Why are some so keen to believe women lie about rape?

Are women inherently dishonest? We must be, particularly when accusing men of rape. This is one of the most pervasive of all rape myths: that women love nothing better than maliciously and falsely accusing decent, law-abiding men of sexual violation. Some of the coverage of the poor young woman in Cyprus would lead you to believe that men are walking targets for female fantasists hellbent on destroying their lives. Having met the young woman convicted of making false allegations of rape against 12 men, I am very clear that she’s not lying. Why is it then that we are so keen to believe that young women in particular lie about rape?

Let’s look at the recent figures from the UK. We know, from the government’s own research, and expertise from rape crisis centres that only a tiny minority of sexual assaults are ever reported to police. Right now in the UK, the conviction rate for those cases reported to police stands at a shocking 1.4