Clarice Stenger causes a frenzy with a statement she made in RTL Boulevard. “I hear that and I think: a big part?! What do you say?! That is really bad what she says!”
It has been on the minds for quite some time: the report against Marco Borsato of sexual abuse of a minor. The alleged victim in question has been made quite suspicious by Ruud de Wild and that was discussed last week in the broadcast of RTL Boulevard.
‘Many false declarations’
Eddy Zoëy asks expert Clarice Stenger in that broadcast: “There are also occasional lies, I assume? That sometimes happens.”
Clarice, who is active as a criminal lawyer in daily life, then bluntly: “Yes. If you ask the vice squad, you will see that many reports ultimately turn out to be false.”
Media journalist Mark Koster thinks it’s a bad thing, he says in the podcast The Juice Show. “Clarice Stenger – and that is very serious – actually said: ‘Yes, those declarations from those ladies… That is all just vague, that is not all good.’”
‘What do you say?!’
Co-host Yvonne Coldeweijer doesn’t think it’s possible. “Clarice said, and I saw that when it came on TV… It was about Marco Borsato’s victim. He has, of course, filed a report and is now waiting for Marco to be prosecuted or not. Then they asked, ‘Clarice, what about the police with all these reports? Why does it take so long?'”
She continues: “And then she said: ‘Well, as the police can attest, and if you ask they will tell you… A large part of the reports of sex crimes are, of course, false.’ That’s how it went. I hear that and I think: a big part?! What do you say?! That’s really bad what she says.”
Disinformation
Such a Clarice simply spreads disinformation, Yvonne thinks. “A lot of people listen to that and think: wow, so a lot of victims are lying. No! Do you know that an American investigation has been carried out and that only 5 percent of the reports turn out to be false?”
The juice queen continues: “What Clarice maybe means – at least I don’t know if she means that, I hope so – is that a very large proportion of the reports end up doing nothing, because there is no evidence and he-said she said is.”
Victim blaming
Mark often notices that misconduct is downplayed on TV. “Look: the De Mol family and RTL spread the message a bit: ‘Yes, all those people who accuse those famous people are after something.’ But the beauty of the Wijnhoven case is that the Public Prosecution Service does go along with it. So that Clarice is completely wrong in this case.”
Yvonne: “It sounds a bit biased. It was a bit victim blaming. (…) You can simply assume that what someone declares or says is real. 95 percent is a lot, so I’m going to assume that if someone has the courage to confess something like that, which raises a lot of shit, it’s true. I assume that. That is my starting point.”