I want to start by saying that false rape accusations are, without a doubt, horrible. They can tear families apart, destroy careers, and lead to suicide. If any of you have been the victim of a false accusation, I would strongly encourage you to make a post about it.

That being said, I don't think false rape accusations should be a focus of this sub. I see false accusations as being pretty far down on the list of men's issues. It's not that they're not awful; it's that they're rare. There's no evidence that false accusations make up more than 8% of all rape accusations. (Well, actually, there is evidence, but no good evidence. One of the studies in that list puts the rate at 90%. I see it cited pretty frequently on reddit, despite the fact that its methodology is notoriously horrible amongst social scientists.)

On the other hand, sexual violence towards men is mind-bogglingly common. 1in6.org puts the estimate of men who have experienced sexual trauma before the age of 18 at, well, 1 in 6. They also consider this to be an underestimate because it's based mostly on survey data, and many victims of sexual assault are either ashamed to admit that they're victims or don't even know that they are. 1 in 6 cites this paper, pointing out that only 64% of women with documented histories of sexual abuse consider themselves to be victims -- shockingly low if you ask me -- but that only 16% of male victims do. This, too, would contribute to the 1 in 6 statistic being an underestimate. (Part of that discrepancy is probably due to the fact that women tend to be more affected by childhood sexual trauma. That same paper notes that 57% of men said their sexual abuse had no negative affect on them, while only 34% of women reported the same. But sexual abuse is sexual abuse, regardless of the effect it has on the victim.)

In addition to the ridiculously high rates of abuse, sexual assault causes PTSD at an alarming rate. According to a study from the National Institutes of Health, the lifetime prevalence of PTSD in women who have been sexually assaulted is about 50%. And that includes all sexual assault, not just rape. The same sort of data seems to be sorely lacking when it comes to men (please leave a link in the comments if you find something), but a small study of about 500 of African male refugees found that of the 99 who had been sexually assaulted, 59% had PTSD, as opposed to 33% of the 417 who hadn't been. Now granted, this sample doesn't come close to representing the male population in the US. But the study sheds some light on just how traumatic sexual assault can be.

Ironically, the high rate of PTSD contributes to unnecessary skepticism of victims' stories. Trauma manifests itself in unexpected ways. People in the acute stage of rape trauma syndrome(the stage that occurs immediately after the trauma) display a wide range of behaviors, including acting as if nothing happened at all. This is not the behavior expected of someone who was just raped, so victims who exhibit it are less likely to be taken seriously. People are also incredulous of victims who don't come forward immediately after the rape. This skepticism is unfounded, because denial is a common symptom of rape trauma syndrome. Another common symptom of PTSD is declarative memory dysfunction. This causes victims to have unclear memories of their trauma, and sometimes results in them telling conflicting narratives. This is seen as evidence of a false accusation, when in fact it's anything but.

Misconceptions about post-traumatic behavior are common amongst lay people, but police are often ignorant as well. I get it, it's not the job of police to comfort victims. Their job is to solve crimes, and they must assume innocence. But too often they don’t feel the need to do that job. Many of you have probably heard about the backlog of 70,000 untested rape kits in the US. There are some very legitimate reasons for this, such as funding, but one of the key reasons is victim blaming by police. In many jurisdictions, there is no protocol dictating the testing of rape kits, so it’s left to the discretion of the police. It’s no wonder that sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes.

In short, I think that false rape accusations are not a primary concern for men, especially when compared to sexual assault and subsequent PTSD. Despite the fact that only 3% of rape accusations result a single day in prison, being falsely accused of rape is an undeniably horrible experience for the victim. I think victims of false accusations should absolutely be free to use this space to voice their concerns, as should rape victims. However, I feel strongly that as awful as false accusations are, rape is a more pressing issue for men. Rape is far, far too common. It can tear families apart, destroy careers, and lead to suicide. Both are horrible. But prioritizing false accusations over rape itself is a step down the slippery slope to this place becoming /r/MensRights.

Please share your thoughts. Am I a terrible person who lacks empathy? Am I a complete dumbass who totally misrepresented the picture here? Let me know.