In his self-published book Dry Ice: The True Story of a False Rape Complaint, New Zealander Peter Joyce details, with bitter humour, his trauma and frustration in fighting an allegation that destroyed his peace of mind for over seven months.

In early 2015, the author was accused of raping “Verity”, a friend’s daughter – whom he had never met – in the early 1990s.

He concedes he was luckier than most. After a lengthy and trying investigation process, which only yielded bizarre inconsistencies in the complainant’s narrative, it was finally decided that there were not enough grounds to charge Joyce and two other men, one of them the complainant's estranged father.

The book is a compelling account of how the lives of men can be destroyed because of false rape claims. He asks why some women would do this. Is it for financial compensation, revenge or a combination of these?

Joyce was furious enough to go public about his personal ordeal. His bold opening pronouncement, “Anonymity be damned”, challenges the convention of hiding away from the shame.

With an objectivity that's surprising given what he went through, he explores the broader issue of false accusations of rape. These are rarely discussed, even though they happen more often than women's groups and the police are willing to admit. Joyce's analysis of false rape statistics is thorough and revealing.

The author insists that the police were so determined to believe his complainant's story, despite the glaring inconsistencies, that they ignored the facts he uncovered about where he was and when. He believes she should have been prosecuted because in this case it was obvious that the rape could not have taken place, not just that she was unable to prove it.

The author devotes considerable time to discussing what he sees as the unbalanced way complainants and suspects are treated in rape investigations, and he claims that current police pressure to get a “result” can mean they ignore any evidence that suggests the claim is false.

The public should be able to trust the police to do their job thoroughly and without prejudice. As Joyce says, it is a fatal step from “Listen to the complainant” to “Believe the victim”.

Of course, the truth is never more elusive than in sexual accusations, and prosecuting women for falsely alleging rape has many pitfalls. Just because a woman has not been able to prove a rape, it does not automatically mean the incident did not occur. Prosecuting her would mean she becomes a victim twice if indeed a rape did take place.

Some may see some parallels between this case and the sexual assault trial of Jian Ghomeshi in Canada. Upon severe cross examination, the women’s testimonies did not sway the jury and Ghomeshi was acquitted.

These are serious charges for which the law needs to tread a very fine line to protect both the complainant and the accused. Peter Joyce’s book is an excellent starting point for a balanced debate on these issues.

Joyce himself is pessimistic about any change. His ending is as provocative as his start. He concludes by lamenting,

“Victims of rape are entitled to say that men can be bastards, but victims of false accusations are entitled only to shrug and say that life can be a bitch.”