Study
EVAWI — False reports: percentage
End Violence Against Women International
End Violence Against Women International reports that methodologically rigorous studies put the share of false rape and sexual-assault reports at roughly 2-8%, and that looser police classification inflates the figure — in one analysis of 2,643 British cases, 8% were labelled false by police but only 2% met the official criteria for a false allegation.
What the study found
End Violence Against Women International's research summary, "False Reports – Percentage," reviews how often reports of rape and sexual assault turn out to be false. It states that when methodologically rigorous research is conducted, estimates for the percentage of false reports converge around 2-8%, and it shows how looser classification methods inflate that figure. In an analysis of 2,643 sexual-assault cases reported to British police, 8% were classified by the police department as false reports, yet when researchers applied the official criteria for establishing a false allegation, the figure dropped to 2%. The summary stresses that a report can only be determined to be false based on the evidence. [1]
when researchers applied the official criteria for establishing a false allegation, this figure dropped to 2%
Why it matters here
A recurring manosphere claim is that false rape accusations are extremely common. This summary provides a benchmark from the research literature, distinguishing headline police figures from the smaller share of reports that meet formal criteria for a false allegation. It is cited on how common are false rape accusations? as evidence for the roughly 2-8% range and for why the reported figure shifts depending on how "false" is defined.
Sources
1 source · all archived at publication
- [1]False Reports – Percentage · End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI) archived ↗
By The Fieldnote Desk · How we verify · Corrections