Why do some feminists deny the reality of false rape accusations?
Here's my view of false rape accusations:They are more common than people think, but the actual number of them that go through legally are rare. Why do I think this?Studying crimes against men, including made to penetrate and some domestic violence cases, one of the most common threats used by the rapists/abusers was "I'll tell them you raped me."A lot of the women in these cases effectively kept their victims silent using this taunt. Men feel that if the police are involved and it comes down to a he said she said, they won't be believed. A woman climbs on top of a man and rapes him and tells him she will go the police and say he raped her, if he doesn't keep his mouth shut. It's a common tactic used by female rapists and the fact that it works is sad. My belief is that we need to focus more on the system. We need to take away the weight that this threat has. We need to make it reasonable for a man to claim that a woman raped him and in our current society, unfortunately, a he said, she said is likely to end up with the woman being believed. False rape accusations are used more often that we like to think. However, the number that women actually go to the police and file are rare, because the threat itself is enough to keep their victims silent.
What protects a guy against a false rape accusation?
Almost all the answers here are referring to the Western World. In India, the story is different.A woman's word that you raped her, is enough to land you in prison for a day at the very least, until you get bail. Then, the burden of proof remains on the accused(that is, on the man) to prove that he did not rape her. The court relies on the sole testimony of the woman.There are several laws in the country which are enormously anti-men, especially the anti-dowry law in which a husband's whole family can be put in jail, if a woman says that she was harassed by her in-laws or by her husband. And bear in mind, that she does not need to provide a shred of evidence to back up what she is saying. What I am implying is, a woman's word is as good as a conviction.In short, the answer to your question is, nothing protects a man against a false rape accusation in India.There was a case some time back, where a businessman was arrested for raping a girl at the behest of an IAS officer. Later it turned out that the girl was in cahoots with the IAS and had connived with him to trap the businessman.Even policemen in India claim they are helpless in such cases. If they do not make an arrest then the media will bay for their blood and self-styled human activist groups will stage a protest. Feminist groups will demand the rapists' head. In fact, if you are falsely accused of rape, rest assured your life will be a misery unless you strike a bargain with the girl(here, bargain means giving her what she wants, which, in most cases, is money).If a false rape accused is tried in court, he can be sure that he will get a prison term.Also, if you promise marriage to a woman and have sex with her, but due to some reason, you fall apart, she can take you to court under the pretext of "rape by false promise of marriage". That is, she can accuse you of rape on the flimsy pretext of not marrying but having sex with her. High courts have raised the concern that this provision is misused by female friends to settle a vendetta with their male friends.I would like you to read Anonymous's answer to Why is it difficult to date an Indian woman in general?. It is a description of what is meted out to men if they are so unfortunate to attract a girls wrath. Also, read this Anonymous's answer to What are some cases/stories where some women have misused the Indian laws that were made to protect women?.