unfinished business
May 3, 2009I found this article from the New York Times about the horrifying delays in testing rape kits. Nicholas Kristoff writes that although victims must undergo the long and invasive testing process soon after the incident happens, tests can sit around for months to a year without being tested. How can this can be the case? Authorities claim that rape cases can be murky, but the fact is that these are crimes that are going uninvestigated.
I found this portion of the op-ed particuarly interesting:
Some Americans used to argue that it was impossible to rape an unwilling woman. Few people say that today, or say publicly that a woman “asked for it” if she wore a short skirt. But the refusal to test rape kits seems a throwback to the same antediluvian skepticism about rape as a traumatic crime.
I suppose that we can only hope that shedding light and attention onto the situation can prompt authorities to ensure that these cases aren’t looked over.
