I know Henry has brought up the rape kit backlog. Obviously there have been some great strides made here lately, but it is still very far behind where it needs to be. I hear this problem talked about much more often lately, but one thing I always am disappointed in is the lack of talking about the why it exists.
I know the common answer is that we dont prioritize sexual assault or that we dont care. So while this may be mostly correct, it obviously doesn't lead to improving the situation because it is simply too broad.
If you go to the end the backlog website they do discuss the why. They give several reasons. The one that I think needs to be talked about most often is #3, at least for achieving short term better results.
3. Whether the identity of the perpetrator is known
Over 70% of rapes have a known accused. Often times the accused admits to having had sex with the victim, but gives a different account of it. So it becomes somewhat easy to at least see that a very possible next step is to avoid getting the expensive rape kit processed. I can imagine people saying "We know they had sex, whats the point." It is a terribly ignorant conclusion, but it isn't
illogical.
This is actually an area I think you could really win people over to understanding what exactly is going on. Almost 30% of rapes are by a stranger. These rapists are far more likely to have raped previously and there is a good chance one of those victims would be somebody they knew. By testing all rape kits, you are expanding the database so that if they rape an unknown victim in the future and that kit is tested, they have a sample on file.
13% of accused rapists of cases that have been referred for prosecution and are out on bail will be arrested for committing a subsequent offense before their trial has concluded. Think of what % of unreported rapists must be repeating their crimes within a year if that % is so high.
So first I propose spreading awareness about the rates of repeat offenders. Then I have a proposal for rape kit conducting. Whenever a woman goes to get a rape kit done, I propose that they are given matching samples. Why? I think knowing that somebody else has custody of a sample would lead to more samples being tested.
In the end we need local governments to pony up more cash. Local politicians care about their jobs just like other politicians do. So if a woman accuses a man of raping her and the city declines to pursue the case or get the rape kit tested and then later that same man is arrested for raping another woman, there could be serious bad press for the local department that had DNA in hand and never did anything with it. If it is discovered he is linked to 2 other previous rapes that couldn't be solved because there was no reference sample on file until he was caught in the act. Think of the news reports. The woman that accused him previously holding up a sealed sample pointing out that the city had this same sample all along and never did anything with it and how this could have prevented a rape and solved a previously unsolved crime, in addition to shedding light on her case. That would make national news. Several of those local politicians would lose their job. I mean the mayor and several alderman in my city lost their jobs because they approved a subdivision of 12 homes being built on an abandoned garbage dump site that showed no negative test results for 30 straight years from bore samples of depths ranging from 2 feet down to 25 feet. All that took was their opponents going door to door creating FUD about non existent water issues.
This would literally cost less than 5 bucks each time a woman goes in for a test. FDA approved sample jars cost 2 bucks. Tamper seals, swabs, etc. all cheap. She doesn't need to do anything other than hang onto it. If she doesnt want it, she doesnt have to take it. I feel most women would take it if they knew that it was to help make sure it got tested. I also feel there might be fear that an accuser may spend her own money to try and somehow get the sample tested or maybe take it to a different city's police department and get it tested.
Again, just an idea.
