Back in October 2017, sexual misconduct allegations were made public about Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein. This “shot heard ‘round the world” was followed by a wave of viral tweets which aimed to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
This social media movement was marked by the now famous hashtag: #MeToo
Since then, hundreds and thousands of sexual assault victims have publicized their experience with harassment by tweeting this hashtag, and countless cases have been filed against actors, politicians, CEOs alike.
The creator of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke, has said she is seeking to “empower women through empathy, especially young and vulnerable women.”
While this trend has certainly created positive change and awareness about sexual harassment, there’s an often ignored darkside to powerful nationwide movements like #MeToo. Namely, the simultaneous rise in false allegations and the lives of innocent people being ruined as the witch hunt drags on.
In recent months, criminal defense attorneys have reported a massive spike in the number of people seeking defense against a false charge of rape, assault or another sex offense. Many of these falsely accused defendants face possible jail time, fines, damage to their reputation, and more punishments. Even their job may be in jeopardy.
So why do the plaintiff’s do it? What are the motives behind why people falsely accuse someone of a sex crime?
The reasons are many, but here are the five most common factors that frequently motivate complainants to file false allegations:
- Avoiding trouble or providing an alibi
- Anger or revenge
- Attention seeking
- Mental illness
- Guilt, shame or remorse
Clearly there are many positive effects of the #MeToo movement. For starters, it has allowed real victims of sexual assault to feel more comfortable in obtaining long-denied justice. However, this shouldn’t happen at the expense of innocent men and women who get caught in the crossfire.
Amidst the hysteria, carefully considered decisions must be made by law enforcement and judges involving these kinds of cases — and “victims” who are guilty of deliberately raising a false allegation should also be punished accordingly.
This won’t be easy in a society that prefers to pursue such crimes harshly, but it’s the just thing to do lest we forget that the American criminal justice system upholds that a person is innocent until proven guilty.