Today, I read a Buzzfeed article about Heather Marlowe, a San Francisco resident and rape victim who recently filed suit against the city of San Francisco and its police department over its failure to test her rape kit and their conduct during investigation of her case.
To provide background, after waking up in an unidentified home (with no memory of how she got there, where she was, or who her assailant was), Marlowe immediately sought treatment and a rape kit at San Francisco General Hospital. She was told by authorities her results would take one to two months. In the meantime, she cooperated on investigative work with an officer, who encouraged her (among other things) to create a fake identity, lure the suspect into a date, and attempt to obtain a confession as to where he was on the day of the attack. Beyond the absurdity of encouraging a rape victim to enter into an alone, face-to-face situation with their potential rapist, Marlowe reported her assault in 2010. To this day, she has yet to receive results on her rape kit.
Marlowe’s experience is not unique. There is a national backlog on rape kits, estimated to be as high as 100,000 total. The federal government has taken steps to allocate millions towards reducing the backlog, although reports indicate much of that money has gone elsewhere (e.g. improving lab equipment or testing evidence for other crimes). I don’t mean to denigrate the importance of up-to-date supplies or solving other crimes; however, as she mentions in her suit, when Marlowe asked why her kit had yet to be processed, the response she received was that “more important crimes” took priority.
As we’ve discussed in class, sexual assault is a life-altering crime - it is traumatizing and dehumanizing and the fear of it informs daily life as a woman, but somehow the severity and impact of such a crime fails to stick. I understand murder is a more important crime. But what about sexual assault is unimportant? It is well-documented that victims regularly struggle with PTSD, and while it’s certainly not true for every case, some men are serial rapists; thus, leaving kits untested leaves women as vulnerable as the average individual if a serial murderer remained on the loose. The first 1000 backlogged rape kits tested resulted in 100 cases of serial rapists, and surely more will appear. I find it unbelievable and disheartening that if I (hypothetically) were to file a case of sexual assault, it could take me years to get closure and involve an investigative process that could put me in further danger. I comprehend why many victims of rape do not deal with law enforcement - it doesn’t seem worth the effort.
If you care to read more, here is the article on Heather Marlowe, and a New York Times report on the national backlog:
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