Is Rape Serious?

Did that question infuriate you? It's the headline of Nicholas Kristof's OpEd in the New York Times today.

Why does he even ask this? The beginning of the article says it all:

When a woman reports a rape, her body is a crime scene. She is typically asked to undress over a large sheet of white paper to collect hairs or fibers, and then her body is examined with an ultraviolet light, photographed and thoroughly swabbed for the rapist’s DNA.

It’s a grueling and invasive process that can last four to six hours and produces a “rape kit” — which, it turns out, often sits around for months or years, unopened and untested.

Stunningly often, the rape kit isn’t tested at all because it’s not deemed a priority. If it is tested, this happens at such a lackadaisical pace that it may be a year or more before there are results (if expedited, results are technically possible in a week).

So while we have breakthrough DNA technologies to find culprits and exculpate innocent suspects, we aren’t using them properly — and those who work in this field believe the reason is an underlying doubt about the seriousness of some rape cases. In short, this isn’t justice; it’s indifference.

He then goes on to tell the story about a serial rapist in Los Angeles who went on raping women while the rape kit lingered at the lab.

This is REALLY infuriating. Apparently the only place in the country that takes rape seriously enough to process these kits with proper speed is New York City. It's a serious problem in the rest of the country, especially in Los Angeles.

Human Rights Watch has THIS video on the problem in Los Angeles, which apparently is terrible.

Imagine if you're an American Indian or Native Alaskan woman. You can hardly get access to these kits, and then when you do......who knows.

Lets all write to our Congressional reps. Congress.org is a good place to start that process.