Prior False Allegations of Rape: Falsus in Uno, Falsus in Omnibus?

Abstract

Since Biblical times, men have feared being falsely accused of rape. Indeed, the notion that women will lie about rape or sexual assault for any number of reasons is firmly entrenched in societal attitudes toward women and rape. Whether the motive to lie finds voice in a woman scorned, in the sexually repressed and fantasizing woman who desires to be raped, or in the unchaste woman who seeks to mask her own promiscuity by crying rape, these myths have allowed the focus in rape cases to be placed on the victim's lack of innocence rather than on the guilt of the accused.