One in five is a number that feminists like to claim are the women who are raped or sexually assaulted in college. Then there are claims that most of these rapes go unreported. The Enliven Project used these numbers and a few others to create a graph making its way around social media and college campuses. The Washington Post looked at the activity on Twitter under the handle #IstandwithJackie and did some fact checking regarding a graphic, which was tweeted as proof that false accusations of rape are rare:
Among the tweets being circulated is a jarring graphic from December 2012 by the Enliven Project, intended to show the low rate of false reporting among rape victims. The Enliven Project is described as “a campaign to bring sexual violence out of the closet and lift survivors to their full potential,” according to its Web site.
Full potential? As what exactly? Well looking at the Enliven Project’s website, I am even more confused about what this group is about or what they mean by some flowery sayings. There is a great deal of irony in the following statement:
The Enliven Project is grounded in the idea change cannot take place unless we tell the truth about our lives, our organizations, and our social movements.
The truth about our lives? Someone might want to have a word with the likes of “Jackie” and her buddies at UVA or Lena Dunham about that. More fact checking by the Washington Post’s Fact Checker came up with some interesting facts.
These two figures stand out at the bottom right corner of the graphic. It is portrayed as two of the total 1,000 figure. But Beaulieu explains it actually portrays a 2 percent figure from the total reported rapes. So the two figures, while visually striking, should be included among the reported figures.
False reporting is a difficult number to measure. The Enliven Project uses 2 percent of “falsely accused” cases, out of the 100 reported cases of rape. There is an important distinction that must be made here, between accusations and reports. “Accusations” may refer to claims that were not made in official police reports, whereas “reports” generally refer to cases that were filed with law enforcement.
That, again, seems to be the lower end of the estimate range. The “Making a Difference” Project, which used data collected by law enforcement agencies over 18 to 24 months, found 7 percent of cases that were classified as false. That study is the “only research conducted in the U.S. to evaluate the percentage of false reports made to law enforcement,” according to the National Center for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women. Other studies also estimate somewhere between 2 and 10 percent.
So how does that fit with the mission statement and especially the idea that we must Tell the truth about our social movements? When the Fact Checker presented their findings to the Enliven Project’s founder, her response was as follows:
When The Fact Checker asked Beaulieu why she did not change the graphic to fix errors she admitted, she said: “The original one is already the one that has gone viral and is the one that’s continuing to be circulated. I think what I did do was make sure that the link back to the site that’s on the graphic links to the full explanation that acknowledges the distinction.” Yet the link isn’t even a hyperlink, so the explanation is not readily accessible to those who may be scrolling through their news feeds. You literally have to type out a complex URL to find her explanations.
Beaulieu said she intended the graphic to be a conversation-starter: “The intention of the graphic was to create a way to capture people’s attention so that there can be dialogue about it.”
I find this appalling. Dialog starting with a lie and any attempts to question the “facts” results in howled sound bites like “War on Women” or Patriarchy or Rape Culture. The ironic part is that most of us do not frame our lives around rapes that are real or imagined. It seems to me that groups like the Enliven Project, although they mean well actually create the very Rape Culture (see modern colleges and universities) they are claiming they are fighting against. Please also note that serial rapists exist.
What do I want to see? First, use accurate information when reporting rape stats and posting graphics of said stats. Getting whistled at on the street is not sexual assault. Seriously. Then, false accusations of rape are devastating to the accused and my opinion is that consequences must be as harsh as the penalties for rape. Then having someone during Freshman Orientation talk to the students about personal responsibility and not drinking until they black out might be more useful than “Take Back the Night” marches.
Lastly, please do not put the many events both good and bad over the rest of your life in the context of one horrid event. It gets better. Really it does.
A graph that looks more like reality:
Appalled By The World says: I always figured the name “Gail” -spelled correctly according to my wife of the same name and spelling :)- must mean “incredibly sensible”.
What you want to see proves that theory.
Hi Gail –
It’s Sarah here, from The Enliven Project (which is just me, by the way). Thanks for taking the time to visit my site, and for your comments and feedback here. I think we actually agree about quite a bit with respect to sexual assault, the importance of dialogue about real information, etc. It’s unfortunate that the graphic I made to start what we both know is a longer conversation has been used by so many to shut down discussion.
I’m always happy to chat, and please feel free to reach out at any time!
Best,
Sarah
GWB says: As Gail points out, the problem isn’t that it’s simply bad information; the problem is that it’s information designed to make a certain populace look bad. Even the “rapists” group is likely false, even if you’re using good statistics to lay out the number of un-reported rapes: it’s very unlikely that each and every rape is a unique perpetrator. But, the leftist-feminists are bound up in trying to make men look bad so they can exert power over them. (Not equality, mind you, but superior power.)
Unfortunately, because of the leftist-feminists, all the numbers have to be doubted now – they’ve just gone on too long with invented numbers and statistical lies about the subject.
Graphics like this don’t help. Creating hysteria is not the way to solve the issue. Empowering women to defend themselves, and re-empowering men to take the natural role of protector will do more to stop rape and sexual assault than any hundreds or thousands of rallies and seminars about “rape culture”.
mor says: There is more truth into this, please please add the females!!
Note, 40% of rapists are actually female! It strikes me still that when we think about rapists, there are supposed to be males!
There is almost 0% false accusations toward female rapists, which means that overall false accusations toward males is actually double your figure. There is very little jailed female rapists as well. Male also eports rapes much less than females do.
Cantbelievemyeyes says: Are you honestly suggesting that the sentence for false accusation be the same as that for rape? Anyone who has been falsely accused of rape, especially if it goes to trial has had their life ruined. I accept that. But anyone who has been raped has had it ruined in a much worse way. This is obvious. And the fact that you seem to suggest educating female students on ‘personal responsibility’ but no mention of educating male students about consent when a woman is too drunk/asleep beggars belief. The original graphic starts the conversation. The fact is. Rape is highly traumatic to report, extremely difficult to get to trial, even if it does go to trial, that experience can be just as harrowing for the victim and its possibly the most violent thing you can do to a person. And whether the graphic is scientifically correct to the letter or not, it is still a blindingly obvious fact that far far more dangerous violent rapists walk this earth than crazy attention seeking false accusers. And sadly, society turns a blind eye. Thanks Sarah for the graphic and for starting the conversation.
GWB says: Are you honestly suggesting that the sentence for false accusation be the same as that for rape?… But anyone who has been raped has had it ruined in a much worse way.
You can’t even grasp that if someone is making a false accusation, they have NOT been raped? Why should I care about how hard it is on a false accuser to bring their false accusation?
And the fact that you seem to suggest educating female students on ‘personal responsibility’ but no mention of educating male students about consent when a woman is too drunk/asleep beggars belief.
I love how you put agency solely upon the man with this.
The original graphic starts the conversation.
So, if I call you a slut, is that a “conversation starter”? How about a cheat (we’re talking college here)? Is that a “conversation starter”? How about I accuse you of drunk driving and have a judge take away your license? A lie is NOT a “conversation starter”, it’s a lie.
And sadly, society turns a blind eye.
Pure, unadulterated bullshit. Society does NOT turn a blind eye to rape. Besides the large number of false accusations, Gail’s suggestion for teaching responsibility will allow the law to lock away more of the actual rapists. You see, the problem with almost all rape accusations is that there is little actual evidence.
What would it look like for women to “take more responsibility for themselves”? A large part of it would involve not putting yourself in a position to be taken advantage of. Another would be learning to defend yourself. Another would be having the dignity to not be free with your affections, and to guard your reputation.
If women did these things:
1) they would be less vulnerable overall
2) their testimony would less impeachable in court
3) they would be more likely to have physical evidence (from knowing what to do, and possibly from fighting back)
I’ll gladly explain the link from each part of personal responsibility to each of those outcomes if you’re too logic challenged to figure them out.
(Two years later, you comment? Your internet must be really slow.)
Gail Boer says: Thanks GWB. agree wholeheartedly.
Gail Boer says: I am rather surprised and impressed that a reply to this post popped up almost two years later. Yes false accusations of rape should have severe penalties. Why?
For example, “Jackie” from UVA just made it a lot harder for victims to get justice because she lied and made up one whopper of a story to get airtime from Rolling Stone. And while the author was horribly horribly wrong for not doing research, the so called victim made the whole story up because she had a sick fixation on a classmate. Seriously how many actual victims will this fiasco thrown in their faces by investigators and defense attorneys for years? All because Miss Jackie did not get a date. Think about that for a hot second. She pretty much made it harder for victims to pursue justice.
Personal responsibility. I can assure you that I know first hand how destructive myths about sexual assault are and how ignorant people can be. But the rule I went by in college was one my dad gave me when we were driving me up for my freshman year: “Watch out for fraternity punch” or use my brain and be careful. Getting blind drunk every weekend is a problem for high school and college aged kids. And avoiding risky situations is on both male and female students.
Yes prosecuting attorneys and victims advocates do hard thankless jobs. And yes rape is under reported, under prosecuted and hard to get a conviction on. which is a shame. False accusations make this process a thousand times worse for everyone.
And no cupcake i am not going to be shamed or guilted or whatever is in your playbook. Rape is a bad thing. So is falsely accusing someone of this crime. so is abdicating responsibility for ones behavior in a naive hope nothing bad will happen.
Cantbelievemyeyes says: If you read what I wrote, I said that the trauma a man goes through who has been falsely accused is nowhere near the trauma a rape victim goes through. So the sentencing cannot be the same. The original post seemed to suggest that liars should be jailed for the same time as rapists, because the impact on their victims is the same. I’d rather my name was dragged through the mud than be raped. I’m pretty sure I’d get over the first easier. So I wasn’t asking you to care at all about the false accusers, just the actual rape victims, not only falsely accused men. I never suggested only speaking to college boys about consent. I advocated both. I’ll think you’ll find the original post put all agency on the girls protecting themselves. Surely it would be better to educate both sexes? And I came across this page 2 years later yes, not slow Internet, I just thought anyone was free to comment?
GWB says: I’ll think you’ll find the original post put all agency on the girls protecting themselves.
Actually, it pretty clearly did NOT. Unless you assume a binary world where one excludes the other.
And I came across this page 2 years later yes, not slow Internet, I just thought anyone was free to comment?
*facepalm* And no sense of humor……….
As to a punishment appropriate to the crime, I think *all* false accusations (not just because someone is found not guilty, but in cases where there was clear fraud) should receive the punishment for the falsely accused crime.
BTW, one of those “take responsibility” things involve actually filing charges against the accused rapist. Not just with a college board, but with the police. Then following through. If you don’t want to do that, then don’t expect people to take your accusation seriously (except in the bizarro world of academia and the left – but I repeat myself).
Cantbelievemyeyes says: I think we agree on some things gail, maybe disagree on others. Please don’t patronise me with pet names like cupcake though, I am commenting because I feel passionate about this. Gwb Wow. So if I didn’t report my rape to the police then I shouldnt be expected to be taken seriously if I confide in others say? Maybe coming forward is harder than you know. I’ve always taken care to never walk alone at night,Never travel home from a night out drunk alone, and I’m not promiscuous. These are all things I learnt the hard way because yes I have been raped and no I didn’t report it to the police. This is noone business but mine, however I feel like you are speaking to me like I don’t understand the subject matter
Unfortunately I do. I was under 16 and I didnt think ťhe police would believe me. I also felt I probably deserved it as I didn’t follow the safety rules that I now do. That took a long time to change. So yes, I am all for educating girls on safety believe me! But also boys on respect and consent.False accusation does stop people coming forward, I agree, along with misogyny and victim shaming.
Cantbelievemyeyes says: Plus I am English, I’m guessing you guys are American. Different countries, cultures, maybe things are different anyway.
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