Reprimanding for False Allegations

#MeToo is about letting other women know of their sexual assault tales. But the popular hashtag is causing a ruckus of the protocol in the ways people look into sexual assault. Recently in the news, a physician for the Tampa Bay Rays was given the boot after a 26-year-old woman claims he sexually assaulted her ten years ago.

The problem I have with sexual assault finger-pointers is that they dig up sexual assault claims from several years ago, citing they didn't report it to be given victim shaming or that it was not appropriate for the time. I don't care if it was not socially acceptable that you wanted to file a sexual harassment report, but if it was there and you had all the necessary evidence to prove they were assaulting you or harassing you in that manner, then something could be done. Even if it means an investigation doesn't turn anything up, records of any sexual assault can be recorded so that if someone else does speak up about it, then you have enough evidence to see if a dismissal is needed or if counseling and behavior management practices might be necessary.

The one thing I have to say about this woman who is citing sexual assault that happened a decade ago is that she was 16 at the time and she was close to the alleged assaulter, as in the babysitter for his children. Eventually, the wife of the physician said that she became uncomfortable around the girl because she was acting very sexually interested in her husband and had asked for her to be dismissed of her babysitting duties. Now, ten years later she is saying he sexually assaulted her when it is the other way around.

Credibility & Consent

The age of consent in the United States of America is 18 years of age, when you are legally recognized as an adult. So if anything did happen, she could not give consent because she was a minor. It would be considered statutory rape. But the problem with this sexual assault claim is that there are friends, neighbors, and even the wife who know about this woman wanting attention for framing a man who may have not shown any interest in her at all. It is these types of alleged claims that I find the most unnerving. You cry wolf on a man who has not done anything sexually damaging to you, and you expect them to pay for a crime they didn't commit. In return, these false accusers are given consolidation and are embraced by the community. They are given hand-out jobs for the problems they have gone through and in return, the process is quick to repeat with a co-worker in a different office or setting.

Even though the alleged assaulter did claim when she turned 18, the relationship was consensual, people can take away their consent when the relationship gets to an uncomfortable level such as abuse, the so called 'grooming' she alleges. If their was no abuse or no forceful situations, then this may not be true. It would impact the credibility of her evidence on the stand should the case go to trial. However, the police investigation is a bit baffled at the so called incidents she reports and don't know whether to press charges or not. Although she is sticking to her guns about the accusation, if this claim is proven false, then there should be some justice for innocent victims.

False accusations should have consequences for victims of those crying wolf and there really isn't a wolf to be found. Compensation pay or payment of damages to losing their career, their livelihood, and their reputation should be paid for in full by the accuser if everything was a lie and they just wanted their 15 seconds of fame.

Based on this story, the woman retracts her consent because she wanted to become famous or wanted to remove the person who shares an office space with her when she didn't file the paperwork or ask human resources to relocate her to another part of the office so she doesn't have to be near him. Instead of going through the proper channels, she just decided to make a video and cry wolf in hopes of someone believing her. This woman, based on waiting a decade to report the so called incidents, doesn't seem credible in my opinion. There are people who would have used her for babysitting and have seen her in other places and know that she practically begs for attention like a dog in heat to put it mildly.

Reprimanding false accusations should have some legal standing in the court of law. You are not found guilty until there is enough evidence to say otherwise. So if false claims can be treated as real, then doesn't that mean #MeToo was all for naught? If she wasn't abused or victimized as she states, then surely years from now she could lose a lawsuit for the damages that have been done to this former well-respected physician.

I hope that if this all proves true, I would like to say my respects, but if this was a fake story and this woman is not punished for ruining a man's career, not to mention his loss of income to raise six children whom she babysat for. But if this whole thing is faked for the purpose of getting away from the guy without having to move within the company or in the job itself, then there has to be something in place to make sure real stories of assault and harassment are not pushed to the side and that the fake ones are heard the most.

For Real Survivors of Sexual Assault/Harassment

This article is not about the women who have undergone actual acts of sexual assault. Those women I would support and hope they become the strong women they once were. Bodies can be broken, but the will to survive and inspire is strong inside any spirit. But as for the women who have not gone through sexual assault and take a basic gesture such as a pat on the back for a good job done as harassment and file a report about the incident, only to say it all was consensual but they wanted some minutes of fame, those women should be given the proper consequences for their actions. Even if it feels like I want to slap those plastic smiles fight off their faces, no one should face a tarnished reputation for someone who ignored the proper protocol in place to report these matters at hand.

Sexual assault and harassment are serious issues, to falsely accuse someone is to make a lighthearted joke of raping a drunken woman lying in stupor.