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Rape in America

Posted at 10:16 AM on November 10, 2009 by Bob Collins (6 Comments)
Filed under: Crime and Justice

Thousands of rape kits that could yield clues to the identity of the rapist are sitting in storage and have never been examined, according to CBS News. In some cases, the report says, officials don't want to spend the money to solve the rape.

Sixteen states were investigated; Minnesota was one of them:

In Minneapolis, with the help of a new federal grant, the department and the Hennepin County Attorney's office recently started looking through untested kits in storage and found there were kits from stranger rapes where the victim did not cooperate that were never tested. At the urging of Steve Redding, Hennepin County Attorney, and Lt. Nancy Dunlap, the head of the Sex Crimes Unit at the Minneapolis Police Department, the kits were put in for testing. Almost immediately it yielded results and Minneapolis law enforcement was able to put eight men behind bars. In an effort to find more cases of this kind, the prosecutor and the sex crimes unit are combing through 8,500 rape cases reported since 1991 looking for stranger rapes where the evidence was never tested.

Last week, Sen. Al Franken filed legislation to encourage states to examine the rape kits.

Comments (6)

Crap. So they put women through the humiliation of gathering that evidence and then just stick it on a shelf somewhere? Where is the humanity?

Posted by Jim!!! | November 10, 2009 1:39 PM

Its interesting to see where our government is willing to spend money.

It seems as though it is not for the best interest of all the people, but for just a few .

What is really shocking is when the victim has already been assalted and humiliated and then she/he has to face some of the public who accuse them of lying.

Posted by barb and jill | November 10, 2009 1:50 PM

I'm curious Bob, what is the victim told when they ask if any progress has been made on their case? Do the victims assume that the evidence is actually going to be used or are they told it's being taken on the off chance it might be tested if we ever get around to it?

Posted by Jim!!! | November 10, 2009 2:13 PM

"Last week, Sen. Al Franken filed legislation to encourage states to examine the rape kits."

What exactly does "encourage" states mean? Is this another unfunded mandate or is Franken suggesting that we borrow money from the Chinese peasents to pay for it.

Don't get me wrong, testing rape kits MUST be a high priority.

Higher than biking trails.

Higher than busing the children of millionaires to magnet schools across the city.

Higher than gold-plating government buildings.

Higher than light-rail.

Higher than another make-over of Nicollet Mall.

Let's get our priorities straight and use local funds to do it.

Posted by GregS | November 11, 2009 7:01 AM

///Don't get me wrong, testing rape kits MUST be a high priority.

Higher than biking trails.

Higher than busing the children of millionaires to magnet schools across the city.

Higher than gold-plating government buildings.