by Nina Roma Agvanian, IMPACT Assistant Director
In a world where less than 20% of women come forward to report a rape, and where only 1 in 13 of these reports end in conviction, the seemingly obvious answer to the question “Is rape serious?” is called into question. You may have seen this New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof that ran on April 29. Its title—Is Rape Serious?—sets up Kristof’s ultimate argument that that police departments across the country do not pay due attention to rape cases.
Statistics that Kristof cite demonstrate deliberate negligence on the part of public safety officials. Rape kits sit in storage facilities, in some instances for more than a decade, without being tested. Kristof surmises that the reasons for this are due to both cost—sexual assault evidence collection kits can cost as much as $1,500—and bias—victim blaming happens more commonly with rapes than other crimes. He notes that New York City is one place where kits have been tested more diligently, resulting in increases in both perpetrator identifications and arrest rates.
Kristof argues convincingly that police departments’ near universal inaction demonstrates their view of rape cases as unserious. If it is near impossible for rape victims to have the law justify what happened to them as wrong, and sexual offenders are rarely held accountable, then how do we as a society claim to take rape seriously? We can say we take it seriously but actions speak louder than words.
** For more reading on rape case bias within the justice system, check out this op-ed piece called Justice is still weighted against women over rape (http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/justice-is-still-weighted-against-women-over-rape-647172.html) by Natasha Walter.
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