BearGoggles said:
There have been several posts indicating that the women's story should be believed because false reports of crimes - particularly sexual harassment and rape - are rare. Most claims are true, but many are not.
I think in today's world, it is not accurate to suggest that a claimed victim has nothing to gain. Aside from potential legal recoveries (which have always been available), in today's world a claimed victim gets a ton of attention, the very coveted victim status, and an opportunity to promote an agenda (or in some cases, exact vengeance and/or revenge). The [url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/22/jussie-smollett-attack-hoax-allegation-bogus-police-reports-real-harm/2936672002/][/url]Jussie Smollett episode is only the most recent example. Understandably, many of us can't fathom that a famous relatively wealthy person would make a false claim. Yet is seems almost certain he did.
[url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/22/jussie-smollett-attack-hoax-allegation-bogus-police-reports-real-harm/2936672002/][/url]
There is reporting that false claims are more common than thought. In addition, many of the Title IX claims being litigated in courts on a nationwide basis have shown that the claims are sometimes made with improper motive (i.e., claims made after consensual relationships ended badly).
In this case (every case), the woman's claims should be fully investigated. But it sure seems that there's more to the story. I'm open to all possibilities, but I find it very difficult to believe that complaints were submitted to (and received by) JW or Cal admin and ignored.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/7/false-sex-assault-reports-not-rare-reported-studie/
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/another-sexual-assault-acquittal-reaffirms-the-need-to-believeevidence/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/10/17/sexual-assault-allegations-wait-facts-former-prosecutor-column/1659190002/
I'm responding to you BG, but this isn't aimed at you. I AM picking on one phrase in your post as I think it is representative of a ton of posts here. That phrase is "I find it hard to believe..." I'm seeing this sentiment on both sides. Relatively neutral posts arguing we wait and see followed by a "I find it hard to believe" statement.
I'm sorry, if you live in this world, I find it hard to believe that any of you are so out of it that you still find anything hard to believe.
I find it hard to believe that people do scumbag things like are accused here. But it happens all the time, so I don't find it hard to believe.
I find it hard to believe that people make false accusations. But it happens all the time, so I don't find it hard to believe.
I find it hard to believe that smart people who receive these reports don't handle them properly, but it happens all the time, so I don't find it hard to believe.
I find it hard to believe (and frankly it hurts my heart) that any woman would feel such lack of empowerment to essentially not stand up to bullying to the point where they go to parties or others hotel rooms, but it happens all the time, so I don't find it hard to believe.
I don't find her story hard to believe. I don't find the possibility that she has made it up or exaggerated it hard to believe. I don't find the concept that Cal has done everything correctly hard to believe. I don't find the idea that Cal has failed miserably hard to believe. All of this has been seen over and over.
So here is what I'm going to do until I find out more. I'm going to treat this woman as if she is telling the truth. I'm going to treat the accused as if they are telling the truth.
And I'm going to submit to all of you that no one here is neutral. I think it is safe to say we all hope this is untrue. No one wants to think a young woman went through this. No one wants to think any of our representatives would do this. And let's face it, this would be severely damaging to our football program, and we are on a Cal football board because we care about the fate of our football program. (I would submit that if somehow I could demonstrate that her claims being true would somehow lead to a Rose Bowl while not hurting the reputation of the program, she would garner a lot more sympathy). On the flip side, a lot of people are also inclined to take a societal problem and statistics and apply them to an individual case when that is just not appropropriate.
And I don't claim to be neutral on this issue. The discussions around all of these cases always makes me uncomfortable. Sexual harassment and assault are not false reported any more than any other crime. Which is to say about 6-10% false reporting rate. That is certainly high enough to take the possibility of a false report seriously whether it is a pickpocketing or a sexual assault. What makes me uncomfortable is the speculation as to reasons. Hell, I don't know why anyone would false report anything. But they do. However, the woman scorned, gold digger, **** stories that can be made up spill over on the accuser, and speculation is just not helpful either in the individual case or in the societal case.
As I said, I am not neutral. I have daughters. The statistics are frightening. And as a society we have just flat out been horrible in prosecuting these types of cases. Sexual assault is about the easiest crime to get away with. The percentage of perpetrators that see jail time is shockingly low. In sheer numbers, the number of victims who do not see justice just swamps the number of innocent people who ever see consequences for a crime they don't commit. We really need to do something about this.
However, societal statistics don't mean a damned thing when it comes to an individual case. We've got to stop treating them like they do. And individual cases don't mean squat when it comes to judging a societal problem. We can't put the baggage of all of our history on every individual case. The question of innocence or guilt of an individual accused has nothing to do with how many people were unjustly let go or convicted in the past.
What we can do is stop jumping to conclusions on both sides. What we really must do is start treating all sides with fairness. Stop defending people you think you know. Stop judging situations you think you understand.
In this case, she has made claims that should produce witnesses. They don't always, but I'm hoping that there are enough good people in this world that someone will support her if they can corroborate. Even more importantly, she has made claims of communications that should be provable if they occurred.
What I ask is that Cal do a neutral and competent investigation and for everyone to treat EVERYBODY in the situation with respect until we know more. There will be plenty of time to cast stones at the accuser if she is lying or the accused if she is telling the truth.