Hi friends. This is Amy B. Chessler of Season 7 of Something Was Wrong and host of what came next.

I'm hosting this special episode of Broken Cycle Media's series of informational episodes called Data Points.

These episodes will include educational information and support on different topics that are

important to our community. Thank you so much for listening. In this discussion of false reporting

and its detriment on victims in society, we'd like to begin by highlighting how important it is to

start by believing.

When receiving a report of any kind, no matter the small statistical possibility of it

potentially being false, receiving that person safely, and with initial openness and understanding

can have a vast impact on a victim's trajectory.

According to the FBI, false reporting or a false allegation crime involves persons reporting a

fabricated offense that has occurred against them to a law enforcement agency.

False allegations can span many crimes, but in this episode, we'll be referring

specifically to sexual assault. Although false reporting of sexual assault does happen and has

detrimental repercussions, it's crucial to understand how uncommon it really is.

It is nearly impossible to know the exact amount of false

sexual assault reports. However, many studies have concluded that the rate of false reporting is

estimated to be between 2 and 8%. For example, data on sexual assault cases from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008

found that 4.5% of the reports were false. Furthermore, the Making a Difference, or Mad Project,

created by end violence against women international, conducted a multi-site study of eight U.S. communities.

The study reviewed data collected by nationwide law enforcement agencies about all

sexual assault reports received within an 18 to 24 month period. Of the 2,059 cases that were

included in the study, 140, or 7% of them, were classified as a

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