[TRIGGER WARNING: Discussion of sexual assault] For those who are raped, a post-assault exam can be a long and harrowing experience. But if the rapist is to be convicted and taken off the streets, it’s crucial that a rape kit of evidence be gathered and then matched against databases to try and locate the perpetrator. […]
Tag: Rape Kits
Congress Moves Forward on Rape-Kit Funding
The U.S. Senate subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies showed its support this week for combating the backlog of untested rape kits by including $41 million in its 2015 fiscal year spending bill as part of a community-based sexual assault response reform initiative. This announcement comes on the heels of an earlier House […]
100 Serial Rapists Have Been ID’d in Detroit
Five years ago, 11,000 untested rape kits were discovered in a police storage facility in Detroit. So far, just 1,600 kits have been tested, but that small number has yielded startling results: 100 serial rapists have been identified, and the DNA of 10 since-convicted rapists has been found. So what do these findings mean? Of […]
We Heart: Houston for Taking Action on the Rape Kit Backlog
The formidable rape kit backlog has been making news for several years. There are hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits in crime facilities around the country, just sitting in storage while the rapists those kits could have helped convict walk the streets. Many jurisdictions have no policies that require the testing of all collected […]
DNA Evidence CAN Stop Serial Rapists
It was an ordinary day in October, 2002. Julie Weil and her infant son were picking up Julie’s daughter, three-year-old Emily, from her Florida preschool at noon. As Julie buckled her daughter into her car seat, she felt a sudden blow to the head. That day, Julie was raped four times in front of her […]
British Judges Free Child Rapists, Say 12-Year-Old Girls “Wanted” Sex
In March, six British soccer players confessed to gang-raping two 12-year-old girls and were sentenced to two years behind bars. But last week, an Appeal Court overturned the sentence, and all of the men were freed. The reasoning? “The girls wanted to have sex,” said Lord Justice Moses, who was among the deciding judges. “And […]
Drugs, Alcohol and Serial Rapists: Another True Tale That Might Not Be Counted
As we’ve reported extensively in recent weeks, the FBI uses the archaic definition of “forcible” rape in its yearly Uniform Crime Report (UCR): “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” Many police departments interpret the definition to exclude victims who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, because of the […]
Fighting for Justice on Campus
Most of us don’t need to be told that anal rape counts as rape. But the FBI does. Anal rape is one of the many forms of rape that go uncounted under its narrow definition of “forcible” rape: “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” Today, a Ms. reader shares her […]
Oral Rapes Are Real Rapes
Oral rape is among the many forms of rape that the FBI does not officially count under its narrow definition of rape: “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” Today, a Ms. reader shares her story of being orally raped to help bring home the reality of the hundreds of thousands […]
Would Your Rape Be Counted?
At least 1 in 6 women in the U.S. will be raped in their lifetime. An estimated 1 in 10 rape victims are male, and studies have suggested that 1 in 2 transgender people will be sexually assaulted. But unless a rape fits the FBI’s 82-year-old definition, “The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and […]