My attention was recently captured by a misleading graphic that minimizes the comparative problem of false rape accusations by showing only a small percentage of rapes are punished. The biggest visual problem with that graphic is that most rapes are committed by serial rapists, an average of six per offender. So even if all rapists were punished, there would still be far fewer defendants than victims. But whatever, I searched the web for evidence. I was particularly annoyed at Wikipedia for suppressing a widely cited study by "McDowell 1985". This study is pretty obscure, but I eventually got a copy.
Guess what? The McDowell paper does not say what all those web pages say it does. There is just an echo chamber of mens' rights websites parrotting things about a paper they haven't even seen. These guys don't care about the truth, they are only citing McDowell to provide pseudoscientific justification for their preconceptions. There may exist some decent evidence about high rates of false rape accusation. But the manosphere can't even supply correct references. I don't trust false rape advocates.
![[Image: rape_infographic.jpg]](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2013/01/rape_infographic.jpg)
Guess what? The McDowell paper does not say what all those web pages say it does. There is just an echo chamber of mens' rights websites parrotting things about a paper they haven't even seen. These guys don't care about the truth, they are only citing McDowell to provide pseudoscientific justification for their preconceptions. There may exist some decent evidence about high rates of false rape accusation. But the manosphere can't even supply correct references. I don't trust false rape advocates.