Time to reinstate the presumption of innocence

I sent this email off to Ray Hadley on 2GB radio this morning. His program was mostly about the false allegations launched at Porter. Now is a good opportunity to send emails, call radio programs, write to the media to emphasise that false allegations are not a new problem, but frequently relied on in DV, and false rape allegations.
Regards Sue Price
 

 
 
I  understand exactly what Christian Porter is experiencing at the moment, and perhaps it may result in a reassessment of how easy it is today to make false allegations against men.
For 26 years I have been contacted by thousands of men who claim to have been falsely accused of rape, child abuse and domestic violence. False allegations are the common practice to gain an advantage in forthcoming family law actions. Men are falsely accused on the basis of the woman’s say so only, he is removed from his home and children even before a court hearing. Many men are persuaded to accept an order “without admission” after being told by police, prosecutors, the magistrate and even their own solicitor that if they accept the order it will not make any difference to them, no penalties apart from staying away from the applicant. This is absolutely wrong – he may lose his job, any licences he holds to work, or work with children, travel to overseas countries such as Canada and USA, he’s evicted from his home and prevented from seeing his children. A court hearing before a magistrate is based on the balance of probabilities, but there is often no believable evidence presented, often men are not even given an opportunity to defend themselves. If they do wish to they will find their hearing repeatedly adjourned until they give up or run out of money.
The police sometimes follow  up with further charges to be heard in the criminal courts. A number of cases are underway to charge those making false allegations and to compensate men who have been found guilty as a result of false allegations. Most recently, a Sydney man was awarded $1 million compensation against the police and the accuser. Another accuser was found guilty of making false allegations, when charged by the police. She was ordered to pay $95,000 compensation in the following civil case.
Mr Porter has my sympathy. I understand how devastating these kind of allegations are and how easy it is for a woman to ruin a man’s career and  life.
Perhaps now that our Chief Law Officer has experienced the problem he may look to correcting other legislation, police attitudes and legal practices that encourage false allegations to flourish in Australia.
Sue Price
Men’s Rights Agency