Kate Stewart: The stats just don't add up

Kate Stewart

When you want to make a good argument it helps to have a bunch of statistics on your side.

But what happens when the statistics just don't add up or are so varied to the point that they simply can't be believed, let alone quoted as fact.

Ironically, the very statistics themselves, become like a rape allegation, a case of he says, she says. No black and white, just loads of gloomy grey.

I read a top story this week about the Canadian judge who questioned the validity of a rape complaint, asking the alleged victim, among other things, why she couldn't keep her knees together. Was he out of line? Absolutely.

But for me that wasn't what interested me about the story, which, with sensational headlines and a helping hand from social media, immediately went viral, provoking the usual social outrage that quite frankly I'm bored to death with.

To clarify, I'm not bored with the subject matter just the traditional/cliche story line, where the victim of all these injustices are invariably women.

Where's the big bold headlines, social media and sensationalism when an innocent man is accused of rape or the domestic abuser is in fact a woman.

It's this that led me to look up some statistics which did nothing except to make things twice as confusing.

Stephen Hawking would struggle to make sense of the numbers I looked at. So who do we believe and why? For every supposed fact there is a good counter argument. Does it come down to majority rules?

How can you logically come up with a figure, much agreed upon, of 40% of rape and sexual abuse cases not being reported, if they aren't reported? Add that to the 1 in 3 who have come forward and it appears nearly every woman on planet is a victim.

I know we live in a sick society but that's a huge number to swallow.

I read some heartbreaking stories about false accusations too, some resulting in suicide.

Despite the supposed innocent until proven guilty, we all know mud sticks. Having sat on the jury of such a case it's interesting that the only one publicly named is the accused, before guilt or innocence is even determined. Not exactly fair in anyone's book.

Then there is the mentality, so as not to dissuade real victims coming forward, of sweeping the 2-8% (as high as 40% in some reports) of false accusations under the carpet, like some dirty little secret. These are the cases that need the publicity, these are the complaints we need to dissuade, because they are ones that muddy the waters of many statistics.

We bang on about equal rights and equality .. a big step toward that would be to acknowledge that men are victims in this too and regardless of what the so called statistics tell us, no one elses story is more worthy of front page news than any other.

Having said all that and cynic that I am, I doubt that little will change .. except of course, for the statistics and what a load of absolute bollocks they are.

**investik8@gmail.com