Rape Victims "Have a Right to be believed by the Police".

[Mycroft]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/11/raoe-victims-police-bernard-hogan-howe

Personally I don't think women (or anyone else) should have a right to be believed. Just because someone accuses another person of rape, it does not mean they should be believed by default. Nobody should have the right to be believed.

They should be taken as seriously as anyone else reporting a serious crime, and a serious investigation mounted. But there should be no right involved.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

All charges should be taken seriously and investigated/prosecuted as prescribed by law.

All accused should be presumed innocent until reasonably proved guilty.

Those who abuse the legal system and waste the time and resources of law enforcement should be subject to stricter penalties.

 

[Sunstone]

A "right to be believed" sounds quite problematic as formulated. On what grounds does anyone have a right to be believed? If the point is to counter the apparently wide spread tendency of police officers and others to be unusually skeptical of rape victim testimony, then I think there are better principles to work from. For instance, the principle mentioned by Kilgore that charges should be taken seriously, and the principle that a rape victim's testimony should be taken just as seriously as any other crime victim's testimony. Rape victims deserve that, and it is unconscionable that they don't always get it.

 

[Kori]

I made this clear in past posts but I will say it again just to make sure no one misses it. My first love used blackmail to try and control me and the blackmail was her using false accusations of rape. However rape should be taken seriously. I would much rather believe a woman when she is not telling the truth than dismiss her when she is. Believe me when I say I will make that choice.

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

Presumption of innocence is a bedrock of a free and just society.

All allegations must be taken very seriously, certainly never dismissed out of hand, but there is no right to be believed.

 

[Kori]

Presumption of innocence is a bedrock of a free and just society.

All allegations must be taken very seriously, certainly never dismissed out of hand, but there is no right to be believed.

Presumption of innocence is wonderful but when is it 100% applied? The Judge and co many times have an idea in their heads and run with it.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Fundamentally, I find the drive to replace one potential bias with another to be misguided, and generally unproductive, if not counterproductive. A whole myriad of sectors and aspects of modern society seem to suffer from this urge.

 

[Sultan Of Swing]

Presumption of innocence is wonderful but when is it 100% applied? The Judge and co many times have an idea in their heads and run with it.

It may not be followed perfectly all the time, but it still fundamentally changes legal proceedings when the accused must be proven guilty beyond all reasonable doubt, rather than in some European countries where the defendant is presumed guilty and must prove his innocence. Jury trial further helps this as another barrier to bias. (Of course juries aren't perfect and can be manipulated, but a lot better than leaving the decision in the hands of the state.)

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think this example also highlights the ubiquitous problem of people's poor understanding of basic logic: A right not to be disbelieved isn't the same as a right to be believed. I see this concept played out daily, and nearly daily just here on RF.

 

[Wirey]

Arrest a guy at work for rape and innocent or not, he's a rapist forever.