Leslie discusses The Myth of the Lying Victim with Louise Maher

The real fall-out from the Dominique Strauss- Kahn affair won’t be known until the matter is resolved in court.

But right now it looks like the sexual assault case against the former head of the IMF is unravelling in New York because the woman who’s made the accusations against him may not have been entirely honest with police.

Even if she hasn’t told the truth about some matters, it doesn’t mean she’s lying about what happened to her in the hotel room, yet could make it much harder to secure a conviction.

The case has sparked a barrage of commentary on women and men and definitions of rape, power and consent, in recent days seeing author John Birmingham taking on Bob Ellis.

But another aspect to these cases, according to ethicist and author Leslie Cannold, is how they feed into the myth of the lying victim.

Louise Maher spoke to Leslie about the legal, social and human consequences of complicating issues of sexual assualt with notions of falsehood.

Publication history

He said, she said: the myth of the lying victim   Drive with Louise Maher 666 ABC Canberra
2011-07-05
http://blogs.abc.net.au/canberra/2011/07/he-said-she-said-the-myth-of-the-lying-victim.html