Human Rights Watch
Is there any decent, normal mind out there that can conclude that rape doesn’t really matter? That, in the hierarchy of justice, rape falls short compared with other crimes? But, by not following through on testing rape kits, that, essentially, is what your state could be saying to you.
I read an eye-opening article this weekend in Marie Claire that gave alarming evidence that many states in this country were waiting years to test rape kits, leaving women not only raped, but also denied justice. Many of the kits have either been destroyed or lost, and some rape cases have simply been closed without ever even bothering to review the kits. These women will see their attacker set free just because their rape kits were never tested.
Excuse me?
After being raped, a woman undergoes four to six more hours of torment by completing a rape kit, and years later the test either still sits there like a frozen file, can’t be tested because of destruction or loss, or won’t be tested because our justice system closed the case.
Shake your head in disbelief? I did. However, according to the Human Rights Watch, “There are approximately “400,000 to 500,000 untested rape kits sitting in police evidence storage facilities and crime labs across the country.”
Part of the problem, apparently, is that there are “not enough resources” to test the rape kits, despite the fact that rape kits can provide solid DNA evidence against an accused rapist.
I’m not familiar with what goes on every day in a police department. But I know that they are the police. And aside from murder and possibly other forms of torture, there is no more heinous crime than rape.
So how are there “not enough resources” to find the attacker? I’m willing to bet that if the woman (or man) who was raped was your family member or loved one, you would exhaust every avenue to capture their rapist and make sure that that person was punished.
On a positive note, Marie Claire says that New York City is no longer backlogged with untested rape kits. This accomplishment is due to former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who ensured follow-up on every untested rape kit — a demand he instituted approximately 11 years ago.
According to the magazine, “By promptly testing every rape kit, New York has achieved a 70 percent arrest rate, three times the national average.” Bottom line — testing rape kits works.
Want to learn more and make sure our states follow through on convicting rapists? Read the article and sign up to Eliminate the Rape Kit Backlog.
It’s outrageous how nonchantly cases of rape are treated! Los Angeles area is awash in untested rape kits and in some instances the kits have already been thrown away. The suburban communities around LA have to send the kits to the LA county office for testing because the individual police forces do not hire labs locally to do this work.
You’ll often hear the remark that “you’ll never catch the guy anyway so why are we wasting yours and my time.” As the saying goes, if a man could be raped, you know that every stone would be over turned to find out who did it. However, since it isn’t a male that is raped, well, you know, it’s just too bad it happened.