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The Straight Story

(48,121 posts) Sat Feb 16, 2013, 11:17 AM Feb 2013

Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims

Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims

Wayne County, Mich., Prosecutor Kym Worthy has seen her share of grisly crime, but even she was shocked by a discovery in 2009 at a former police storage warehouse. There, stacks of dusty boxes were found on the shelves of the warehouse. The boxes contained thousands of untested rape kits, some decades old.

“What we were potentially looking at, at that time, was over 10,000 rape kits, representing over 10,000 cases where women had reported, whose lives and what had happened to them was sitting on a shelf and nobody cared. I was shocked, and I think I was kind of stunned -- and not too much stuns me,” Worthy told Kate Snow in an interview that aired Friday on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.

Worthy and her team would ultimately discover 11,303 untested kits. Rape kits are what hospitals use to collect DNA evidence from a victim in hopes that police can test it and identify a rapist. Victims have to undergo a thorough exam that can take hours. The DNA evidence is often the most important evidence used to convict in a rape case.

http://rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/15/15848051-prosecutor-leads-effort-to-test-long-abandoned-rape-kits-brings-justice-to-victims?lite

12 replies

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Prosecutor leads effort to test long-abandoned rape kits, brings justice to victims (Original Post) The Straight Story Feb 2013 OP

A more detailed article on this problem - DURHAM D Feb 2013 #1

this graphic should be front page for five days every month. BlancheSplanchnik Feb 2013 #7

+1 (and a kick for this thread) MadrasT Feb 2013 #11

Whoever made the executive decision to stash those kits away and NOT kestrel91316 Feb 2013 #2

If you read the long article I linked to DURHAM D Feb 2013 #4

hundreds of thousands of kits across the nation. nt seabeyond Feb 2013 #3

I hope the Violence Against Women Act DURHAM D Feb 2013 #5

thank you for reminding us about this. last I heard, they were planning on testing about niyad Feb 2013 #6

another thread that sinks into oblivion. BlancheSplanchnik Feb 2013 #8

Mine on this 'discovery' sank faster than remnants of that Russian meteorite malaise Feb 2013 #10

you got that right. BlancheSplanchnik Feb 2013 #12

KnR Hekate Feb 2013 #9

DURHAM D

(32,610 posts)

1. A more detailed article on this problem -

Reply to The Straight Story (Original post)

Sat Feb 16, 2013, 11:41 AM

Feb 2013

Rapists Escape Prosecution - Backlog of Rape Kit Tests
http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/womens-rights/wr-americas/usa-womens-rights/3389-rape-kits.html

Stats from article -

Perhaps it would be helpful to remember the nitty gritty details about rape in America:

■Low estimate of the number of women, according to the Department of Justice, raped every year: 300,000.
■High estimate of the number of women raped, according to the CDC: 1.3 million.
■Percentage of rapes not reported: 54%.
■A woman’s chance of being raped in the US: 1 in 5.
■Chances that a raped woman conceives compared to one engaging in consensual sex: at least 2 times as likely.
■Rank of US in the world for rape: 13th.
■Percentage of men who have been raped: 3%.
■Percentage of rapes by strangers: 7%.
■Percentage of rapists who are never incarcerated: 97%.
■Percentage of rapes that college students think are false claims: 50%.
■Percentage of rapes that studies find are false claims: 2-8%.
■Number of rapes reported in the military last year: 16,500.
■Pentagon's estimated percentage of military assaults not reported: 80-90%.
■Percentage of military rape victims who were gang raped: 14%.
■Percentage of military rape victims raped more than once: 20%.
■Percentage of military rape victims that are men: 8-37%.
■Percentage of military victims who get an “involuntary” discharge: 90%.
■Percentage of charged and accused who are discharged with honor: 80%.
■Chances an incarcerated person is raped in the US: 1 in 10.
■Number of men raped that could be counted as legally raped before the FBI changed its definition in December of 2011: 0*.
■The number of womimpregnatedted as a result of rape: 32,000.
■Number of states in which rapists can sue for custody and visitation: 31.
■Likelihood of post traumatic stress disorder among rape victims: 6 times the average.

This is a national disgrace.

ETA: Number of untested rape kits gathering dust in US - 400,000 to 500,000

BlancheSplanchnik

(20,219 posts)

7. this graphic should be front page for five days every month.

Reply to DURHAM D (Reply #1)

Sun Feb 17, 2013, 04:27 AM

Feb 2013

Fucking disgrace is right.

And to the jerkweeds who show up to say it's not faiiirrrrrrrr to be outraged about violence against women because it happens to men too so we should stop talking about women because men are so ignored.....I'd like to say FUCK YOU.

MadrasT

(7,237 posts)

11. +1 (and a kick for this thread)

Reply to BlancheSplanchnik (Reply #7)

Sun Feb 17, 2013, 01:19 PM

Feb 2013

My eyes roll up in my head when the WhatAboutTheMen crowd chimes in

kestrel91316

(51,666 posts)

2. Whoever made the executive decision to stash those kits away and NOT

Reply to The Straight Story (Original post)

Sat Feb 16, 2013, 11:53 AM

Feb 2013

test them needs to be prosecuted as an accessory to rape after the fact, or tampering with evidence or obstruction of justice. This type of nonsense might just come to a screeching halt.

DURHAM D

(32,610 posts)

4. If you read the long article I linked to

Reply to kestrel91316 (Reply #2)

Sat Feb 16, 2013, 12:04 PM

Feb 2013

you will see why it is such a cluster f*ck administratively.

Also, it is my understanding that generally the rape kits are not tested until they have a really good suspect.

It is backward and allows serial rapists to carry on for years.

The truth is that the police and administrators don't want citizens to know how many rapes have been committed in their city or town. ssshhhh...

seabeyond

(110,159 posts)

3. hundreds of thousands of kits across the nation. nt

Reply to The Straight Story (Original post)

Sat Feb 16, 2013, 11:58 AM

Feb 2013

DURHAM D

(32,610 posts)

5. I hope the Violence Against Women Act

Reply to seabeyond (Reply #3)

Sat Feb 16, 2013, 12:08 PM

Feb 2013

includes some new regulations and funds for testing.

The 22 Senators who voted against it and the Republicans in the House are nothing but serial rapist enablers.

niyad

(113,329 posts)

6. thank you for reminding us about this. last I heard, they were planning on testing about

Reply to The Straight Story (Original post)

Sat Feb 16, 2013, 01:28 PM

Feb 2013

THREE HUNDRED kits a year. unreal.

BlancheSplanchnik

(20,219 posts)

8. another thread that sinks into oblivion.

Reply to The Straight Story (Original post)

Sun Feb 17, 2013, 04:34 AM

Feb 2013

This is a fucking outrage. If the statistics were switched with men constituting 80 - 90% of victims, and 90% of women getting away with it, you can bet it would be at the top of every report, every protest, every initiative.