PRESS RELEASE
Contact: G. Lawrence DeMarco, LLM
Email: ldemarco@menandboys.net
Phone: +1-215-901-1930

False Allegations and the United Nations: A Policy Blind Spot with Serious Consequences for Men

March 18, 2026 — Recently in the UK, Rachel Jones, 38, was sentenced to two years in prison at Chester Crown Court after falsely accusing Salim Ullah, 33, of rape (1). Ullah had encountered Jones after finding her alone and distressed in the street following a night out and offered to take her home. Instead, Jones later falsely claimed she had been lured into a car and gang-raped.

Police held Ullah in a police cell for 30 hours and subjected him to intrusive examinations before investigators determined no rape had occurred. Video footage recorded by Ullah during the encounter ultimately proved his innocence.

False allegations can lead to arrest, detention, loss of employment, reputational destruction, and permanent damage to family relationships. For example, in another recent UK incident, officer Alex Watson was arrested, his home was searched, and he was detained for 23 hours.  Further, his wife resigned from her police staff role, and the family experienced public humiliation, ostracism, and psychological strain after being falsely accused of sexual assault (2).

False allegations frequently play a powerful role in highly adversarial legal conflicts, and legal systems unintentionally create incentives for accusations (3). In divorce and custody disputes, accusations of abuse can influence restraining orders, custody outcomes, and legal leverage before full investigations are completed. As a result of their use, families can be torn apart, children may lose contact with parents, and individuals cleared of wrongdoing may continue to face lasting stigma long after accusations collapse (4).

Yet within current United Nations gender-based violence policy frameworks, false allegations are frequently minimized or dismissed altogether. UN Women training materials argue that the legal consequences of false accusations may discourage victims from reporting violence, so their policy guidance prioritizes encouraging allegations. They treat false accusations as myth rather than an issue requiring safeguards (5), offending basic principles of justice and liberty.

Research supports the prevalence of false allegations and this civil rights epidemic. A 2023 international survey conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, India, Poland, Australia, Canada, and Argentina found that 43% of respondents reported that they had heard of someone being falsely accused of abuse, three times as many men than women (6). UN policies that ignore this reality perpetuate civil rights abuses and violations.

A human rights system that ignores this problem cannot claim to uphold justice, liberty, and equal protection under law. ICMB urges the United Nations, UN Women, member governments, and the media to acknowledge the reality of false allegations, uphold due-process protections, and report on these cases fairly and responsibly.

The International Council for Men and Boys is a non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the well-being of men and boys worldwide and addressing the 12 areas of global male disadvantage.

Links:

A review of the publicly available UN education initiatives analyzed for this release may be accessed here:
https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMi1jb3B5_91a50737-3854-4dc6-8100-58632b638fee

The ICMB analysis of the United Nations is available here:
https://www.menandboys.net/un-2/