(edited title) False allegations of rape and domestic violence are few and far between

[Jackpine Radical]

114. I'm sure you're aware that various studies, using various methodologies,

have come up with diffenrent numbers for false rape allegations. The "Mens Rights" groups tend to focus on those studies, like Kanin's, that show the highest numbers. Coincidentally, these seem to be the studies with the poorest methodologies.

Most researchers in the field believe that the rate of false allegations is in the 2-8% range. I think this article from the Progressive on dna exonerations makes some points that are very much on-target.

FWIW, I have often advocated for sentencing rapists to terms that last until at least about age 45, when their likelihood of reoffense is markedly reduced. It might be possible to manage some of them on parole using GPS devices after they serve prison time, but others may well need to sit out their time behind bars.

http://progressive.org/5-things-you-should-know-about-dna-exonerations

The value of DNA exoneration and the good that it does cannot be understated. But sadly, certain people have transmuted the work of innocence projects into a tool for an ugly cause. Namely, men's rights advocates, misogynists, and people who in general just don't know any better perceive DNA exoneration as proof that false rape accusations are more of a thing than they really are.

“153 of the 268 exonerations in the Innocence Project were for rape,” inaccurately reports human-stupidity.com, a men's rights website. “This confirms the false rape society suspicion, that people can easily be locked up for rape accusations, and that due process is violated especially in rape cases.” (This website is downright charming, really; consider this gem on statutory rape: “Am I supposed to request age identification from every full-bodied young woman who comes onto me?”)

Most men's rights organizations have pegged the rate of false rape accusations at 40-50 percent, and for them DNA exonerees are living proof that their numbers are correct—and consequently, that feminists are the worst.

We don't really know the real rates of false rape accusations, but it's certain that they are, thankfully, low. The rate of false rape reports—when someone lies about being raped without pressing charges, as explained here — is between 2-8 percent. The rate of false accusations—where charges are pressed — is much, much lower.

False rape accusations happen, and DNA exonerees are proof that the consequences of that are terrible. But when men's rights groups use those cases to help exaggerate the frequency of false accusations, a rape culture is created, where reports of actual sexual violence are belittled, and rape is tacitly permitted to happen.