False Allegations?

Making a sexual assault claim is a difficult, personal decision for any victim/ survivor. In the vast majority of cases, these reports are true.

• In its Report of the Presidential Task Force on Violence and the Family, the APA confirms that, "false reporting of family violence occurs infrequently... reports of child sexual abuse do not increase during divorce and actually occur in only about 2% to 3% of the cases."
  
• The Portland Oregon police reported in 1990 that of the 431 sexual assault and attempted sexual assault complaints received, 1.6% were determined to be false, compared with 2.6% of false stolen vehicle reports. 
• Routine analysis of the sexual assault cases investigated by the San Diego Police Department determined the rate of 'false reporting' to be about 4%.
• False allegations of rape are rare and are no more common than false allegations of other types of crime. 
• False allegations of sexual abuse are rare -- in the range of 2% to 8%.
• False charges are infrequent, and every allegation must be taken seriously.
• In a New York City law enforcement review of 2,000 sexual assault cases, only five women were found to have fabricated their allegation.
  

What does this mean?  It means that if someone shares with you that they have been sexually assaulted - listen to them, support them and help them through the process.  

Reporting a sexual assault can be one of the most personal and difficult decisions a survivor can make. Victims describe shame, their fear of being disbelieved by family, friends, law enforcement and the community as some of their reasons for not reporting their assault

Here are some tips on how to help a sexual assault survivor.