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article=85759
1 of 2 8/10/2007 4:19 PM
http://connectionnewspapers.com/printarticle.asp?article=85759
HANNA LINDSAY, co-director of LAWS, believes that the community’s eagerness to embrace false sexual
assault reports reflects reasons more personal than media sensationalism or a trust in Kanin’s study. "The
community wants to believe false reports because it makes us feel safer," said Lindsay. "But actually it makes
the community less safe by empowering rapists."
Lindsay says that false sexual assault reports make the community less likely to believe real survivors and
thus discourage sexual assault victims from coming forward. Victims’ rights advocates already say that rape
is one of the most underreported crimes in the United States. The National Crime Victimization Survey found
that 59 percent of sexual assaults over the past five years in the U.S. go unreported to the police.
There are many reasons why advocates and educators believe that both men and women do not report sexual
assault to the authorities. Fear of not being believed and shame are two of the most popular theories made by
victims’ rights advocates to explain the underreporting of rape.
DeLoveh says that victims are blamed for sexual assault in ways they aren’t for other crimes. They’re asked
why they were out so late, or why they were scantily clad, or why they were drinking and doing drugs.
DeLoveh also says that victims are less likely to file charges against someone they know, the most common
perpetrators of rape.
Tracey King, co-director of LAWS with Lindsay, says that there’s a minimization of the numbers of rape in
Loudoun County, as there is nationally. The biggest misconception about rape, she believes, is the disbelief
that it happens and who does it. "It’s not always the troll under the bridge or the man in the bushes," she said.
"It’s your friend.
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