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Calls for help, not charges
by Abigail Caspari abbey.caspari@dailypost.co.nz
Women who make false rape allegations need help not prosecution, says a rape victim counsellor.
Doctor Kim McGregor, director of New Zealand's Rape Prevention Education, said international research showed 2-3 per cent of all sexual abuse allegations made were false.
Of more concern was the number of sexual abuse assaults not reported to police, with only 9 per cent of sexual assault cases reported.
Dr McGregor's comments come as a 17-year-old Rotorua is to appear in the Rotorua District Court today charged with making a false rape complaint.
She was arrested this week after claiming she was dragged off by three youths and sexually assaulted at knifepoint in a Mangakakahi reserve on Sunday December 28.
It is the second alleged false sexual assault claim Rotorua police have dealt with since November.
Another Rotorua woman has been accused of wasting police time by falsely telling detectives she was sexually assaulted at Kuirau Park after being dragged off by a group of five or six youths.
Speaking generally, Dr McGregor said while she understood that a false complaint took police time to investigate, most often police could determine it was false within two or three days.
Police should be finding help for these women, she said.
"I would recommend some form of therapeutic intervention rather than charging them."
She said someone needed to be "pretty distressed" to make a false allegation of sexual assault but there were several reasons someone would.
A young woman may have had sex against her parent's wishes and told her parents she has been raped. Dr McGregor said the parents complain to police but when the woman was interviewed she would then say she had lied.
The doctor said very few women made false complaints as a form of revenge.
Louise Nicholas, a Rotorua sexual abuse educator and former rape complainant, said she was disappointed to hear about the false complaints.
It didn't help sexual abuse victims making legitimate complaints, particularly those who feared not being believed, she said.
However, there could be underlying issues surrounding the false complaints which needed to be resolved, Mrs Nicholas said.
"What has happened in [a person who has made a false complaint's] life for her to do this?"
She said there needed to be more services available to help women who had been sexually assaulted as the current services were stretched.
Some who made false allegations might have been sexually abused by a family member and didn't want that person to get into trouble but wanted the abuse to stop, Mrs Nicholas said.
Anne Ward, a counsellor at Sexual Abuse Centre Rotorua, said there were a myriad of reasons for someone to make a false allegation. One could be they were having sex with someone other than their partner, she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper said Rotorua police dealt with two false sexual abuse complaints in 2008.
The Rotorua public could be assured all sexual offences were treated with urgency and were thoroughly investigated, he said.
Mr Loper did not wish to comment further.
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Women who make false rape allegations need help not prosecution, says a rape victim counsellor.
Doctor Kim McGregor, director of New Zealand's Rape Prevention Education, said international research showed 2-3 per cent of all sexual abuse allegations made were false.
Of more concern was the number of sexual abuse assaults not reported to police, with only 9 per cent of sexual assault cases reported.
Dr McGregor's comments come as a 17-year-old Rotorua is to appear in the Rotorua District Court today charged with making a false rape complaint.
She was arrested this week after claiming she was dragged off by three youths and sexually assaulted at knifepoint in a Mangakakahi reserve on Sunday December 28.
It is the second alleged false sexual assault claim Rotorua police have dealt with since November.
Another Rotorua woman has been accused of wasting police time by falsely telling detectives she was sexually assaulted at Kuirau Park after being dragged off by a group of five or six youths.
Speaking generally, Dr McGregor said while she understood that a false complaint took police time to investigate, most often police could determine it was false within two or three days.
Police should be finding help for these women, she said.
"I would recommend some form of therapeutic intervention rather than charging them."
She said someone needed to be "pretty distressed" to make a false allegation of sexual assault but there were several reasons someone would.
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The doctor said very few women made false complaints as a form of revenge.
Louise Nicholas, a Rotorua sexual abuse educator and former rape complainant, said she was disappointed to hear about the false complaints.
It didn't help sexual abuse victims making legitimate complaints, particularly those who feared not being believed, she said.
However, there could be underlying issues surrounding the false complaints which needed to be resolved, Mrs Nicholas said.
"What has happened in [a person who has made a false complaint's] life for her to do this?"
She said there needed to be more services available to help women who had been sexually assaulted as the current services were stretched.
Some who made false allegations might have been sexually abused by a family member and didn't want that person to get into trouble but wanted the abuse to stop, Mrs Nicholas said.
Anne Ward, a counsellor at Sexual Abuse Centre Rotorua, said there were a myriad of reasons for someone to make a false allegation. One could be they were having sex with someone other than their partner, she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper said Rotorua police dealt with two false sexual abuse complaints in 2008.
The Rotorua public could be assured all sexual offences were treated with urgency and were thoroughly investigated, he said.
Mr Loper did not wish to comment further.
* Street view, p6
* Our View, p6
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