A call to protect truth as fiercely as we protect the vulnerable.
There is an American woman named Roda Osman who was recently convicted after making a false allegation that a man hit her with a brick. Investigations, including CCTV footage, revealed that her claims were fabricated. Because she had also created a GoFundMe campaign around the alleged assault, she was charged with theft and sentenced to ten years of probation, including a ban from social media during that period, and ninety days in prison.
The Go Fund Me had raised at least US$42,000 according to reports, but was shut down by the platform based on the evidence.
Let us be clear. Violence toward women and harassment are very real issues that society must continue to confront. November marks the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, an important reminder that there is still a long way to go in protecting women and creating safer spaces.
However, we must also confront an uncomfortable truth. A small number of opportunistic individuals have over the years exploited the very laws, policies, and media attention designed to protect genuine victims. This distortion has dangerous ripple effects.
We recently saw how a woman in Mbare was jeered at for simply wearing shorts, an incident quickly highlighted by ZimCelebs Official. That kind of public humiliation reminds us that misogyny is still alive. Yet at the same time, false claims like Osman’s complicate the fight for justice by eroding credibility where it is most needed.
In recent years, the global justice system has started shifting from the old tendency of automatically punishing men based solely on accusations. This change, seen across multiple jurisdictions, signals a more balanced approach, and that is something to welcome.
In the United States, we have seen Amber Heard lose a defamation case, Cassie exposed as an accomplice in Diddy’s questionable conduct rather than a victim, and closer to home, Mai Jeremiah lose her case after her own friend testified that she fabricated her story. These examples reinforce a sobering lesson. Men lie, women lie. Truth does not belong to one gender.
Some individuals have learned to manipulate society’s biases. When confronted with questions or requests for evidence, they may resort to tears or trauma narratives to silence scrutiny. In the 1990s, before CCTV footage or digital communication records existed, many men were likely convicted purely on accusation. In such cases, the burden of proof often fell not on the accuser but on the accused, a troubling inversion of justice.
Consider this. If I accuse someone of stealing my Bible, and yes people do steal Bibles, I am expected to provide evidence. But in many assault related cases, it often feels as though the accused must prove their innocence. And if there was a mutual altercation, society has had a tendency to presume that the male was the aggressor.
False claims contaminate the broader struggle for equality, justice, and fairness. They make real victims harder to believe, dilute the urgency of reform, and hand abusers and apologists an easy excuse to dismiss genuine suffering. Which I reiterate, is still on. It is far from done.
The fight against gender based violence must continue, but it is strengthened by the fight for truth. Because justice without truth is not justice at all it’s just ice, because the movement is left in the cold.
