Go to A little bit of this and a little bit of that
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- Go to 5,000 Rape kits untested and sitting in evidence...really??
Re: Sinome.....maybe, but not Sarah Palin - she cut funding for rape
kits when she was Mayor of Wasilla.
posted by
VictoriaP
on June 5, 2011 at 8:19 PM
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That is a tragedy ... so sad and so infuriating. When I hear things like that I feel so impotent ... perhaps if we had a woman president she would prioritize things like that... xoxoxo
posted by
Sinome
on May 29, 2011 at 7:14 AM
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5000 is a lot... I wonder if saving money ( in the legal, policy making judicial/legislative systems has something to do with it.
Why does the victim seem forgotten and in many cases scrutinized too???
posted by
yellowrose55
on May 26, 2011 at 10:26 PM
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Re: that is one thing i never understood
Tzippy - our Governor has also made it mandatory for women and girls who want an abortion to go through a vaginal sonogram - even rape and incest victims. I don't think they're ashamed to report it, I think it's more humiliation on every level that they are put through.
posted by
VictoriaP
on May 26, 2011 at 5:03 PM
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It certainly seems like a high number of cases to begin with and then to be left untested is so wrong! I thought there was a statute of limitations and thus it would end up being collected and no justice served! sammie
posted by
sam444
on May 26, 2011 at 4:16 PM
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I have no idea; but sounds like the system failing big time
and not taking the violent crime that rape is or the victims very seriously.
posted by
Raye09
on May 26, 2011 at 1:05 PM
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Can't explain that! I agree with you - take the test and keep the data until the victim is ready to move forwards.
posted by
Rockingrector_retd
on May 26, 2011 at 12:15 PM
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re: "Shouldn't that information at least be disseminated? "
That would be a start. This evidence should be analyzed, placed on file where cops dealing with new crimes could compare them to a database of the old offenses. As it is, the crimes are not recorded and no law enforcement is working to catch them before they claim new victims.
posted by
Pat_B
on May 26, 2011 at 11:39 AM
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You have got to be kidding me. All the more reason for me to have a concealed weapons permit. Never was much for violence, but it's a different world nowadays. I won't sit around for 'evidence' to get approved of or studied; whoever comes after this hot-headed German will get what they get. Who needs a rape kit when you can just get rid of the rapists. Girls, get your permits. It's time.
posted by
Darson
on May 26, 2011 at 9:34 AM
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that is one thing i never understood
when a woman gets rape she is actually ashmed to report it, what????????
posted by
Tzippy
on May 26, 2011 at 8:08 AM
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Re: I don't think the procedure is that a woman submits a rape kit.
Still, the rape kit has the DNA, etc,., of a rapist....right? Shouldn't that information at least be disseminated?
posted by
VictoriaP
on May 26, 2011 at 6:43 AM
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I don't think the procedure is that a woman submits a rape kit.
I believe it works this way: When a rape victim is brought in to an emergency room, the medics collect DNA and other evidence that is sealed in a police evidence bag. Police may be on hand at the time, or may be called by the medical staff.
The chain of control (who has this evidence) is carefully documented and the kit sealed shut and preserved for testing in order to use the material to locate the perpetrator if unknown, or to prove that the accused rapist is guilty in court.
Many victims are so traumatized they will not testify. Some are very young and their parents may decide not to put their child through the public humiliation of a trial. And sometimes the cops' workload is so heavy that new cases pile on top of old ones on their desk, and the investigation isn't done until so much time has elapsed that witnesses forget the details, police reports are incomplete.
posted by
Pat_B
on May 26, 2011 at 5:54 AM
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