I would say it's a different way to discuss this issue, which I think has value on this board.
I think you are quoting "question" for the same reason.
Rev, everyone is entitled to their opinion. You're an excellent poster and I don't doubt these are deeply felt beliefs. And the experiences you describe as an EMT are horrifying. But please, spare me the lecture on how a bunch of dudes coming together on an internet message board to stand up for the forgotten men who *could* be wrongly accused of rape defines taking this issue really seriously.
For decades, there has been virtually no justice for female victims of sexual assault. And outside of a handful of non-profit advocacy groups, survivors and lawyers, nobody gave a shit. As I mentioned upthread, hundreds of thousands of rape kits have sat on shelves collecting dust, untested, for decades. A shocking number of the kits that have been tested have revealed men's DNA on multiple kits -- which is to say, serial rapists. These are the definition of open and shut legal cases -- and we've done nothing. As a result, countless women victims live their whole lives in shame and distress, unable to trust other people, battling addiction, struggling to hold a job, passing some of these problems onto their children. And these are simply the cases we know of.
Are there men who were falsely accused and unable to shake the stigma going through similar trauma? Of course. And they deserve our sympathy (tho I would argue that there are a whole lot more avenues for men with the stigma of assault in their past to pursue than women). But I honestly cannot fathom how many men would have to be falsely accused to "balance the scales" of injustice. It's the obscenely gross imbalance that is the problem.
Honestly, I feel like a lot of this debate over false accusations isn't much different than Trump's claims of "voter fraud." Like, sure, we all think voter fraud is despicable -- and, of course, there are plenty of isolated examples of it happening -- and maybe even some institutional reasons for it happening as well. But the "evidence" that it's widespread is a fucking joke -- and has no champions on this board, IIRC.
In the case of voter fraud, we all know why Trump and the GOP are pushing the issue: they're playing the race card. So what card is being played here? The "it's complicated" card? Or something else?
Human behavior may be complex and unpredictable particularly in the area of sexuality and sexual violence. And while it is not hard to "imagine" reasons women would falsely accuse men -- it was
@JimBoSox9 I think who gave an example -- the legal system is so severely stacked against those who do that it is hard to understand why any woman might think she could get away with it.
By contrast, men face no such constraints when they commit these crimes. She was drunk, it was consensual, it's my word against hers, she's crazy, she's ugly, she had a grudge against my girlfriend are all acceptable defenses in the court not just of public opinion -- but law.
Your point is "Maybe she's not thinking that far ahead." Sure ... or maybe she is? I just am not comfortable saying that because something is possible that it's likely when, frankly, we know better.
Again, I'm not willing to throw men in jail on the basis of accusations alone, but I legitimately do believe that we have an obligation to have a serious conversation about how men accused of sexual crimes should be handled by our legal system. The presumption of innocence is an important principle in our legal system, but it's not working on this issue.