How should the courts go about stopping false accusations of rape and DV?

Many claim that if you jail false accusers that it will stop actaul victims from coming forward but does that justify putting men in prison who have committed are innocent of the false claims against them?How should the courts go about stopping false accusations of rape and DV?
I understand where the difficulty is in this--the only way they can jail a false accuser is if he or she admits they falsely accused the person. They can't jail a person if the case was found unsubstantiated or simply don't have enough information. The problem that happens, then, is that if one falsely accuses another, if jail time is the punishment for the crime, the person is less likely to admit that they falsely accused the person. So its a catch-22.





However, that said, I do think there should be a heavy punishment for false accusations. I do think that once people realize a jail sentence goes with throwing around accusations, people will be less likely to throw them around. I just worry for, when people who do persist, for the victims of the false accusations who have to endure more as the accuser would be less inclined to admit they lied.





EDIT--You have a good point except I would argue with the ';many times'; part. Often its VERY hard to prove or disprove rape. That's why a HUGE percentage of rape cases end up being unsubstantiated. Now if there was some kind of video evidence that the man was somewhere else, or a mass group of ppl who saw him at a place that would put him away from the woman (or man, rape can go both ways) at the time of the crime, then that's different. And I fully agree the false accuser should get jail time and be punished for attempting to ruin another persons life and wasting police time and resources.





But, truth be told, such evidence is usually very lacking. Often police find that the accuser is making a false statement because he or she says so after extensive interviewing or when they're caught in a lie and they confess. Thats the problem then. Since MOST false accusations are cleared after the accuser admits its a lie, it becomes difficult to say what would happen if the false accuser know jail was at the end when they admit the lied.





I think some people fail to realize how often rape cases are found unsubstantiated. In in a case where it is found unsubstantiated, the accuser should NEVER be punished as there isn't enough evidence to say he or she is lying.How should the courts go about stopping false accusations of rape and DV?
';I don't see how it'd stop real victims from coming forward, sounds like BS to me.';





I can, if you follow Fex's reasoning. A ';not guilty'; verdict does NOT mean a rape didn't occur, it means that they couldn't prove it. Maybe there wasn't enough evidence or maybe the guy had a really good lawyer. If women were faced with possible jail time if their case resulted in a ';not guilty'; verdict, some women may not press charges. I can see that occurring especially in date rape situations.





I do believe that when it is obvious that a false claim has been made, the accuser should get some type of punishment. Jail time is a good idea. But there has to be evidence that it was a completely false claim and not that there wasn't enough evidence to prove rape.
Nothing justifies jailing the innocent. But then, it's impossible to ALWAYS avoid jailing the wrong person. Charges of crime should be investigated, and the evidence weighed; that's all one can do.





How often does this happen, really?





That a woman mis-identified her rapist is NOT just cause to jail her.





And, yes, if a woman is raped, and knows that, if the prosecution loses the case, SHE'LL be imprisoned, that would prevent nearly every rape victim from ever reporting.





You'd need to explain better what you're talking about. Especially how big a problem this really is.





given that rape victims are still often not believed, and that they're often blamed for the brutal crime committed against them, and how often rapists go free, I'm not at all sure that false accusations are the larger problem than rapists being free to continue to rape.





Ditto DV.





Certainly, whenever anyone wrongly convicted of any crime is found to not have done it, they should be immediately released.





But one shouldn't automatically imprison whoever charged them, without equally good evidence that they committed a wrong (such as making the whole thing up).





BTW, doing that IS a crime.
I don't see how it'd stop real victims from coming forward, sounds like BS to me.





There should be some sort of punishment for those who falsely accuse.





If there's a way to prove the accuser made false allegations knowingly, then definitely, punish.





There will be the dippy part though where then people use whatever loophole is available and get out of it, just like they do now. Slimy ******* always do their best to find them, or roll the dice and hope it works.





If there were ways to be sure they were prosecuted anyhow, and they couldn't just pull, ';Yeah, but I thought this WAS assault!'; -- then we're golden and can punish the ones who tarnish it for all the legit cases.
Jail time would be a novel idea.





';A woman who made eight separate false claims of rape or sexual assault has been spared jail.


Gemma Gregory, 28, accused seven different men over a six-year period.


Former boyfriends were subjected to police questioning and DNA testing to clear their names.


Her fantasy stories also wasted huge amounts of police time.
I understand that some very stupid people actually believe that a not guilty verdict proves that the accused is innocent. Not so. A woman automatically going to jail just because a defendant is found not guilty would mean a lot of women would be going to jail, and the rapist, who was found not guilty merely due to lack of evidence, would be going free. Not an acceptable solution. However, if it was proven to be a false accusation, the accuser should indeed go to jail.
In cases where it's been proven that a woman has made a false accusation, then I think she should receive a jail sentence -- after all, that's what the man would've got if his accuser had succeeded.





Tougher sentences for women who lie about rape would act as a deterrent, which would actually help genuine rape victims. They might feel more able to come forward if they were confident that they'd be believed, and the things that stop them being believed are loose definitions of rape and false accusers.
There is only one way.





Upon the rendering of a ';not guilty'; verdict for a charge of rape, domestic violence, sexual harassment, or child abuse in a custody hearing, whatever the minimum sentence that could have been conferred upon the accused must be immediately conferred upon the accuser.
The crime needs to be taken seriously and punished accordingly. Right now it is hardly punished. It will not stop the practice, just like punishment will not stop any crime, but it will discourage the practice and make it less frequent.
Proper punishment would result in less false accusation.


The courts are a little soft on this subject.