Innocent until proven guilty is the cornerstone of true democracy ( which I don't think we live in until workers own the means of production). In this article it mentions the lynchings and hangings of a multitude of black men from the south of the USA in the 19th and 20th century on the accusation of white women ( most of the time it was consensual or nothing of the sort happened) their view was to not put white women through the trauma of lengthy court procedures and believe them. The fact if it is a fact that less than 4% of rapes are found to be false is because the court has no evidence either way and does not prove the opposite. If we want to find who's guilty we need a fair trial with juridice prudence and sufficient evidence so as to find guilty those that truly are, not media to be judge and jury which is the case in the MeToo witch hunts.

Well said

@A2Jennifer did you read the article on all the claims make against black men from the south in the USA a multitude of them were hanged because of the claims of sexual assault by white women in the 19th and 20th century usually it was consensual or nothing of the sort happened, really I believe her there is various reasons why the accuser would lie that said I believe in innocent until proven guilty and a fair as possible court case to prove the veracity of the claims and accusers and defendants should always be treated right by the court and jury. It sounds like you didn't read the article.

@Ian-Duggan I did read the article. And ithe example of white women (or their family members) making allegations against black men in that era demonstrates how the most vulnerable people, people who have no status or power, are the ones who are most impacted if we don’t stick to the presumption of innocence. Which is what I said.
But anecdotal examples of historical incidents in which claims were falsely made does not change the fact that the vast majority of sexual assault allegations are true.

@A2Jennifer what this article is going on about is that if we get rid of innocent until proven guilty or a jury is not informed properly in the matter we can and will end up with witch hunts of the working class and the left. In certain cases the metoo witch hunts have had anonymous claims made against men in the media which makes it hard to defend against. Metoo has been used to settle old scores and to help the careers of affluent sections of the upper middle class in Hollywood and elsewhere. Joan ghomeshi comes to mind with women texting each other collaborating on what they'd say he did to them. None of the Hollywood accused have been found to be doing anything illegal ( except Bill Cosby which that case was going on longer than metoo) yet many of them have lost work over metoo and been shamed publicly. This is why I think metoo is a right wing campaign descended from the mccarthyite witch hunts, Charlie Chaplin is a prime example [wsws.org]

@Ian-Duggan the Hollywood casting couch has been an open secret for generations. And quid pro quo is illegal. Moreover, just because something isn’t a crime does not mean it’s ok.
The presumption of innocence holds in criminal cases but these situations rarely are accompanied by “proof” and victims have a right to speak out even if they can’t prove their claims.

The #metoo movement is outing abusive mysoginistic behavior and there is an excellent way for men to avoid being caught up in these accusations - to treat women as if they are human beings.