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

[DURHAM D]

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.

So far, 600 kits have been tested, and investigators say that they have discovered evidence of 21 serial rapists. Grant money funded the testing of those kits. Worthy said it costs on average between $1,200 and $1,500 to get each kit tested. People have wanted to donate money to help get kits tested, but the prosecutor’s office cannot solicit or collect funds. But now a non-profit organization, the Detroit Crime Commission, has set up a fund and will manage it for the purpose of accepting donations and using those funds to help pay to get kits tested.

link to article - http://www.asafeworldforwomen.org/womens-rights/wr-americas/usa-womens-rights/3389-rape-kits.html

More than 11,000 untested kits in Detroit alone. One city, just one city. The estimated number of untested rape kits in the US is 400,000 to 500,000.


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

This shit makes my blood boil as victims are re-victimized over and over again.

[libodem]

1. Thank Goddess

Justice for all.

[ismnotwasm]

2. So do these go into the count of total rapes?

The numbers have been dropping-- which is good, although apparently what it means is on 'only' 4 million or so sexual assaults that occur instead of 6. Something million. I was talking to Sea about it, but do we ADD another 500,000 to the total count?

Good for this prosecutor!

[redqueen]

5. Not if they can fudge the numbers.

If there is any way to tweak the numbers to make them reflect less poorly on enforcement, you can bet they will do it.

[seabeyond]

6. $. i am reading an article. long. still reading. but there is a whole lot of talk how not

investigated, was another crime so not tallied. so a man rapes 10 women. 1 is counted. downgrading. oh, and anal and oral rape doesnt count either.

but fuck ya..... 85% reduction from 25 yrs ago. that makes NO sense to me at all.

25 yrs ago, when women didnt even think date rape was considered rape.

today, military and college 1 in 3 women raped. what would that be adding 85%.

ism tried, but, my brain still does not get this.

[ismnotwasm]

7. That 85% was pulled out of someone's butt

But even a 60% reduction--which seems to universally accepted-- doesn't add up, I think you're right Sea, I think what RAAIN and other organizations are doing is work with the official numbers they have, but it doesn't seem to reflect reality.

[seabeyond]

9. thank you. need to book mark the info you gave. MRA. like they also say, 45%-75% false rape claims.

both fbi and england counter part say 2-3%. 8% unfounded with FBI. but, that does not mean false claim, simply unfounded. so 8% will be bandied about also, though that is not a true reflection.

both fbi and england have it between 2-3%.

mra though, like to dismiss rape and up in arms at the fbi redefining.

[DURHAM D]

10. Fuck the MRA.

I thought about posting this OP in General Discussion instead of History of F but figured the way DU is these days it would be met with a bunch of MRA talking points.

These untested rape kits is a subject that has upset me for years and when I saw this article my blood pressure went up but I just didn't want to do battle in greater DU so brought it here to a safe haven.

[seabeyond]

11. i hear ya. GD is not even worth the effort with womens issues. that is a VERY informative article.

i dont remember which i clicked on but looks like i am only half thru it. it is a keeper on fact and our reality. that so many are denying. and there is another article, also.

thanks for those.

i had to stop for a bit. was pissed. but i want to absorb all the info that is in it.

[thucythucy]

3. Contrast this with what we see on TV

in all the SVU and CSI series--all that high-tech state of the arts forensics stuff--fingerprints checked and matched within minutes--DNA results produced almost immediately...

The way America perceives its criminal justice system, and the actual reality of that system, are light years apart, especially when it comes to rape and domestic violence.

[DURHAM D]

8. So true.

Last edited Fri Feb 15, 2013, 08:33 PM - Edit history (1)

IIRC during the Bush years legislation was passed and funds provided for testing of the old kits that were gathering dust and streamlining the testing process. But I seem to recall reading that the funds were re-directed by the various police departments to meet the eminent possibility of a terrorist attack.

IOWs it was turned into an opportunity to buy a bunch of completely unnecessary boy toys.

[One_Life_To_Give]

4. Half a $Billion shovel ready

Why wasn't this done with the stimulus? What better project to inject a little bit into the economy today?

[duhneece]

12. I hate to link seemingly unrelated legal 'fights'

But I know that if we, as a nation, spent less $ & effort trying to arrest people into stopping the use and abuse of marijuana and heroin, we'd have more resources for the legal fights I want, namely for rapes & violent crimes against other people.

[MadrasT]

13. But rape is down!!! So shut up about it already!!!

And college!!! More women are graduating college!!! So it's all better now!!!

Geez Louise, you have the right to vote, what more do you want?










Yeah, I got an attitude today. Damn straight I do.

[seabeyond]

14. "Yeah, I got an attitude today.". me, too. yesterday did not sit well. lol.

happy friday.

[DURHAM D]

15. Yep. From the second article linked in the OP.

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.

A national disgrace.

[seabeyond]

16. the men are not born this way, they are made this way. what are you doing about that?

see, i just got out of a thread about 3 boys raping a girl in front of the teacher. and everyone dismissed it including the judge. and a poster has the audacity to not even take in the girls experience to lecture us on the woes of the boys.

a national disgrace.

this is the reality. thanks for the numbers.

[seabeyond]

17. kicking for my own purpose. nt

[DURHAM D]

18. I found the GD thread.

I bookmarked it for a handy list of men who have not found their way into the 21st century.