A multisource video news service that highlights nuances in reporting from media outlets around the world.

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“A college freshman who accused five men of taking her into a dorm room and gang raping her.  She now admits it didn’t happen and she could face charges herself for making the accusation.” (FOX News)

 

“Our community has real victims of sexual assault and they need our help, as a community we cannot let this rare instance cloud our judgment and dull our senses to the very real threat women face." (CNN)

 

A freshman at New York’s Hofstra University sent several men to jail based on false accusations. Danmell Ndonye said five men gang-raped her in a dorm bathroom on September 13th. This has ignited a debate in the media over whether the accuser should be charged and what this means for women who are assaulted and come forward in the future.

 

We’re looking at coverage from FOX News, WCBS-TV, Feministing.com and Jezebel.com.

 

Kelly of FOX News’s Kelly’s Court had passionately voiced her opinion, noting that false accusations undermine those who make LEGITIMATE allegations of rape.

 

“This woman should be charged. Period. The accuser in the Duke rape case should be charged, too.  The problem in not doing so is that it sets a precedent, a belief, that one can get away with this kind of thing Scott-free.  That isn’t right. Obviously she’s got problems, but that’s not the issue. She essentially held a gun to the head of these men, and for that, she needs to pay.”

 

WCBS-TV in New York asked students at Hofstra what they thought should happen to the 18-year-old woman.

“I’m not sure if she should be charged with a crime, but she should be charged with something.  It freaked out the whole campus and I don’t think it’s right for her to lie about that.”

“There’s definitely an apology that needs to be given there but a crime, probably not.”

FOX News weighs in with legal perspective from a prosecutor who says the cases of bogus allegations need to be handled the same as other criminal false accusations.

“I think it’s like any crime, whether it be someone who falsely reports a fire or reports any kind of crime, you got to say, ‘you know what you can’t,’ because it affects everybody. It affects the resources that went into this and most of all it affects the people’s lives who were put in jail.”

Leaving the debate on legality behind, a contributor on Feministing.com says false rape accusations should rarely occur because of a stigma associated with women who have been raped.

“The incentives for false rape accusations are few and far between. Think about how we treat women who stand up in public and say that they were raped. They are vilified. We should be talking about what we can do about how rape is portrayed in the media. We should not just scream "LIAR!" and leave it at that.”

Finally, Jezebel.com said that we as a society can help prevent this in the future by aiming to fix ‘rape culture’ which depicts women as reluctant sexual partners and expects men to pursue them.
 

“If we all work to promote a culture of radical consent, in which it’s okay for women to want sex, okay for men to want women who want sex, and expected for both parties to respect each other rather than conquering, convincing, or coercing, then we’ll almost definitely reduce both rape or rape accusations.”

So what do you think?  How should THIS case be handled? SHOULD false rape accusers be charged?