If we're talking about a false rape accusation, yeah, this would be a big problem for me, and I would probably be done with the book. I believe that the incorrect idea that false rape accusations are common is a big, big part of why rape is so seldom punished, and that the fact that rape is so seldom punished is a big, big part of why it's such a common crime. So a book with a false rape accusation is going to be a book that I don't care to read, and the fact that such an accusation is of course theoretically possible isn't going to help. If I don't enjoy reading it, I don't enjoy reading it. I'm just posting to answer the question; I'm not going to engage in any debate about whether false accusations are or are not vanishingly rare, or whether books should be responsible for avoiding problematic ideas. I would be far, far happier with this book if the false accusation were about, say, theft.
We just finished experimenting with the two options. Since the story is already long and has a fairly complex plot with several POV characters, we felt that the mystery option (where the reader doesn't know if the guy is guilty or not) was a bit much, a distraction from the main plot, plus it'd be just anticlimactic when the reader discovers that, just like they guessed, he is innocent. The original version where the reader does know that he's innocent takes up less space (as in the mystery version we would have to show in real time how his love interest looks for all the evidence etc) and allows the reader to focus more on the main issues, one of which is whether the guy will end up under the scrutinizing gaze of the law in any case since he has committed a couple of rather serious felonies in another country, but doesn't know if anyone saw him before he escaped. We think her reasons are sympathetic even if her logic / way of looking at life is skewed. The thing is that some of the reasons are revealed later and the most important reasons at the very end of the story, so the character will probably appear quite malicious for a part of the story at least. When the character first appears, we reveal that there are some truly dark experiences in her past (when the LEOs read through her file), but when the story goes on and we show her actions in real time, based on the feedback we've gotten from our betas, it seems she doesn't get a free pass simply due to her murky past (especially since it isn't explained in detail yet, the details come later). We don't think the story can be misused because through this character, we actually explore the damage abuse can cause in a person (one of the main reasons for the character's existence). We just like twists and it's even likely that in the end, the reader feels a bit guilty for having hated her when they should have sympathized with her.
@ChickenFreak , thanks for your input, we appreciate where you're coming from. We'd be even more worried if the character was someone who had never experienced abuse, but we see her past as a kind of a mitigating factor: she has been abused in the past (a lot, for years, by many people), and it has shaped her as a person (and not in a good way since she hasn't even had time to deal with one incident before the next has come along). So it's not so much a matter of a cold and calculative monster crying wolf than it is a desperate human wreck using what (very) little she can to better her own life, too hurt herself to worry about hurting others. Essentially we want to sort of test the waters with this thread, see whether it's possible to discuss this subject in a book at all or if it's one of those subjects that should never be written about in fiction because its cultural baggage might strengthen the rape culture.
Yep, and I'm going with "strengthen the rape culture." The fact that your book is sympathetic and not anti-woman would, IMO, make that effect stronger, not weaker. When the falsely-believed-to-be-common event is wrapped in realistic and well-crafted clothes, it feels much more plausible, and when it feels more plausible, it's much easier to believe that it's common. I don't know if my position here is a principled one or not, but I am positive that I am one potential reader who would put the book down, and would feel a distaste that would probably extend to other books by the same authors.
I wouldn't mind as much as long as something in the story shows that this particular case (false rape accusation) isn't as common as some people like to think it is.
Do you think it's a lose/lose situation? Because we strive for realism and hence do portray it as something that truly is rare, it'd still be more offensive because the realistic setting makes it look, well, more real? This is exactly why we're curious about possible effects something like this can have on potential readers. That should be evident, but of course, we as the writers become blind to our own work at some point. Beta-readers do come in handy in gauging whether we have made the case appear rare enough.
That, unfortunately, is indeed my view. I don't care what a misogynistic piece of junk says. Your book is clearly not going to be a misogynistic piece of junk, and therefore I'm more, not less, concerned about what it might be communicating on this subject.
Thanks, @ChickenFreak , we appreciate your honesty. T and I have now completed the version in which the reader knows the man didn't assault her. Then we'll see what our female beta thinks about it. I just have a hunch the reader's gender might play a part in the response, though it could be just a coincidence that our male betas didn't consider it a death blow since neither of them are so late to lunch they couldn't recognize how controversial the issue is.