Amber Taylor points us to this AP article:
A female airman says she faces a court-martial next month because she refused to testify against three male airmen she accused of rape.
The woman is charged with one count of committing indecent acts and one count of consuming alcohol as a minor. The defense says the charges involve the same men she accused of raping her.
The woman dropped the charges after feeling “pressured”; the men agreed to nonjudicial punishments in exchange for immunity and their testimony against the woman. If the story is true (and that’s a big if: the only substantive comment in the coverage is from the defense attorneys, as the prosecutors are forbidden from commenting in detail while the case is pending), it is certainly something shocking: you’d expect that sort of thing in remote parts of Pakistan, not in the armed forces. Of course, as the Duke Lacrosse case showed, there are many other scenarios where a woman could allege rape, back down from her allegation, and legitimately be charged with wrongdoing. Court-martial is scheduled for September 24.
2 Comments
I have a simple question. Were the charges brought against her before or after she refused to testify about the rape? Military law is very black and white. If she was raped then she wasn’t responsible for the “indecent act”. If she wasn’t raped then the “indecent act” must have been consensual. When she refused to testify to the rape, she left herself open to the charges for the “indecent act”. The underage drinking should stand on it’s own, either she did or didn’t drink alcohol, unless it was forced on her as part of the rape.
This is only shocking because we are conditioned to believe all women alleging rape are telling the truth or at least hav good reason… that is, it is shocking because it is so ridiculosly rare.
That’s not to say that this PARTICULAR case is just, mind you – I don’t know anything about this woman or her circumstances – only that the STANDARD treatment for false rape allegations is no consequences for the woman AT ALL (indeed, the average EXONERATED man faces worse consequences than the woman who falsely accused him).