Rape Kits

VAWA: Because Every Man, Woman and Child in America Is at Risk and Every Crime Victim Deserves Justice

Christine Pelosi | Posted 04.25.2012

It is said April is the cruelest month and certainly this April Florida Governor Rick Scott landed the cruelest act, vetoing funding for rape crisis c...

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Finding Justice For Victims In Detroit's Rape Kit Backlog

AP | COREY WILLIAMS | Posted 03.19.2012

Read More: Detroit Untested Rape Kits, Detroit Crime, Rape, Rape Kits, Untested Rape Kits, Detroit Police Department, Detroit Rape Kit Backlog, Detroit Police, Detroit News

DETROIT -- For nearly two decades, Carol Bart's untested rape kit collected dust in a police evidence room. Her attacker, who kidnapped her from outsi...

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Do You Live in a Rapist-Friendly State? (Yes, There Is Such a Thing.)

Keli Goff | Posted 04.28.2012

Read More: Dna, Rape, Sexual Assault, Statute of Limitations, Rape Kits, Brian Brockington, Untested Rape Kits, Dna Evidence, Crime News

In interviews with representatives from organizations dedicated to aiding survivors of sexual assault and improving the criminal justice system's prosecution of sex crimes, I learned that as the current system stands the release of proven rapists is virtually inevitable.

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Rape Is a 4-Letter Word

Mache Seibel, MD | Posted 04.21.2012

Read More: Rape Law, New Rape Definition, Rape Definition, Rape Legislation, Rape, Rape Kits, Date Rape, New Rape Law, Crime News

The U.S. Attorney General recently announced a revised definition of rape so that it can be more accurately reported and prosecuted. Here's how the new law differs from the old one.

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Corrections Officer Charged In 1997 Rape Of 10-Year-Old Girl

Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: 10-Year-Old Raped, Rape Kits, Harvey Police Department, Untested Rape Kits, Cook County State's Attorney, Robert Buchanan, Raid, Cook County, Correctional Officer, Sexual Assault, Dna Evidence, Anita Alvarez, Correctional Officer Charged in Rape, Video, Chicago News

A Cook County sheriff's correctional officer has been charged with sexual assault of his 10-year-old step daughter based on DNA results from a rape ki...

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The Best Tool to Catch Rapists

Diane Dimond | Posted 10.09.2011

Read More: Roland Ali Westbrooks, Dna Testing, Codis, Untested DNA Rape Kits, Sexual Violence, Houston Crime, Rape, Rape Kits, Rape Kit, Untested Rape Kits, Houston, Rape Victims, Politics News

There are nearly 200,000 DNA rape kits sitting -- ignored and forgotten -- in law enforcement storage areas across this country. Can you think of any other crime where police have definitive evidence and fail to process it?

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LAPD's Rape Kit Backlog Eliminated

AP | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Lapd Rape Kit, Rape-Kit-Backlog, Lapd Rape Kit Backlog, Rape Kits, Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Police Department has eliminated its historical backlog of untested evidence kits collected after sexual assaults. Cap...

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Failure to Test Rape Kits is a National Embarrassment

Lisa Madigan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Dna Testing, Illinois Attorney General, Rape Kits, Sexual Assault, Criminal Justice, Chicago News

For a country that pioneered DNA testing as a crime-fighting tool, the failure to test rape kits is a national embarrassment. But we can change the situation, and we have done so in Illinois.

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Left and Right Join to Fight Prison Rape

Pat Nolan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Prison Rape, Rape, Rape Kits, Department of Corrections, Prison Violence, Eric Holder Attorney General, Corrections, Impact News

It is a scandal that people housed in the custody of the government are not safe from sexual attack. No matter how terrible the crime, the sentence should not include being raped.

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For Rape Victims, a Dead End on Justice

Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Dna Testing, Dna, Sexual Violence, Chicago-Illinois, Rape, Rape Kits, Rape-Kit-Backlog, Pat Quinn, Sexual Assault Evidence Submission Act, Lisa Madigan, Chicago News

The vast majority of DNA evidence collected from rape victims in Illinois is never tested. This backlog is symptomatic of an overall failure by the criminal justice system to respond to sexual assault.

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Illinois' New Rape Kit Law First of its Kind in the Nation

Lisa Madigan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Rape Kits, Illinois Attorney General," "Criminal Justice," DNA, "Sexual Assault,, Lisa Madigan, Chicago News

Lavinia Masters was 13 when a rapist broke into her bedroom in the dark of night, put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her if she reporte...

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Career Counseling for Sarah Palin in 2013

Malia Litman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Katie Couric, Tina Fey, Rape Kits, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, Wasilla, Sarah Palin Career, Comedy News

By 2013, either Barack Obama will have been re-elected or a Republican will be taking office, but it won't be Sarah Palin. Let's see if we can help Sarah figure out what to do next.

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On the Road to Justice

Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Dna Testing, Dna, Rape-Kit-Backlog, Rape, Rape Kits, Chicago, Illinois, Illinois Dna Backlog, Home News

Illinois could soon become an unexpected champion of justice for a group too often ignored by police and politicians - rape victims. While popular tel...

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Los Angeles DNA Testing Debate Should Focus on Getting the Job Done

Lindsey Horvath | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wendy Greuel, Laura Chick, Rape Kit, Rape Kits, Human Rights Watch, Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, Dna Testing, Rape, Lapd, Los Angeles News

The City of Los Angeles can still make meet its pledge to eliminate its sexual violence evidence kit backlog by this June if it takes smart, aggressive action to keep DNA testing on track.

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City Breaks Its Promise to Victims of Rape

Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sexual Violence, Funding, California, Rape Kit, Rape Kits, Los Angeles, Dna Testing, Violence Against Women, Rape, Los Angeles City Council, Lapd, Los Angeles Budget, Dna Evidence, Sexual Assault, Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles News

In a stunning reversal, city officials announced last week that they had decided behind closed doors that they would not hire new crime lab staff to test every rape kit.

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Chicago Police Stonewall on Rape Investigations

Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Rape Kits Put in Storage, Chicago Rape Kits, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Police Department Untested Rape Kits, Rape Kits, Untested Rape Kits, Chicago News

Every year in the U.S, over 200,000 people report they have been raped. Many submit to an invasive DNA collection, so they can convict their attacker. But thousands of these DNA samples go untested.

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Sheriff Baca: Don't Let Rape Victims Down

Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sheriff, Rape, Justice, Crime, Los Angeles, Lapd, Los Angeles-California, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, Violence Against Women, Rape Kit, Rape Kits, Women's Health, Economic Crisis, Politics News

Two weeks ago, the L.A County Sheriff's Department announced that in May, it stopped testing rape kits indefinitely because of a lack of funds. The backlog: 12,500 untested cases.

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Lady Gaga and The Glamorous Rape

Charlotte Hilton Andersen | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Lady GaGa, Paparazzi, Rape, Music, Sexual Assault, Music Video, Sex, Jamie Leigh Jones, Rape Kits, Healthy Living News

the media is selling us an image of rape and domestic violence as being artistic, dramatic, the result of misguided love and -- most terrifying -- wanted.

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Almost 100 Rape Kits Put In Storage, Untested, By Suburban Police Departments: Tribune

Chicago Tribune | Megan Twohey | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Chicago Rape Kits, Rape Kits, Sexual Assault, Health, Chicago News

A woman submitted to a rape kit exam in July 2008 at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital after a husky stranger allegedly dragged her to the ground and s...

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Making Rape Victims Pay

Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sexual Violence, Rape, Rape Kit, Rape Kits, Palin Rape Kits, Politics News

Receiving a bill in the mail for basic police work represents an unacceptable but still too common truth - that the criminal justice system has a lot to learn about how it deals with rape victims.

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Are Rape Survivors Being Victimized Twice?

Maria Hinojosa | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Pbs, Rapist, Rape Surviors, Rape, Rape Kit, Rape Kits, Crime, Now, Hinojosa, Lapd, Politics News

There is an underreported backlog in the processing of rape kits which is delaying and sometimes denying justice for tens of thousands of American women.

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Get Your War On: Palin And Rape Kits (VIDEO)

Huffington Post | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Rape Kits, Trig Palin, Palin Babygate, Sarah Palin Grandmother, Gywo, Sarah Palin Baby Scandal, Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Vetting, Palin Grandmother, Sarah Palin Babygate, Video, Jon Glaser, Governor of Alaska, Get Your War On, Get Your War on Episode 6, Sarah Palin Son, Palin Vetting, Funny Videos, Palin Trig, David Rees, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin Trig, Sarah Palin Scandal, Sarah Palen, Comedy News

In this week's GYWO, no means no, unless you have 500 bucks to sink into your own rape investigation. When the guys start looking into this whole rape...

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W's Parting Gifts to Women

Martha Burk | Posted 05.25.2011

It's not new that outgoing Presidents try to change national policy at the last minute through rule changes. But W is set to set a record.

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The Rapist In The Freezer

Diane Dimond | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Diane Dimond Column, Backlog, Federal Money, Rapist in the Freezer, Human Rights Watch, DNA Rape Kits, 400 Thousand Kits, 10% Male Victims, The Debbie Smith Act, National Institute of Justice, DNA Rape Kit Backlog Program, Women and Rape, Rape Kits, Rape Victims, Sexual Assault Indifference, Sexual Assault, Rape Kit Backlog, Politics News

A majority of the 400,000 untested, backlogged rape kits are orphaned tests. They've remained on ice, depriving detectives of the most important clue.

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A Culture of Violence Against Women: More Than Rape Kits

Amie Newman | Posted 05.25.2011

There is good reason to hunt down the facts about the rape kits. But the larger issue - of rape, sexual assault and how we deal with violence against women in this country - has been overlooked.

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