ever offer support to a rapist.

The committal hearing is about 7 weeks away, after that I am not sure how long before the final court case takes place, I will gladly come back here and post the outcome. (Hopefully I will be free and able to do that).

P.S. Forgot to mention that the allegations made against me has cost me more than $10,000.00 already, I have no idea how much will cost by the time is finished.

Maxximo, thanks for telling your story.

Can I suggest that you get a referal to see a psycholigist - they are covered by medicare now and some bulk bill.

A good one may be able to help you cope better with some of the impacts you describe which could be important for your dealing with the hearings.

I've heard it mentioned that in family law issues the impacts of being falsly accues of DV or child abuse can have a significant impact on a persons demeanor in court which acts against their interests. They are so upset by the false claim and the restrictions slapped on their freedoms that they face the courts angry and upset which does not help.

I'd hate to be faced with what you are going through (or what a rape victim has to deal with). I so wish that we had reliable truth verification tools available for the court system, so much of this stuff would go away.

Please continue to contribute to the discussion.

R0bert

One part of this issue has been playing on my mind all afternoon.

What are the options regarding legal expenses for someone who needs legal representation because of a claim by someone else and who is not subsequently convicted?

Our system is structured such that defending your self without legal representation would be very foolhardy no matter how innocent you might be.

I've been trying to think of an appropriate response - the most just approach which I can think of would be something like reinbursement of legal and associated costs up to 10% above the amount spent doing the prosecution (with some checks in place so that a defendent knows where they stand).

The current system appears able to financially cripple someone regardless of guilt or innocence.

R0bert