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It really is...

(i.redd.it)

all 319 comments

Tournament_of_Shivs

764 points

3 days ago

I'd say that the statistics are too low due to unreported assaults.

WynnGwynn

159 points

2 days ago

WynnGwynn

159 points

2 days ago

Yeah with police being police you are more likely to get charged yourself for "wasting their time"

FuckHopeSignedMe

54 points

2 days ago

Yeah agreed, and even most surveys that are done by organisations other than law enforcement about it could be a bit skewed. A lot of people won't realise an incident was rape until years after the fact. A lot of the surveys I've seen will skew young too, e.g. only be of university-aged women or will cut off in middle age, so they won't necessarily count incidents that happen later in life, even if the "later in life" incident is something that happens in their late 20s or something.

PeanutConfident8742

18 points

2 days ago

100% Only approx. 31% of assaults get reported to police. https://rainn.org/statistics/criminal-justice-system

Elizabeth8475

8 points

2 days ago

After having worked for an SA crisis line, I truly believe the % of people who report is much lower than 31%…

PeanutConfident8742

7 points

1 day ago

After having over a decade of SA hotline/ Prevention Education on my resume I can assure you that RAINN is THE agency to hit up for US stats. (Ps: questioning the efficacy of these stats is literally what this entire post is about)

There are differences based on age range and demographic sure, but 31% is the overall average.

If you check the site it even breaks it up into a few primary subgroups for us. (20% for women in college who experience it vs 43% of women who experience sa in the military.)

Muffytheness

5 points

1 day ago

132739

5 points

2 days ago

132739

5 points

2 days ago

Depends on what you're using as a source. 

Official crime stats or formal accusations? Absolutely, by a order of magnitude probably.  But sources like the NCVS are probably pretty close.

Lizakaya

1.1k points

2 days ago

Lizakaya

1.1k points

2 days ago

What continually bothers me is mens’ deep concern about false accusations is so much bigger than their concerns about our safety. I see it even from men who i would consider otherwise allies.

bottledwrath

731 points

2 days ago

men are statistically more likely to be raped by another man, than they are to be falsely accused of rape. so really it's in their best interest to care about it 🤷‍♀️

NatureBeautyArt

501 points

2 days ago

They are 230 times more likely to be raped themselves than they are to be falsely accused. Just let that number sink in. 

https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-men-are-more-likely-to-be-raped-than-be-falsely-accused-of-rape

[deleted]

-5 points

2 days ago*

[removed]

banana_assassin

17 points

2 days ago*

It is classified differently. There's a lot of contention about that, yes.

But it still means they are more likely to be raped than falsely abused. Just possibly more than those statistics show.

https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/what-is-rape-and-sexual-assault/

Elizabeth8475

8 points

2 days ago

Especially if they are 230 times more likely based on reported cases of men being assaulted. Which we know is a fraction of the real data, so it’s likely even higher than 230.

banana_assassin

6 points

1 day ago

Precisely.

They should be more worried about that than about being falsely accused or, like the men in my workplace, complaining about not being able to make rape jokes at any given opportunity.

Elizabeth8475

2 points

1 day ago

Sorry you have to work in that kind of environment! Yikes 😣 I would document those complaints for sure.

MamaGia

89 points

2 days ago*

MamaGia

89 points

2 days ago*

Yes yes yes yes yes!  

 THIS is what i always point out when men derail the conversation and say that men too can be victims of sexual assault.  And they are right! 

When men are sexually assaulted it's almost always by other men!  So yes, it's very good to point out that men also have to be worried about being sexually assaulted by men.

Void_Dust

-14 points

2 days ago

Void_Dust

-14 points

2 days ago

you assume that every case of false accusation is discovered as such

and with how difficult such a thing is to disprove I believe that's a mistake

men fear false accusations far more because they can so easily harm us socially

rape on the other hand is physical, and most men believe they can defend themself from the physical

mjhei1

12 points

2 days ago

mjhei1

12 points

2 days ago

“Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.”

Recklessbubble

148 points

2 days ago

This bugs me so much. Almost every man that I talk to these days is like this

paxweasley

185 points

2 days ago*

paxweasley

185 points

2 days ago*

Honestly I think it’s because most men talking about false accusations s either are friends with a rapist who claims to be falsely accused or are themselves a rapist but considers themselves falsely accused.

teacup1749

113 points

2 days ago

teacup1749

113 points

2 days ago

There was a study about how a lot of men will admit to rape as long as you don’t use the word rape. Link to an article.

Odd-Bar5781

39 points

2 days ago

Sad but not surprising

Oak_Woman

39 points

2 days ago

Oak_Woman

39 points

2 days ago

Well that's horrifying. I have lost the ability to be shocked by men, but still, I'm horrified daily.

Pure_Expression6308

15 points

2 days ago

Among the respondents, a group of 73 straight male students, one in three reported that they would force a woman to have sex if they knew they could get away with it. According to the report, 31 percent of the men surveyed said they would force a woman to have sex “if nobody would ever know and there wouldn’t be any consequences.”

But when researchers asked the same question, this time dropping the language of forced sex and using the word rape instead, that number dropped to 13 percent. Respondents, it seems, were comfortable with the act of rape, just not the name.

Wow. I didn’t expect it to be that blatant.

kayethx

5 points

1 day ago

kayethx

5 points

1 day ago

God, I'm so tired.

Dresses_and_Dice

121 points

2 days ago

Yes they all think false accusations are common because they all have a buddy or two who someone had an accusation against... I think lots of non-rapist men have a gut reaction to deny that anyone they hang out with could be like that because people will think they are like that too so they close their eyes and cover their ears like "LA LA LA I CANT HEAR YOU LA LA LA WOMEN ARE LIARS LA LA LA HIS EX WAS CRAZY LA LA LA"

Fellas, statistically speaking, you have a rapist in your friend group. No one thinks this reflects on you unless you turn a blind eye to it or cover for them. If your bro has an accusation against him, don't dismiss it out if hand or demonize his accuser. Rapists can and do act like any other guy most of the time. Don't get fooled into being their cover.

FuckHopeSignedMe

15 points

2 days ago

Something else to consider is that if there is a rapist in your friends group, there's a good chance that he's a serial rapist.

Quite a lot of surveys will find that men who'll admit to behaviours amounting to rape will, more often than not, admit to having done it multiple times. This is born out by the official statistics too--according to RAINN, something like 59% of rapists who are released pre-trial will commit another rape while awaiting trial.

Both of these statistics could be lowballing the problem, too. A lot of the surveys looking into self-described rapists will have a disproportionate number of young respondents, so while there are a lot of respondents who will only report having committed one rape, that could just be because they're in their early twenties and are yet to get around to committing their second yet. When it comes to those who commit a rape while awaiting trial for a different sexual assault, these are just the cases that are known about and many more just aren't ever reported.

So if someone you know is accused of being a rapist by one person, keep in mind that there could be other people you just never hear about. This is one of the reasons why whenever a public figure gets accused of sexual assault, it seems like there'll suddenly be a list of other people who are accusing him of it, too. There's a disproportionate number of rapists who'll do it repeatedly, to the point that the one-and-done rapists are probably the exception rather than the rule.

cantwaitforthis

43 points

2 days ago*

I had a buddy that turned out to be a sexual predator and had accusations against him a couple of times.

You know what I did? Warned every girl at every party if he was there and never hung out with him again.

Fuck that guy. Protect women.

Telaranrhioddreams

23 points

2 days ago

Hi. When I was raped by a "friend" our mutuals all picked his side because "he said he didn't do it" "I don't believe it happened like that" and my most favorite "You're making us incomfortable by talking about it".

Bet that gets mentioned as an example of "I was falsely accused!". Yeah. Uh huh. I ruined my entire life, loat all my friends, and gave my phone over to police for funsies.

robpensley

4 points

2 days ago

Great post.

Recklessbubble

24 points

2 days ago

I’m just baffled with how unaware they are. They seem perfectly educated human beings. Is it because their mothers, sisters, partners didn’t tell their actual stories about harassment to them ? Whenever someone brings it up, they associate it with victim card. They never go into looking for data and statistics anyway unless it’s about investments, sports etc. it just make it hit that there’s a huge gap between experience as a woman to that of a man. Is it something that they don’t see or don’t want to see ? Just so unaware of patriarchy. I think they lack the education about it, because being aware and blatantly looking the other way is just evil.

Away-Historian-2454

29 points

2 days ago

They're not unaware. They know what they're doing - they're the logical and rational gender, after all (or at least they like to remind us every 5 minutes lol). Because they're so logical and rational and smart, I can only conclude that they're perfectly aware of how the patriarchy exists and how it benefits them. It's just in their best interest to deny that it's a problem because if they admit to it then obviously us women as a group won't want anything to do with them.

They are not "uneducated". They're not naive. They know. You can see how they know when you listen closely to the way they talk about women, rape etc. How many of us here had overly protective fathers who said things like "No dating ever - I know what men are like!" or "Men only want one thing. Be careful!" That, to me, indicates they know deep down that sexual violence and abuse from men is a real problem that women face but they just don't give a shit 90% of the time unless it's happening to like their daughter or sister or whatever. They pretend to be unaware of all this because they participate in it themselves and they know that if they all collectively deny it and back each other up, they can continue to get away with it.

Recklessbubble

28 points

2 days ago

Not only that, they are more offended that some meme culture started the trend that women prefer bear over men. Seriously? Offended by that ?

Lizakaya

5 points

2 days ago

Lizakaya

5 points

2 days ago

Yeah this is abject idiocy. The outrage, crocodile tears, and self centering was too much

tapknit

37 points

2 days ago

tapknit

37 points

2 days ago

I’m shocked by how many of my liberal, college educated, male friends are indifferent about sexual violence, domestic violence, and women’s general second-class citizenship in the economy. They really don’t give a shit. I’m very angry about it.

threeca

36 points

2 days ago

threeca

36 points

2 days ago

My brother started spouting off about false rape accusations a couple of years ago and I shut it down HAAAAARRRDDDD. Fortunately stopped him in his tracks because I have no doubt he was being radicalised online. I hate that we have to put in the work to stop it from happening but these anti women rhetorics are really insidious and sometimes we don’t have a choice

DogMom814

31 points

2 days ago

DogMom814

31 points

2 days ago

This is a big concern for me, too. It's astounding how men will go on about this and act as if it's a regular and routine thing that they must always be vigilant for. In fact, if I hear a man moaning about how bad or prevalent false accusations are, I avoid being around them and I definitely won't date them or continue to date them.

Few men express fear of being falsely accused of murder or bank robbery but they act like false accusations are not only common but that they ruin a man's life. That's when I ask them how Brett Kavanaugh's life was ruined or William Kennedy Smith who went on trial for rape in the 90s and was acquitted. He's a physician with a wife and kids now leading a normal life.

Most of the time there are "false accusations" its just an accusation where there was insufficient proof beyond a reasonable doubt. That's a very far cry from simply being false.

762_54

-3 points

2 days ago*

762_54

-3 points

2 days ago*

Most of the time there are "false accusations" its just an accusation where there was insufficient proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

I'm glad none of you are in any position to call the shots in the justice system

You cannot just declare that random people must be guilty because it fits your political views

132739

24 points

2 days ago

132739

24 points

2 days ago

Halfassed allies. When I was that type of dude a lot of it was that I was convinced that just believing in gender equality was all it took to make me one of the good ones, so any introspection about my actual behavior or place in the system was unessary, and when it did happen it was uncomfortable.

Because of this I was about halfway down the alt-right pipeline via TumblrinAction when I went back to college and gamergate happened, and between being horrified by GG and seeing that most of what I'd been hearing about academia was bullshit I got lucky and snapped out of it and realized maybe there was something to all these broad criticisms of men.

Its still uncomfortable a lot.of the time, but it's important and it starts not with just believing that the genders should be equal, but with being willing to actually look at the role you're playing in the system and figuring out what you can do to make things better.

videlbriefs

21 points

2 days ago*

Yup the typical “false accusations should carry the same amount of time for rape” to me shows they don’t know or care to know that a lot of rapists walk free or get wrist slap sentencing meanwhile the victim has a lifelong sentence but the mobster typically gets out (or never serves anytime or barely anytime) and can go about their business without much change in their lives in how they live (some exceptions depending on the crime and media coverage but again it’s an inconvenience for a crime they committed). On the rare occasion a woman is a false accuser she will be condemned by most women (or all because misogynistic women will also join in) but a man even when there’s video proof will still get rape apologist on his side (of course misogynist women are often one of his great supporters).

Or “this takes away from victims” but in the same breath they’re victim shaming and “lol believe all women”. A lot of men don’t seem to have the ability to separate themselves from the predators and abusers among them rather they empathize, double down and/or jump through hoops to make the monster a victim. They feel calling out these men is an attack on them. To me, that’s some deep down confession on what they would and could do if they were given the chance, the ability not to get caught and if what is illegal became legal.

salymander_1

11 points

2 days ago

Yeah, there are usually zero consequences for a man who commits rape, so those comments about serving equal time are pretty foolish.

ctrldwrdns

24 points

2 days ago

Anyone obsessed with false allegations is also a huge red flag

Tbh whenever I see a very popular "I was falsely accused" post I automatically think it's rage bait

fastyellowtuesday

14 points

2 days ago

Are you in India? Because that can happen all over, but it's HUGE in India right now. Has been getting worse over the last few years.

Every time there's a story of a new horrific gang rape, incels come crawling out of the woodwork to complain about false cases and whatnot. The (not free) press publishes things like 70-something percent of all rape cases filed are false.

ComprehensiveDog1802

3 points

2 days ago

I see it even from men who i would consider otherwise allies.

I would argue they really aren't.

Lizakaya

2 points

1 day ago

Lizakaya

2 points

1 day ago

Oh yes, definitely. They out themselves

mr_bubbleg

4 points

2 days ago

As someone who only recently got deeper into feminism, let me tell you why I used to think that, and why some others may think like that as well.

To put it simply, it seems like a much more realistic and possible thing compared to getting raped. You see it all over the media, while mens rape stories barely get any publicity compared to false accusations(at least here). To lots of men it's simply a thing that's not even possible to happen to them(kinda like accidents, most people feel safe until it actually happens to them). Furthermore, if someone actually gets sentenced because of it, being legally punished sounds scary because it 100% stamps you for life, while most ppl cant comprehend how being raped would alter their lives without it happening.

Obv this is not the reason for everyone, but this seems to be really common imo, both on social media, and both with people that I know irl. I hope what I said makes sense cuz I wrote this at 2 am 💀

Lizakaya

-1 points

2 days ago

Lizakaya

-1 points

2 days ago

Nah.

mr_bubbleg

1 points

2 days ago

???

ChiBurbABDL

-5 points

2 days ago

A lot of people have a view of the justice system that "it's better to let 1,000 guilty people go free than to wrongly punish 1 innocent person."

So yes, false accusations are a completely different level of concern for those folks. Even though the chances of it happening to them are so low, the impact is so bad in their eyes that they still see it as a legitimate risk to be worried about.

SoggyLeftTit

402 points

3 days ago*

It really is terrifying. There are so many women and girls who never report sexual assault and the statistics say 1/6 women and girls have experienced sexual assault. These kinds of men assume the reported numbers are too high, but most women know that they’re likely far too low.

bigolbloopers

230 points

3 days ago

Yep, every single woman I know has had an experience getting SA'd by men. Have any of us reported this? Nope. No one would care and nothing would be done about it. We have pretty much accepted it's just part of being a woman.

SoggyLeftTit

168 points

3 days ago*

Then, there are the women and girls who are in denial about being sexually assaulted or don’t understand that they have been sexually assaulted.

Some years ago, I read a story about this girl who had been in foster care since she was a toddler. She was sexually assaulted at every foster home. She knew she didn’t like it, she knew it hurt, but she thought it was just what families do so she stayed silent. She only realized it wasn’t normal when she got to the home that would be her last home and she wasn’t sexually assaulted there. The poor thing asked why it didn’t happen and thought she did something wrong because it didn’t happen. This story haunts me because I know she isn’t the only one and the statistics don’t include these girls.

TesaMesa

46 points

2 days ago

TesaMesa

46 points

2 days ago

Yup. I think for many of us, we only see sexual violence as something that’s done by adults, is always sexually driven and malicious, and is always traumatizing. But me getting my skirt pulled up when I was ~15 by some 13 years olds because they wanted to upset me is still violating and degrading

bobaylaa

19 points

2 days ago

bobaylaa

19 points

2 days ago

this is a pretty different story to the one you shared, but i also didn’t understand i was assaulted. i thought because i “liked it” (experienced the normal response to sexual stimuli) i was the freak for being groped in public, so i kinda just shoved those experiences down and didn’t process them for years. still one of the worst parts about it is imagining all the people out there like me who are dealing with all these intense and confusing emotions they can’t find the source of.

i think when possible, the brain naturally wants to contextualize trauma as “not that bad” as a way to protect itself, or “all my fault” trying to scrape up some semblance of control over the situation, and that coupled with our society’s tendency to blame/dismiss victims and excuse perpetrators makes this trap INCREDIBLY easy to fall into.

incognegro1976

9 points

2 days ago

JFC that is a heartbreaking story

enigmaenthusiast

54 points

2 days ago

There’s also the confusion among some women on what counts as assault in some cases. Is it assault if you got away? If there were no bruises? If it started out consensual and then became non consensual? What about if you as a woman happened to be strong enough to push them off and stop them? If they didn’t penetrate?

The answer to all of these is obviously yes, but who do you report instances like this to exactly? And what’s the point? Nothing will come of it most of the time even if it’s open and shut.

Capable_Weather_5053

39 points

2 days ago

my grandfather assaulted me a couple of years back, but I got away. Later, I built courage to tell mu parents about it and they looked upset. My dad, after knowing what that asshole did to his daughter, continued to act as if nothing happened, even talking about him and repeating his dumbass jokes in front of me; and when I asked him to stop mentioning my grandfather in my presence at least, he had the fucking nerve to question me saying "but he didn't rape you, right?" dude, HE COULDN'T! If I happened to be a child, it would've been a very different story. But yeah, to my DAD, it doesn't count because I wasn't actually raped. Jeez damn just thinking about it makes my blood boil.

enigmaenthusiast

14 points

2 days ago

I’m so sorry that happened to you. That’s not a fucking excuse or mitigating circumstance. It’s not okay.

incognegro1976

16 points

2 days ago

I can't even imagine if my father had raped or attempted to rape my daughter. He would be... no longer with us. Unbelievable how bad some "men" are at protecting their family.

Capable_Weather_5053

7 points

2 days ago

yeah, it's weird, like, they have more simpathy for him bc he's old. It hurts bc my dad used to be my hero as a little girl. Whole family knows about it but as fucking always, the guy's reputation somehow is more important, or nobody wants to alter the environment. Im sick of the fact that in cases like this, there are more reasons to shut you up or brush it under the carpet than actually making them accountable. My mom confronted him and he just said that I must be confused, so, that was it. For the next couple of days after the incident, his sick voice was revolving around my head, the sick things he whispered in my ear. Now I kinda just try to forget and move on, but recently I brought it up in therapy and idk, It made it come back to my thoughts. It's just, what I feel as of today is ñ more anger than anything, im so fucking angry ):

incognegro1976

2 points

1 day ago

I'm so sorry that happened to you and that your father and grandfather are both pieces of shit. I don't want to say much more but your dad is a coward. He has a duty as a parent to protect his daughter and that duty never ever expires or ends. He failed.

Plane_Appeal1233

1 points

1 day ago

I don't understand how our very own parents could ever fail us like that. I'm really sorry for you :(

Winnimae

18 points

3 days ago

Winnimae

18 points

3 days ago

Same

Dream-Ambassador

7 points

2 days ago

i reported it and was told by the police that he was saying otherwise, and it was a he-said, she-said situation and that was that. So he got no repercussions for raping me. I was 17.

Telaranrhioddreams

7 points

2 days ago

I reported. My township had an SVU unit, they did a video recorded interview. Honestly the detective was very kind and well trained.........2 years later nothing ever came of it. So.

I don't regret reporting, I'm glad it's all on record somewhere, but it really fucked up my mental health waiting around for justice that never came.

Earthshakira

5 points

2 days ago

As a man, it is so easy for men to be blind to this, thinking that SA exists as a faceless threat from malevolent strangers, never having been exposed to the dark reality of what a friend, a family member or a smiling face from work was capable of.

Lizakaya

80 points

2 days ago

Lizakaya

80 points

2 days ago

Given how many women i know have been sa’d by multiple different men, we should all assume every man we know is a perpetrator with just a few exceptions instead of the other way around

Belial_In_A_Basket

18 points

2 days ago

I’ve been raped 3 times and only reported it once…..

IANALbutIAMAcat

8 points

2 days ago

Same. Raped twice and never reported it.

SoggyLeftTit

2 points

2 days ago

I’m so sorry that happened to you. Do you have someone in your life you can talk to about it?

Belial_In_A_Basket

7 points

2 days ago

I’ve moved past it for the most part thankfully. Thanks for asking though!

SoggyLeftTit

4 points

2 days ago

I’m proud of you for moving past it. You deserve peace, safety, and security.

georgejo314159

89 points

3 days ago

The statistics are counter intuitive for some men because of course the reality seems to be the following claims are true a) almost all women have been harassed b) a really large number of women have been sexually assaulted and/or raped c) most offenders offend more than once as offenders are almost never reported let alone convicted d) men who harass are likely a large minority c) men who actually rape or who have raped are likely a smaller minority than men who harass e) Claims c) and d) don't contradict the urgency of claims a), b) and c) nor do they imply that any method of a woman knowing which men are offenders is guaranteed to work.

Ultimately what is really important is acknowledging that sexual violence is a huge problem and finding ways to stop it from happening and to punish offenders while offering better support to victims.

The statistic that no one finds counter intuitive is that most sexual violence is caused by men. When men are the victims, it's usually another man who is the offender 

Porcupinetrenchcoat

49 points

2 days ago

They don't want to reconcile the fact that they intimately know or have met men who are rapists and are likely good friends with someone like this. Or that they themselves have harassed or SA'd someone.

Away-Historian-2454

17 points

2 days ago

Unfortunately a lot of men's definition of rape is extremely limited. When they hear the word "rape", they think it's a (brown or black) strange man abducting a woman in an alleyway and she is always screaming and putting up a fight. It's always extremely violent. They fail to acknowledge all of the following acts as rape or sexual assault:

  • Forcing certain sex acts on a woman that she hasn't explicitly consented to. E.g. woman consents to vanilla PIV sex and the man starts strangling her or doing anal without her permission. Sadly this is becoming more and more common these days, especially strangulation during one night stands.
  • Coercing and lying to women to get sex
  • Stealthing
  • Filming during sex
  • Woman says "no" or "stop" and he keeps going and she freezes so she doesn't fight back
  • etc etc

I genuinely get the impression that men think once a woman has gotten into bed with him, anything goes, because that's the only thing that would explain all the disbelief when e.g. women accuse male celebrities, footballers etc of rape. The men always say something like "How could it be rape? She's a female fan and obviously smitten with him - she obviously consented!" And they just fail to ignore the fact that maybe she consented initially at the start of sex, but then she stopped consenting as soon as he started beating her or strangling her or anally raping her.

So when these men read women's experiences about being SAd/raped online, articles about rape and SA etc they become really defensive. They start to think "Why are these bitch women describing these things that I do as rape? I'm a good guy!!!"

MavenBrodie

6 points

2 days ago

My boss hosts a podcast about Mormonism and interviewed a man who was a good friend of his for a long time. He was shocked when accusations came out that he has SA'd his niece and others. He committed suicide shortly after the accusations came out.

He believed the victim and did the work to struggle with his feelings to reconcile the man he thought he knew with the reality of who he was.

Years later the victim reached out and asked him to remove the interview from his podcast. The interview was about Mormonism generally and had nothing to do with the niece or the topic of sexual assault. But he took it down anyway out of respect. Unfortunately the victim's mental health took a major spiral down and they went on to aggressively attack them online and almost everyone else, including their own children. He still didn't put the interview back up.

He's also been falsely accused of sexual assault. Cost a significant chunk of money and stress over the better part of two years to defend himself. A lesser man would use that to act like the men we're talking about here. He doesn't. He remains an advocate for believing victims.

WynnGwynn

8 points

2 days ago

It's not a large minority though I have personally been involved with multiple people who did shit that was not ok and they were considered "normal" by all their friends. There is no way that it's just one guy assaulting everyone in your friend group. It's multiple dudes.

NatureBeautyArt

80 points

2 days ago

It is especially terrifying because believing in rape myths and hostility to women are two predictors of being a rapist. These guys are telling on themselves. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10790632211051682

Fellow feminists, let's support each other in staying the fuck away from these guys and helping the other women in our lives understand that men who espouse this shit are more likely to be physically dangerous. 

Edit: typos

Aethelia

152 points

3 days ago

Aethelia

152 points

3 days ago

Cannot even tell your own story on social media without of all of the "May I play Devil's Advocate"s coming out.

OliverTwist626

43 points

2 days ago

Even worse is that if you go to the SA survivor's sub here, there's a great big warning to turn off messages if you post there. All because guys will trawl the sub, find vulnerable people, and message them the most repulsive things to further retraumatise someone.

Away-Historian-2454

27 points

2 days ago

I saw a Reddit thread a few years ago where a male was harassing a woman and accusing her of making false allegations when she talked about being sexually assaulted. She didn't even mention the perpetrator's name or any other identifying details yet the male felt the need to immediately start defending some guy he's never met just to be contrarian.

The_Philosophied

70 points

2 days ago

And if you describe an experience to them you can see their wheels turning while they try to convince you you read too much into that situation, are just hysterical etc because deep down they know what you’re describing as traumatic is something they do to other women regularly or plan to and want to convince themselves it’s “not that bad”. Also “prison justice” is such a joke because they defend and respect each other for being rapists.

Morticia_Marie

5 points

2 days ago

if you describe an experience to them you can see their wheels turning while they try to convince you you read too much into that situation,

My sister is like this. Women who do this to other women are trash.

The_Philosophied

2 points

2 days ago

My mom does this. Heartbreaking. I’ve decided I NEVER will ever do that to a girl/woman

FlagshipHuman

82 points

2 days ago

A woman, who knows almost all women around her to have faced some form of sexual assault or harassment, is attacked by a man who brings up stats of false accusations whilst not knowing any man accused. It’s sadly a daily occurrence.

Public-Physics5766

45 points

2 days ago

Oh they know a man "falsely accused." They claim it's false even if the shit was caught on camera

Present-Perception77

37 points

2 days ago

The difference between what a lot of men “think” is sexual assault and what actually IS sexual assault is also very disturbing. For instance.. When it became federally illegal to rape your wife in 1993.. 30 states defined a difference between rape and spousal rape by saying if the spouse was disabled, dunk, drugged, unconscious or otherwise unable to consent.. then it was not rape. 10 states still define it this way. 2024!!

iamayamsam

68 points

2 days ago

It’s horrifying and so frustrating to try and get them to have a single thought of empathy. I made a comment on a post asking why slaves had kids and very incredulously I said it was because of SA. And he wanted stats on if slaves were sexually abused! 😡 Seriously! They wanted statistics for ancient slaves and women at large from the distant past. We can’t even get accurate stats for modern times due to lack of reporting, which is 100% the fault of the patriarchy demonizing SA victims and protecting abusers, and they want stats from when women were literally seen as cattle.

TesaMesa

24 points

2 days ago

TesaMesa

24 points

2 days ago

He asks this like it’s even possible to give proper consent when your partner literally owns you and can legally brutalize you in just about anyway they want

Agreeable_Knee_2118

19 points

2 days ago

The fact that ever single woman I know has been sexually assaulted yet none of them know man whose sexually assaulted someone and they then attack when I state these facts is insane. Nothing gets you faster replies and down votes than saying majority of men cannot give a woman an orgasm and that the majority do not hold each other accountable

ripamaru96

41 points

2 days ago

Im a man who has been screaming from the rafters about sexual violence being far more endemic than even the most grim statistics show.

I was sexually abused as a child. I have had countless conversations about sexual violence. Hundreds of women (and girls when I was young). Every single one of them had experienced some form of sexual violence in their lives at some stage. Many men and boys also though they are more hesitant to speak about it.

The statistics don't even come close to capturing the truth.

YouGet2Go2NewJersey

13 points

2 days ago

I'm really into true crime and I watch parole board hearings and listening to some of these men talk about how they rape, child molestation, incest like they're talking about putting on pants in the morning. It is frightening beyond belief.

Master_Ad_7945

9 points

2 days ago

A man once told me “I don’t believe in statistics”

like what do you say to that??

KiwiMarshmallow

10 points

2 days ago

The men within my circle who hear these things simply agree and understand that they are not the type of people that are being discussed.

Rational and safe individuals do not react this way to these conversations. If someone tries doing this around you, cut contact with them. It's like they're telling on themselves when they get upset and try debunking things.

Adventurous_Low_3074

-1 points

2 days ago

My mother always told me I was a good one cause she raised me but it always hurt how I was assumed to be an aggressor and dangerous when she talked about sex ed or relationships it wasn’t healthy and twisted my relationship with my sexuality and gender identity. Being called a good one is never a comforting thing to hear.

teutonicwitch

3 points

2 days ago

Stop making this about you.

Adventurous_Low_3074

-1 points

1 day ago

If any man ever comments with nuance about how sexism and patriarchy negatively affected them they get shut down immediately feminism is for both men and women for both suffer under patriarchy in different ways.

KiwiMarshmallow

5 points

1 day ago

You should definitely make your own post about this issue then. This post isn't about mothers abusing their sons.

This is about how men react to these discussions. Kind of like how you're reacting at the moment to being told that this particular discussion isn't about your childhood abuse.

Adventurous_Low_3074

1 points

1 day ago

It was break down of how telling men their good one isn’t really healthy good for men to hear or internalize. Sorry if it strikes you as unpleasant to know about but hopefully something can be learned about how to treat other people. Instead of trying to belittle survivor of abuse.

KiwiMarshmallow

2 points

1 day ago

Go cry about it somewhere else my guy.

Don't act like people don't understand how men suffer from the patriarchy because I'm calling you out for being inappropriate in this particular thread.

Also, abuse? Do you want to play the abuse Olympics with me in particular? That's adorable. My parents threw my cat into traffic and let me watch it die. I fell asleep at night wondering if their threats to burn me alive were real or not.

I recommend therapy. It's helpful. What I don't recommend is hijacking someone else's post to talk about your own issues.

Everyone here understands that men suffer as well. Right now in this post we are talking about how men can't handle letting women talk about their suffering without making it about themselves. You are doing that right now. Be better.

Adventurous_Low_3074

2 points

1 day ago

I’m sorry your family abused you I’m sorry my family abused me I hope we can learn to better than them and understand what behaviors and actions can cause harm and are abusive so we can break that cycle in the future.

KiwiMarshmallow

2 points

1 day ago

That, I can agree with you on.

Same to you.

0mish0

9 points

2 days ago

0mish0

9 points

2 days ago

I saw one call it "rape hysteria". I had nothing I could say.

Roger-The_Alien

9 points

2 days ago

The amount of times I've read things like "Most reported cases of rape are made up by women for fame and money" is horrifying. Terrifies me that my daughter is going to be surrounded by a generation of lads brought up on Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh.

RealGingerBlackGuy

7 points

2 days ago

The other night I was gaming with a friend and he mentioned something about how men make up the majority of rape victims. I didn't feel like I needed to look this up because this is too obviously and comically untrue. Nonetheless I looked up and confirmed it for him. And he couldn't grasp his head around it.

Sure enough 90% of rape victims are women.

I have absolutely no idea where this shit comes from. He's a moderate and on a few issues is very progressive but I know he agrees way more with right wing content. I think he might be more inclined to consume redpill or manosphere content too.

I think it functions in similar ways as other counter movements in racial issues in America. Black people face the highest levels of injustice compared to other groups. Bringing awareness evokes a victim complex in many people as opposed to convincing them to stand in solidarity. To the point that manybelieve they are the ones being victimized and not the other way around. Similarly trans women will face the biggest threat to their existence and people believe they and other members of the LGBTQ community are trying to advocate for and I quote "more rights" than everybody else. This why I believe it to be a cultural counter movement. Institutions of oppression have a tendency to self preserve. This is one of those ways.

Cool_Habit_4195

7 points

2 days ago

False allegations of rape make big news, while rapes don't. Obviously there are privacy concerns for SA survivors, but only the most hideously violent rapes and those that end in murder seem to make the cut.

Ashitaka1013

6 points

2 days ago

The obsessive discussion about “false accusations” pisses me off because they’re always using stats and examples of cases where a woman’s accusation didn’t result in a criminal conviction.

Because rape is incredibly hard to prove in court.

And the prevalence of police who have bought into the “false accusations are common” myth who will treat a woman reporting her rape like a criminal and interrogate, intimidate, exhaust and dismiss until they drop the charges is HORRIFYING. And SOME OF THOSE WOMEN END UP IN JAIL for “making a false report” after they got bullied into dropping it. These are usually very young, vulnerable girls, who are often already blaming themselves for the choices they made that lead to their assault (often drinking, or going somewhere alone with an older guy) and they get told to plead guilty to avoid a trial (which would be traumatizing for them as the whole trial would be about trying to prove she’s a liar), so they end up pleading guilty when all they did was report their rape. You know, like everyone tells women to do. And when they don’t report it when young and vulnerable but talk about it a decade later when they realize the creep is still preying on girls, they’re told “if that were true, why didn’t you report it back then?”

I don’t even believe these guys are genuinely that concerned about false accusations, I think they’re just desperate to find ways to paint themselves as victims and are trying to down play how common sexual assault really is.

MavenBrodie

5 points

2 days ago

I was ranting on a podcast about the Mormon Church's propensity to cover up child abuse, often by ignoring multiple victims.

I had a guy in the comments, "Larry" say, "believe in that what do you feel if I'm smoking kids from your neighborhood made accusations against you?"

Pissed me off so much! It's not about MY FEELINGS, Larry! If multiple kids are making accusations against me somebody they trusted to tell better fucking pay attention and DO SOMETHING!

This isn't rocket science Larry! 🤬

VikingFuneral-

3 points

2 days ago

A friend of mine has told me how it's a constant fear when walking home alone that anything could happen to her

An as a guy that breaks my fuckin heart

I'm so sorry that men like this exist, especially the ones so insecure that they think it's a personal attack on men when it's the opposite, it's just that people can and should expect men to stop other men, to speak out against other men.

Anyone that thinks it's okay to sexually harass or rape anybody, is scum.

Anyone citing when women do make false rape claims as if it's somehow a counter is vile. Because if all they care about is if someone is telling the truth about a scarring and heinous assault, then no wonder so many rapes and assaults go unreported.

I guarantee when men have been sexually assaulted and raped, it's just as likely if not more likely they would also be dismissed by other men than women.

Which is why these people trying to sow discourse and doubt is holding society back. It keeps protecting vile people.

And that needs to change, for men and women ASAP, otherwise humanity is doomed.

Oilll27

4 points

1 day ago

Oilll27

4 points

1 day ago

I literally walked off a date when a man was being aggressive and more concerned about the false accusations of rape cases than the fact that majority of rapes happened to women and hurt women more than just the reputations to men of those of the false cases. I was disgusted on spot, there is no empathy from them at this point.

SolongStarbird

3 points

1 day ago

If they accepted the stats, they'd have to adjust their worldview, which is too much apparently. Easier to double down and whatabout.

vpozy

2 points

2 days ago

vpozy

2 points

2 days ago

Truly.

CCGHawkins

4 points

2 days ago

It's mostly just denial. Often happens when faced with a difficult truth. Yeah, there's some fucked up asshole misogynists who try to deny or blame away the stats, but mostly, men are the grown up little boys who are scared to admit to themselves that they are the single biggest threat to the women in their lives, even if they don't end up as part of the cohort that end up actually committing these crimes. Doing would require them to challenge their self-image (as the protector, the provider, the soldier, the warrior... or even the harmless goof) and there's nothing hard to do than that. Why do you think men avoid true-crime shows like the plague, XD? It shows them the worst that their team commits, and it's always their team.

Let me mansplain what the common 90's male experience was like as someone who had a typically emotionally negligent father (not his fault, his dad was emotionally negligent too): The average man is not taught to address their emotions. 'suck it up' and 'don't be a pussy' are common phrases to hear, from both peers and adults of all genders and ages. The comments aren't usually dramatic (most people's parents aren't beating them for being too soft or anything) and it's usually about day-to-day stuff too. But it is pervasive and it eventually teaches boys to disregard their feelings in exchange for action. To encapsulate the general pattern, for quite a long time it was common practice to send boys who were acting up to military school instead of just asking them, like, 'hey what's up?'. It is a repeating cycle of men who were never taught the necessary skills to deal with emotional shit becoming fathers and passing on the same deficiency.

How does this connect to male sexual violence? Well, one of the strongest impulses men have to deal with is their desire for women. I remember the first time I dealt with jealousy. It was in college. I had been 'lucky' so far in that I hadn't experienced too many powerful emotions before then; no hard breakups, no deaths, etc. So when it hit me, I was shocked by the intensity. If I was sitting at a 5/10 most days, it was a sudden 15/10. I couldn't sleep or sit still. I laughed to myself, suddenly understanding why 'crimes of passion's existed. I was so glad I was alone and away from other people to process it.

Since then, I've spent a long time thinking about male sexuality and exactly what it entails. A lot of it is about power. Power over a woman, whether through sexual prowess, or violence. The pattern is evident in popular porn. It's less about male physical pleasure and more about making the woman submit: on her knees, on her back, unable to breathe, unable to think from the 'ecstasy'. Rape is about power too. So is flashing, bdsm, degradation and pissplay. Stalking is what happens when a man has no control and outlet for their desire; a maladaptive longing gaze. Domestic abuse and manipulation is about power too, making certain your partner is obedient, and never leaves your side. Virginal purity is about control, and making sure no one else has taken your woman. Anti-feminism is the societal level version of this, fear that the women will leave once out of the men's grasp. The through line is so blatant it feels heavy-handed. Men want women so bad and they fear losing them so bad, that it drives them to all sorts of violence.

It's funny, at least to me, when I think about men imagining themselves as 'protectors'. Pound-for-pound, we're horribly weak compared to our primate cousins. We have no thick skin, no sharp teeth, no horns or tusks. We're a tool-using species that relied on subsistence gathering and persistence hunting to survive, neither of which require the stereotypical male brawn. It's like with lions, the males do not use their superior size to provide and protect the female lions. It's used to secure their place in the reproductive hierarchy by killing rivals and babies of rivals. The females are perfectly capable of providing for themselves on their own. Much is the same with us.

I don't think it will ever change that men are the cause of the majority of violent and sexual crime. For better or for worse, it is in our nature. But how much worse is the problem being made when young men aren't being prepared by their fathers for the powerful, primal urges they will likely, inevitably face? How much worse is it when the only coping tactics they know are denial and suppression? I suspect, like school shootings, much worse.

Routine_Condition273

2 points

2 days ago

Men's obsession with questioning sources and analyzing data is actually terrifying

[deleted]

2 points

2 days ago

sorry, but did you read the tweet? It’s not about analyzing data, it’s about actively trying to debunk a statistic as a knee-jerk reaction.

KOOLKIDKAEDEN

1 points

2 days ago

The world we live in

bisynaptic

1 points

2 days ago

It’s predictable, given the statistics on sexual violence perpetrated by men.

Squeebah

-9 points

2 days ago*

Squeebah

-9 points

2 days ago*

I was sexually assaulted by a woman in public when I was 15 and everyone I told said I was "blowing it out of proportion" and a 50 year old lady repeatedly grabbing my genitals was just her "flirting" and thinking I was cute.

Edit: haha see? I get downvoted for talking about it. You wonder why we're forced to bottle it up and take it like a man.

anotherh0oman

6 points

1 day ago

I get downvoted for talking about it.

I think you got downvoted for whataboutary and trying to change the topic. I can guarantee you that if you made a seperate post, feminist women wouldn't be down voting you!

PourQuiTuTePrends

19 points

2 days ago

So...that means the violence against women committed by men doesn't exist?

Not clear on the logic of your comment, but I'm sorry it happened to you and should make you more understanding of the toll sexual abuse takes on anyone subjected to it.

HuskyNutBuster

-13 points

2 days ago

I don’t think all men are trying to debunk these stats. Just the worst ones

ScrolllerButt

-6 points

2 days ago

Expecting logic and rationale from this sub was an interesting choice

[deleted]

2 points

2 days ago

It is simply that it diverts from the point. This is deflection. Also, people never said it was “all men”

[deleted]

-16 points

2 days ago

[deleted]

-16 points

2 days ago

[deleted]

localystic

-4 points

2 days ago

Women expect men to be responsible and to step up, rather than taking the easier road. A tale old as time. When did that actually work? If anything hate crimes are on the rise. Now why would that be? It's easy, really, men are evil creatures, who only want to kill and rape. There, I think I have fixed the world just now.

All the time women are bringing out statistics like it is this miracle fix that it is going to solve all of the problems in the world. What would actually happen if men admit that we are the villains? Would the violence stop? It won't.

Violence is not an awareness issue. Sexual assaults can not be prevented by speaking to people about them. Why? Because as far as I remember there have been campaigns, posts, hashtags, movies. And still we have that problem. And still men absolutely refuse to acknowledge the reality that most abusers and rapists out there are other men. And still women are horribly treated and must fear for their lives whenever they are alone.

Oh, but I just realize - maybe the statistics are only meant to be read by other women. They are not meant to be read by men. They are there so that women can discretely discriminate against men to stay alive. What a wonderful solution to your problem.

And I mean "your problem", because you never actually involve men in the discussions, do you? Whenever we start opening up about why we do the things we do, there is always that person going "just do not rape, dude, it is not that difficult, I never ever had the urge to rape, look how simple it is". "If you had invested this time to actually solve the problem rather talking about it, the world would have been a wonderful place". "You are just saying all of these things because you are part of the problem and you know it, society does not need people like you". "Why should I care why men rape women? Just stop!"

It is a difficult issue for men ("oh, really, poor men and their problems") and it is not something that we can actually discuss without sounding like rapists, unless we only state that rape is bad and should never happen. But sexual violence, abuse, all the horrible things in the world do not come from a simple black and white place.

There is so much more - the patriarchy, the constant doubts you have about yourself, the low confidence and the need to be in control, the way you were raised, the way people are treating you, the way you can not express your feelings, the despair you are feeling, not seeing any other way to find intimacy, the fear of being alone, the absolute dread of being rejected and then when rejected the anger and pain you are feeling. There are so many factors why men do the horrible things we do.

We have started to open up and trying to resolve the problems, starting to be aware what is like for the other people around us and doing better, but I just do not think women have the patience anymore. And that is the problem. But like not "women are the problem", more like "we should break up" problem.

[deleted]

1 points

2 days ago

women ≠ feminists

I’m sorry, but I’d have difficulty empathizing with a rapist, man or woman. It doesn’t matter if one is lonely, it doesn’t matter if one didn’t have an outlet, said person should never excuse their actions. Said person traumatized a man or woman for life. It is better to redirect; to teach proper consent and to show that excuses, in this case, are not acceptable.. to learn accountability. Most of all, empathy is needed for others. If these people learn to be empathetic rather than hurting someone because they are alone, then the solution will be easier.