Via Seeing the Forest: How to add to the stigma of rape.

A municipal judge found a 19-year-old woman guilty Friday of filing a false police report after she said she was raped by three young men.

Even though the woman never said she lied or recanted her story, city prosecutors say they took the unusual step of filing charges against her because of the seriousness of her accusations.

The woman's attorney and advocates for rape victims say the prosecution sets a dangerous precedent and could discourage others from reporting sexual assaults.

This would be almost unbelievable anywhere in the world, but in the Pacific Northwest? It's completely unbelievable, and it's scary as all hell. As it is, only about 10% of estimated sexual assaults in Oregon are reported.

And the idea that the men were "credible" when the judge noted that he found serious inconsistencies in their story. My. God.

The assumption that a report of rape is false because the victim has a sexual history with her attacker is possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard. What about sex changes the meaning to "no" to anything else?

Besides, the assumption that a report of rape is false for ANY reason flies in the face of what we know to be true about reported rapes.

Heather J. Huhtanen, Sexual Assault Training Institute director for the Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force, reports that Portland police have found that 1.6% of sexual assault cases were falsely reported. By way of comparison, 2.6% of auto theft cases were falsely reported.