Many times, when people claim that a survivor is making the assault up, they say that she (it's usually a woman, but not always) wanted to ruin the person's life or get back at him (it's usually a man) for passing them over for an opportunity at work or for treating them badly on a date. But think about how much trouble someone would have to endure to make up a story about sexual assault that never happened, and then defend it. "That's a huge trouble to go to, to be that malicious toward someone," Dr Richmond says. A lot of times, the person being accused is in a position of power (think: Bill Cosby Brett Kavanaugh ), which means that the person accusing them has to fight an uphill battle to change how people see that person. "If it's a judge, if it's a doctor, if it's a teacher, and the rest of their life looks so perfect, the survivor has her work cut out for her if she's going to press charges."