Originally Posted by Leslie (Post 11489239)

Oh, ffs. Can you explain to me exactly how some random woman making a false claim is going to harm me more than being raped?

Originally Posted by Sally Redux (Post 11489268)

One of the articles said that only one case was within the statute of limitation, so it appears that the law is different from Britain where we are seeing convictions going back a long way

Originally Posted by GeoffM (Post 11489321)

I just read it as one false claim weakening the case for genuine victims.



Interesting that: according to a well known online encyclopedia in the US only heinous crimes have no statute of limitations, and it doesn't mention rape as one of those, though IMHO it certainly is heinous.

Originally Posted by Mrs Danvers (Post 11489301)

I doubt he will be convicted of any of these allegations either. Interestingly some states do not have statutes of limitations for rape Do you think that's right? Seeing that rape cases are difficult to prove without dna evidence or witnesses I don't see why there should be any statute of limitations.

Originally Posted by GeoffM (Post 11489321)

I just read it as one false claim weakening the case for genuine victims.

Originally Posted by Sally Redux (Post 11489312)

If he is guilty, it's interesting how he built this 'moral' persona up, presumably to deflect suspicion.

Much safer to date someone like 50 Cent.

Actually that doesn't make sense cos of the guns, but I was thinking along the lines of people hiding their true nature.

Originally Posted by Mrs Danvers (Post 11489356)

Mmmm. Much like creepy Savile and his charity work.

Originally Posted by Sally Redux (Post 11489363)

I was going to put that myself but I should stick to my own rule of 'innocent until proven guilty'. Looks like he's dodged the issue before though.
Personally I'm always suspicious of these pontificating types.

Plus he wasn't actually funny.

Originally Posted by sir_eccles (Post 11489365)

Saw this comic recently which sums up things quite well I think.

Sexual Harassment Conversations, in Comic Form

http://www.sff.net/people/jchines/Pics/Harassment.jpg

Originally Posted by Mrs Danvers (Post 11489382)

I don't think he will ever be proven guilty. We will never really know. I don't think he was funny but I thought his humor was appealing to a certain American taste.

Originally Posted by Leslie (Post 11489239)

Oh, ffs. Can you explain to me exactly how some random woman making a false claim is going to harm me more than being raped? I'd really like to hear how you work that one out. I'm sure it's a page right out of Cosby's playbook though because this is exactly the type of tactic that he would have used on his victims to keep them from coming forward.

Women have been reporting his behavior for decades and have been ignored and humiliated for having done so. Of course that discouraged the others from saying anything. He told them that nobody would believe them and he was absolutely right.

The main element of how serial rapists, abusers, and pedophiles keep their victims from reporting is by isolating them. Victims think they're the only ones and they blame themselves. The abuser convinces them that somehow they have done something wrong and brought this on themselves. He also convinces them that nobody will believe them, he's the powerful person, nobody will take their word over his. It's only when others start to go public that the ones in the shadows finally feel that they might be believed. They also feel a solidarity with the ones that have gone before them and want to lend their support and give credibility to the brave ones that have taken the first steps.

I think remarks like you've made here are more harmful to women than any (non-existent) false allegations ever could be. I won't go as far as saying that they're as bad as actually being sexually abused or raped --- because that would be ridiculous.

Originally Posted by Tegwyn (Post 11489405)

You just love your self righteous soap box don't you. My point, and it is well known that many women have made false claims of rape before and that has done much damage to women who really need to be heard and helped. It is an extremely difficult charge to prove anyway and the old boys club will disregard or degrade any rape claim, and a woman goes through even more humiliation trying to fight for justice. It IS an unfortunate fact that there are some that abuse and take advantage of a charge. Try expand your mind a little bit to understand that this was actually in defensive of women that really need help that get discredited by other that have abused the system.

Originally Posted by Tegwyn (Post 11489405)

You just love your self righteous soap box don't you. My point, and it is well known that many women have made false claims of rape before and that has done much damage to women who really need to be heard and helped. It is an extremely difficult charge to prove anyway and the old boys club will disregard or degrade any rape claim, and a woman goes through even more humiliation trying to fight for justice. It IS an unfortunate fact that there are some that abuse and take advantage of a charge. Try expand your mind a little bit to understand that this was actually in defensive of women that really need help that get discredited by other that have abused the system.

Originally Posted by Sally Redux (Post 11489479)

Seemed like you were pretty quick to dismiss their claims to me.

Originally Posted by Leslie (Post 11489339)

"Free for all" ... is what irritated me. As if it was all a big party .