Re: Women don't lie about rape.

Neil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote, in talk.rape:

>Rich <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message:
>news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]: 
>
>> I noted in passing that Daran had been unable to find anyone
>> who says that women never lie about rape.
>> 
>> Seems lots of orginizations say just that. I wonder why his
>> google search failed.
>
>For the same reason that yours did (Hi Rich) - all of your cites say 
>pretty much (if not exactly) the same thing, that women don't lie about 
>rape and that the rate of false reports is 2 (-4)%.  None of them say, 
>explicitly, that women *never* lie about rape.

As Daran says, it's an incredible statement.

>But actually, i'm glad that you raised the subject again because it made 
>me think about it again.  Clearly the 'women don't lie' line is intended 
>to convey the message that they never lie - and clearly following it with 
>the ("only") 2% claim is intended to dismiss the number that do as being 
>negligible.  

Something which strikes me strongly in this is that one couldn't so
readily get away with using "the rate of [demonstrably] false reports
is [only] 1 in 50" to suggest that to all intents and purposes, it
never happens.  That % symbol seems to switch people's brains off [1];
people may register .02 as a really small number, whereas 2 is just a
small number, but their significance next to % doesn't appear to be
well understood.  Percentages aren't intuitive.

It's disingenuous, in any case.  If 2% of rape allegations are
demonstrably false, that is merely a minimum.

[1]  I've long believed that that's why it is as commonly used as it
is.  And o'course, it doesn't matter what you express as a percentage,
once propogated it'll be regurgitated forever, minus understanding.

>This context contradicts the absolute 'never' impression, 
>hence the need to minimise it, but more importantly it contradicts a 
>previous claim of mine in discussion with you about absolute statements 
>(at least, i think it does.  i can't remember what i said).  i probably 
>owe you an apology, although i personally think that the wording of these 
>organisations is (deliberately) sloppy.

Perish the thought.  To be charitable, however, I'm sure that in some
cases there's no deliberation at all, "merely" sleight of mind.

Baba Yaga
-- 
And to do any good at all, just believing you're right and your
motives are good isn't enough.  You have to... be in touch.
 - Ursula le Guin