All too often, people who speak out about abuse find themselves subject to a litany of mistreatment on top of the original offence, while the perpetrator walks free. This is not a secret — in fact, fear of retribution and a belief that law enforcement won’t help constitute two of the primary reasons why just one in three sexual assaults are reported to police. For every 1,000 rapes that do go to trial, an estimated seven cases lead to felony convictions, and six lead to incarceration. Granted, it is damn near impossible to pin down precise statistics on false rape reports, because law enforcement officers often miscategorise unsubstantiated reports as false; because water-muddying substances like alcohol were involved; because the police officers assigned to the case might happen to believe rape myths. The research indicates , however, that false reports account for 2 to 10% of total rape cases brought before authorities. When someone comes forward to say they were sexually coerced, exploited, or abused, statistically speaking, they’re likely not lying.