Last month, the media extensively reported on the sentencing of Eleanor Williams, who was given 8 and a half years in prison for falsely accusing multiple men of raping her.
Although it is very hard to put a figure on it, research suggests false rape claims are rare. Separate studies by the Home Office and Ministry of Justice suggest a figure of around 3% of reported rapes may be false.
But how many reports of rape do Britons think are false, and what do they think is the suitable punishment when it is found that a report is in fact a false accusation?
The large majority of Britons (74%) think only a small proportion of rape claims are not true. This is split evenly between 36% who consider it a “fairly small proportion” and 37% who say a “very small proportion” (a further 1% answered “none of them”).
However, there are a significant number who doubt the validity of large numbers of rape reports, with 16% of Britons thinking around half or more of them are false.
What proportion, if any, of reported rape allegations do you think are false accusations? %
All
of them
A
very large proportion
A
fairly large proportion
Around
half
Don't
know
A
...
Washington, April 27 Prominent television hosts and journalists have pushed back against online claims that the White House ... Washington, April 27 Prominent television hosts and journalists have ...