To hear from those falsely accused was a bold move
Documentaries and dramas about rape frequently appear in the schedules. But it is unusual for a film to focus on men falsely accused of the crime. I Am Not a Rapist (BBC One/three) felt like a bold commission.
More than 1,000 rapes are reported every week in England and Wales. We hear often about the shockingly low number that result in a conviction – currently just three per cent. But, according to the programme, there is another, lesser-known figure: it is estimated that up to eight per cent of reported rapes are false. The stories of three young men were featured here. The first was 24-year-old Liam Allan, whose case made headlines in 2017. The accuser was his ex-girlfriend, who told police that he had repeatedly raped her throughout their relationship. What did Liam feel when he heard this? “Fear, anger, betrayal – every negative emotion in one.”
Ashley’s accuser was a friend who asked him to pick her up in the car, saying she had just had a row with her boyfriend. They went for a drive, and Ashley said they had consensual sex on the back seat. The following day, the girl told police she had not consented. He was sacked from his job, and endured the gossip of people who assumed there was no smoke without fire. As Liam put it: “Tell anyone you’re accused of rape and they take one step back and ask, ‘Well, did you do it?’”
Both men recalled the small details: memories of the police cell or, in Liam’s case, the look of disgust on the faces of jurors as they heard the allegations against him. Liam’s case collapsed when it emerged that the police had failed to disclose vital evidence which cast doubt on his accuser’s testimony. Ashley’s case was dropped with no charge; the police did not bother to tell him face-to-face.
The documentary was strong on the emotional toll this all took, not just on the young men but on their families. Most upsetting was the case of Jay, who was 17 when he was accused. The accusation was dropped but had affected him so deeply that he hanged himself. His grief-stricken mother took her own life two years later.
The film left questions unanswered, including the thoughts of the accusers, who were not featured, and the number of other men who have found themselves in this nightmarish situation. As a lawyer pointed out, there are many genuine rape victims who are not believed and see their attacker walk free; but miscarriages of justice can happen on both sides. O n a lighter note over on Channel 4 … Is that a vacuum pump in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me? The Black Full Monty introduced us to The Chocolate Men, Britain’s only all-male, black strip group, and to some of their devoted fans. Like Norma, aged 71, knitting away in her armchair. “People knit cardigans, jumpers, socks,” she mused. “But I’ve never known anybody to knit a willy warmer.” Five minutes later, we saw Norma on stage, fondling the chest of a baby-oiled man called Dante and looking as if she was in Heaven.
This was a fun and surprisingly sweet programme, despite the best efforts of the po-faced chap behind the camera who kept posing questions. “Isn’t it demeaning?” he asked. It didn’t look demeaning – terrifying, yes, but demeaning, not really. Gino was using his £200-a-night fee to pay his way through university. He lived with his mother, who suggested that she might come and see him perform. That got a firm no from Gino.
Gino is The Chocolate Men’s most popular performer, with an act based on Fifty Shades of Grey. Then there was Anthony, stage name Black Magic, a former teaching assistant who wasn’t quite delivering the goods. “There’s no Magic. He’s just Black,” sighed his bosses, who worried he’d get eaten alive by the crazed female audience.
“Are you selling sex or race?” demanded the interviewer. The cheery promoters said they were simply selling entertainment, but for the audience members, the two things seemed to be intertwined. Kelly, who went to the show with her daughter, loves black men: “The way they dance, the way they smile, it’s really nice,” she said, looking on approvingly as one of them thrust his crotch at her daughter.
Django, newest recruit to the squad, was willing to address the issue, saying black men in Britain are “at the bottom of the food chain” and “this is me taking my power back”. At his first show, Django got a bit carried away with all the power. Afterwards, two audience members remarked that they hadn’t quite expected to see so much full frontal activity. And how did they rate it? “Eleven out of 10!”
I Am Not a Rapist ★★★★ The Black Full Monty ★★★