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[it-started-with-emily-doe]

STATISTICALLY (which means there is proven, factual evidence of this) it is less than 2% of false allegations. Just tell me you didn’t read everything I wrote. The court system is riddled with problems, yes, but you are missing my entire point. Barely any convicted/proven rapists see jail time. The justice system is broken but not against the accused, but against the accusers (aka rape victims). Also it’s been proven that if we focus on fixing the system to make it easier for victims to come forward and give actual rapists consequences it also lowers the number of truly false allegations where the accuser is knowingly lying about an innocent person. So yes, your talking point here is a distraction from the real issue. And if we worked to solve the real problem it would also help your cause so arguing with me on this is actual pointless if you truly want to help your cause.

Tell me: what would you lose or how would it harm people to make the process of going to police safer/easier/less traumatic for victims and have actual consequences for actual rapists? Because you offer no solutions besides complaining about how shitty men had their lives “ruined” (except they didn’t. Every man you listed is doing just fine and arguably better than their victims).

Also idk how you can be alive for the past like decade and not see how anything I’m highlighting here is not an issue.

As a victims advocate and also as a sexual assault survivor it absolutely has something to do with me. Even if I never receive justice, if we can make the system better it helps others survivors receive justice. It also helps those who have been wrongly and falsely accused receive justice as well. I bring up my personal story to try and get you to see just how your problem is not the one we should be focusing on but clearly you are committed to shutting actual survivors down in favor of defending predators (I could go on at length about each man you’ve mentioned but I know you won’t listen to me or any evidence I present so why would I bother?)

You out yourself with your posts and I hope maybe you’ll do some research and start listening but I doubt you will so instead I hope you’re as outspoken about your beliefs IRL so women know to stay away from you for their safety.

There seems to be no empathy for how much false accusations of abuse can ruin someone's life. MeToo completely squashed that out for reductive ideological reasons when it didn't need to.

It's bad enough when the Johnny Depps or Michael Jacksons or Marilyn Mansons of the world are accused. They at least have the resources to fight back and the benefit of widespread coverage to show the truth to the world. Your average falsely accused man or woman doesn't have that.

Just because rightwingers try to make this a talking point to advance bad faith agendas, doesn't mean we should ignore or downplay the role of false accusations.

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

Reblogging to add the very much needed and missing statistics here.

Crying about “false allegations” is detraction. Less than 2% of allegations are proven false. However, it is even less than that 2% that are false because the accuser knowingly lied.

Here’s a list of things that can also make an accusation considered false legally:

1. There is not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. Evidence in sexual assault trials can be very difficult to obtain and even in cases where there is evidence, it doesn’t often lead to a conviction

2. The accuser retracts their statement out of fear of retaliation or, even in some cases, be threatened with unfounded criminal charges themselves by police even when there is evidence they are telling the truth

3. Law enforcement does not investigate (which happens more often than a lot of us realize)

Talking about what is less than 2% of rape allegations is ridiculous, especially when only about 25 out of every 1000 perpetrators will even see jail time. Most victims don’t receive justice. So people focusing on “false allegations” (that likely aren’t even false btw) simply just takes away from the very real need to focus on getting rapists off the streets and protecting victims.

Coming forward about sexual assault does not bring about glory or fame, in fact it often brings about harassment, death threats, and added trauma.

To make this personal: technically I “falsely” accused someone and they lost their job. I didn’t, however, ruin his life. I had more evidence than many other victims, law enforcement investigated and found more than what I was able to give them and recommended that the DA’s office file charges. They chose not to in a miscarriage of justice I’m still fighting years later, as they admitted to me on the record that they did not review the findings and evidence in my case and instead just decided not to do their jobs. He was fired because I brought my evidence to his place of employment (he worked with children) and in their own investigation, discovered he was acting inappropriately and borderline illegally. Since no charges were filed, this falls into that 2% of false allegations despite me having damning evidence that what I say happened happened. He’s still allowed to work with children. I am traumatized for life and unable to get access to a lot of victim aid because the DA didn’t file charges. This is a reality for a lot of other victims.

So do your research, folks. Have empathy. And start by believing.

There seems to be no empathy for how much false accusations of abuse can ruin someone's life. MeToo completely squashed that out for reductive ideological reasons when it didn't need to.

It's bad enough when the Johnny Depps or Michael Jacksons or Marilyn Mansons of the world are accused. They at least have the resources to fight back and the benefit of widespread coverage to show the truth to the world. Your average falsely accused man or woman doesn't have that.

Just because rightwingers try to make this a talking point to advance bad faith agendas, doesn't mean we should ignore or downplay the role of false accusations.

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[TW: r*pe mention]

These are photos of myself I found while making a zine for Sexual Assault Awareness Month last year. They are all photos of me from my freshman year of high school when I was 14 years old. This was me when I was targeted, groomed, and repeatedly raped by an adult man. I was a child. And I think seeing me as a child can really help drive the point home.

**I will upload the zine at a later point**

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

I see so much male entitlement out here, where men feel that women owe them dates or their bodies just by simply existing. Here is just one example in the wild. I made a post on my private Facebook that was met with some backlash that basically boiled down to not all men so I think I’m going to be sharing stories like this as I come across them with a few key hashtags. Feel free to share stories like this that come your way or, if you’re comfortable, that have happened to you. Thank you ♥️

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

[it-started-with-emily-doe]

Welcome to It Started With Emily Doe, a project by a SA survivor for other survivors. The goal is to inform the public about rape culture, grooming, sexual violence, and how to combat it in society as well as offer support to other survivors.

This project initially started on YouTube and has now expanded to Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, a podcast, and this blog! Here I will be sharing stories, statistics, poetry, art, really anything that drives the point home in educating and helping others.

So join me on my journey of healing and activism! I’m so glad you’re here ♥️