Strauss-Kahn and his accuser

I have to admit, I just assumed that Strauss-Kahn was guilty at first. But now that the case against him has fallen apart, I'm wondering what I was thinking. First of all, false rape allegations are not uncommon. Secondly, exactly how do you force a woman to give you oral sex? Short of holding a gun to her head, or perhaps threatening her with a knife (neither of which Strauss-Kahn was alleged to have done), it would actually be pretty hard.

Imagine that scenario. You tell some woman, "Give me a blow job or else I'll beat you up," or words to that effect. Then you pull your pants down and proceed to place your penis right on the chopping block in between her incisors? I suppose it's possible, but common sense dictates that if you threaten someone else with violence, you ought not make yourself so completely vulnerable to such an obvious counterattack.

Now that the woman has been proven to be an inveterate liar, will she be prosecuted? It seems only fair that if a woman can be proven to have made a false rape allegation, she should serve the same sentence the man would have had he been convicted. Of course, the fact that the man is not convicted would not be enough; it would have to be proven that she made the accusation falsely, with the burden of proof again being on the prosecution. But if it can be proven, it's only fair that she serve the same sentence.

My guess is they won't go after her for that, they'll merely use her false claims to deport her, which would be a shame. If she's guilty, she should serve time.