There is nothing funny or entertaining about a false allegation of a sexual crime. It’s a horrible crime, with especially severe consequences for male victims.
Still, some rape hoaxes stand out above others in the sheer outrageousness of the claims. For instance, there was the case of ABC weather girl Heidi Jones who, despite being on television five days a week in New York City, felt like she was not getting enough attention. So, she complained to police about being sexually attacked on separate occasions by a Hispanic man. Police put in 350 man-hours of investigative work before concluding that Jones was lying. Jones was sentenced to probation and a fine. No jail time. [1]
Then there was Jemma Beale, a British woman who falsely accused 15 men of raping her on separate occasions before she was finally sent to prison for her actions. [2] The enabling legal lenience on false accusers is common, but rarely goes as far as it did in the Beale case.
Both of these cases exemplify the outrageous nature of some sexual assault claims, as well as the hesitance of state functionaries to scrutinize allegations, or to take action against women making them. This reality, in part is why Register Her was established.
In order to call attention to the severity of this problem, we have established two “awards” for false rape claims.
When you see the special annotation of The Sulkie or The Waterloo by one of the profiles on Register Her, consider it an invitation to click through the link provided about the case and discover just how surreal and Kafkaesque false allegation cases can be.
More than anything else you can do, this will help you understand why the mission of Register Her is so important.
[1]https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nyc-meteorologist-heidi-jones-pleads-guilty-to-falsely-reporting-rape/
[2]https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/24/woman-falsely-accused-15-men-rape-sexual-assault-jailed-ten/
[3]https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/08/columbia-university-mattress-girl-emmas-sulkowicz-paul-nungesser-lawsuit-rape-accusation-exonerated/
[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyIIDZGHuqQ