April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

[catsmeow]

I've worked with both victims and perpetrators ... known many victims.

Please remember these folks and know that this is one of the most difficult issues for any human being to have to face.

If anyone would like more information about sexual assault, help, or other news, the following link is very helpful!

www.taasa.org/

[princessbaybay]

Thanks for posting this cats...

It's sad to think in light of the Duke case...and more locally the woman who made false allegations toward a DPS trooper that people might not take it so seriously....

Just keep in mind more SA cases are unreported than reported....and that needs to change.

[catsmeow]

Absolutely, baybay! You are right about the reporting. Also, people need to keep in mind that false reporting is less common, and more often than not, the assault did occur, so it's best to take people seriously --- especially CHILDREN!

The way evidence collecting and DNA works today, it's much better to report today than ever before.

And the only way a person can begin to heal from something this awful is to tell someone it happened. Keeping it silent will kill your soul.

[gitpikker58]

I wonder actually how many men and women are in prison on false charges of sexual assault. The Duke guys (and I'm not sure if they're guilty or not) are the most prominent and it took mucho bucks to get them off, how many don't have that kind of pull and are in afteer being falsely accused.

[catsmeow]

It's definitely a shame for anyone to be falsely accused. I know that there have been many instances of those who have been exonerated after being incarcerated, just because DNA evidence and testing became available.

Because of the newer technologies and forensics, imprisonments because of false accusations are becoming less common.

[princessbaybay]

I really don't think the Duke guys were guilty.... that DA is hoping they don't sue...in fact I think he has asked them not to sue him.

There are plenty that get wrongly accused....and an unfair deal... I met a person that is in for 20 years for picking up a girl in a bar... you have the people that let her in the bar...the people that served her in the bar... his mistake was assuming that since she made it past the employees of the bar that she should be legal... but when you pick up one night stands in a bar you are taking a risk... hmmm... guess he should be glad he didn't get a terminal disease? However...picking up one night stands shouldn't land you in prison for 20 years.

Then there are cases in Texas history where a guy has been in prison on SA charges for YEARS... and was no where NEAR the scene of the crime...and with progress in DNA have proved their innocence.

Then you have the guilty ones that get off because the victim was put on trial.

And you are right Git... money is the key to getting a "fair" trial....and that sucks.

You will see changes in a person that has been sexually assaulted...like cats said silence will kill your soul...and it's usually not very pretty. You will see changes in the ones who report the assault and go through the complete process of getting a conviction.
It seems that someone making false charges would be devoid of those changes.
I would think it would take certain personality types to make false allegations...and would hope the justice system caught all of them and prosecuted them but reality is...it's just not that way.

[westtexan]

princessbaybay said:

There are plenty that get wrongly accused....and an unfair deal... I met a person that is in for 20 years for picking up a girl in a bar... you have the people that let her in the bar...the people that served her in the bar... his mistake was assuming that since she made it past the employees of the bar that she should be legal...

In small towns a lot of that gets swept under the rug...and people turn the other way.

When I was growing up...the underage thing usually only got notice if the if a pregnancy resulted...and then...since it was consensual...it would...more often than not...be swept under the rug...with a "shotgun" wedding.

[princessbaybay]

Not sure what area of Texas the kid was from... and I was only allowed to know so much... but the pysch people even said he got a bad deal... thinking maybe she got in trouble for staying out all night...maybe even after having him drop her off at home....so she made up a story. I am thinking small town down in the woods... someone special's daughter.

[rayrob]

It's funny that false accusations came up in this thread and with the other things discussed, I think it would be an interesting idea if someone could find a legit statistic on how many accusations never make it to court, and how many accusations made by a child, and I mean TEEN put a person in prison without testimony from the child. Too many times, and this doesn't go in the papers, children make accusations of sexual abuse that are not true. They are being taught in school over and over that a person goes to prison when a child says that and the child doesn't have to testify in court about it. DNA evidence is not required to convict when someone younger than 17 says something happened. So a lot of children, and i still mean teen, say that to get back at their parents or someone they are mad at. Usually the only way for a person to get out of that situation is to pray in one hand an spit in the other and see which one gets full faster.

[princessbaybay]

I don't have statistics....... but you are correct.

[rayrob]

I wish someone would find some statistics.

[catsmeow]

I'm not sure those kind of stats exist ... but, I can look for them.

While I am sympathetic to anyone who is or has been falsely accused, I also don't want us to get so focused on that issue that we forget there are plenty of true survivors out there who need to be believed, validated, etc. To be questioned as if one is lying is extremely detrimental to those who've suffered sexual assault, especially children.

I just want to make sure we keep the issues separate.

[princessbaybay]

I absolutely agree cats......