Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: How to Lie with Rape Statistics: America's Hidden Rape Crisis [View all]seabeyond
(110,159 posts)63. There Are 400,000 Unprocessed Rape Kits in the U.S. How Can This Be?
After New York City processed its 17,000-kit backlog in 2001, the arrest rate for rape cases jumped from 40 percent to 70 percent, reports Erin Delmore at MSNBC. In Ohio, going through 4,000 kits led to 58 cases, and in Detroit, where an 11,000-kit backlog remains, analyzing the first 10 percent of kits led law enforcement to 46 serial rapists.
Theres the easy answer and the hard one. Easy is that rape kits cost a lot to analyzeanywhere between $500 and $1,500 each. But on closer investigation, this excuse, floated by police departments, reveals its big flaw: Interpreting evidence in general is a wildly expensive process; digital forensic analysisof a single computermight set a department back $5,000, while the average cost of processing any case with DNA evidence is $1,397. Despite this, I'm guessing murders and other instances of nonsexual violence dont get shoved down into the collective subconscious quite the way rapes do.
A bleaker and more compelling explanation is that, for a long time, our culture has refused to call sex crimes what they are: crimes. When a sense of blame or responsibility clings to the victim, its easier for cops to set her case aside. And the blurriness (or perception of same) surrounding a lot of rape allegations doesnt inspire much optimism among prosecutors that they can score a convictionso, overworked and underfunded, they dont even try. I wonder, too, whether hypermasculine values in law enforcement have created a mini bro climate. The Village Voice reported two years ago on NYPD officers who urged street cops to manipulate crime statistics by downgrading reports of sexual assault. One man was able to commit six attempted rapes (misdemeanors) before he was apprehended mid-seventh. I like to imagine those cops reporting back to Olivia Benson.
Its sobering to compare TVs fantasy sheriffs with the actual detectives who may not regard sex crimes as a big deal. But perceptions of rape and anti-woman violence do seem to be shifting. Caplan-Bricker provides a rundown on the various bills working their way through legislatures across the country: laws in Colorado, Illinois, and Texas requiring police to process their languishing kits, and bills in Tennessee and Maryland requiring new evidence to be analyzed within strict time limits. It's too bad that police departments need laws to force them to process criminal evidence, but until our perceptions around rape change, I'll take it.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/03/12/unprocessed_rape_kits_cost_concerns_can_t_explain_the_400_000_kit_backlog.html
Theres the easy answer and the hard one. Easy is that rape kits cost a lot to analyzeanywhere between $500 and $1,500 each. But on closer investigation, this excuse, floated by police departments, reveals its big flaw: Interpreting evidence in general is a wildly expensive process; digital forensic analysisof a single computermight set a department back $5,000, while the average cost of processing any case with DNA evidence is $1,397. Despite this, I'm guessing murders and other instances of nonsexual violence dont get shoved down into the collective subconscious quite the way rapes do.
A bleaker and more compelling explanation is that, for a long time, our culture has refused to call sex crimes what they are: crimes. When a sense of blame or responsibility clings to the victim, its easier for cops to set her case aside. And the blurriness (or perception of same) surrounding a lot of rape allegations doesnt inspire much optimism among prosecutors that they can score a convictionso, overworked and underfunded, they dont even try. I wonder, too, whether hypermasculine values in law enforcement have created a mini bro climate. The Village Voice reported two years ago on NYPD officers who urged street cops to manipulate crime statistics by downgrading reports of sexual assault. One man was able to commit six attempted rapes (misdemeanors) before he was apprehended mid-seventh. I like to imagine those cops reporting back to Olivia Benson.
Its sobering to compare TVs fantasy sheriffs with the actual detectives who may not regard sex crimes as a big deal. But perceptions of rape and anti-woman violence do seem to be shifting. Caplan-Bricker provides a rundown on the various bills working their way through legislatures across the country: laws in Colorado, Illinois, and Texas requiring police to process their languishing kits, and bills in Tennessee and Maryland requiring new evidence to be analyzed within strict time limits. It's too bad that police departments need laws to force them to process criminal evidence, but until our perceptions around rape change, I'll take it.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/03/12/unprocessed_rape_kits_cost_concerns_can_t_explain_the_400_000_kit_backlog.html
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
85 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
designating a complaint as "unfounded", as a lesser offense; failing to create a written report
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#2
considerable undercounting from 1995 to 2012. conservatively estimates that 796,213 to 1,145,309
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#3
Instead of experiencing the widely reported "great decline" in rape... a hidden rape crisis. nt
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#4
total validation of my argument and confirmation to what i have been saying. thank you redq,
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#5
when i sit with three other women. four of us. ask, how many rapes amongst us. the number at 4
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#7
Are you seriously suggesting relying on anecdotal evidence rather than data?
Donald Ian Rankin
Apr 2014
#33
it told me the FBI numbers were bullshit, while the men and MRA's held up the FBI numbers as
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#34
It "sounds" right, intuitively. But that's assuming there's a strong correlation between rape and
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#46
The "propagandists" at the Bureau of Justice Statistics have a slightly different take.
Comrade Grumpy
Apr 2014
#8
“The National Crime Victimization Survey Is Likely Undercounting Rape and Sexual Assault.”
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#11
Until the NISVS has some years of data under it's belt, the NCVS is the only one that can show trend
lumberjack_jeff
Apr 2014
#19
wrong numbers are wrong numbers. simply that. ncvs numbers are wrong. so we have NO numbers.
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#20
you can chat trend, assume and all the rest. i disagree and wont play the game,
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#29
No, that's simply wrong. Wrong numbers can still provide useful information.
Donald Ian Rankin
Apr 2014
#31
i disagree. agenda teaches us otherwise when we find it. as we did in FBI numbers.
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#32
When trying to understand how prevalent rape is... Using wrong numbers is wrong
Ohio Joe
Apr 2014
#39
Are you not reading what I am saying, or just ignoring it? Or do you think there is a mistake in it?
Donald Ian Rankin
Apr 2014
#41
It may well be significantly lower. But I don't see how anyone can argue that it's not unacceptably
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#47
conservatively estimates that 796,213 to 1,145,309 complaints of rapes have disappeared
Ohio Joe
Apr 2014
#49
that would be crimes not written down, investigated, taken serious. that would be crimes ignored.
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#50
It's worse then that... Those are only the "forcible vaginal rapes of female victims"
Ohio Joe
Apr 2014
#51
oh... and the victim had to be over 12, and the no alcohol. you know. what is that shit. read
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#53
All seems to be for the purpose of massaging the numbers so they don't look so bad.
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#80
There really does seem to be a huge effort from a small group here trying to convince
JTFrog
Apr 2014
#54
"Because evolution" - yes, sex is a natural human (and animal) behavior, so what? What does that
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#81
yes. it is nation wide. it is voluntary. it is a horrible way to have a reality check for crimes.
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#12
Yes, it is often intentionally done to cook the books / make the numbers look good.
redqueen
Apr 2014
#14
+1. i could nto agree with you more. and it is du's loss when redq feels the need to step away.
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#17
k and r with deepest thanks, redqueen. but we are constantly told that there is NO war on women.
niyad
Apr 2014
#18
there are just so many factors with rape. it is not the same as other crimes. and does not have
seabeyond
Apr 2014
#52
"The OP asks us to believe a 200 word abstract"... There is a 60 page paper that goes along with it
Ohio Joe
Apr 2014
#64
I will. I did not originally know the actual article was available for everyone.
Bonobo
Apr 2014
#71
She made no attacks whatsoever against you personally. Unless you identify as an MRA
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#82
"...refer to anti-rape prevention campaigns as 'haranguing men' or misandrist."
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#83
For whatever reason some have a vested interest in convincing people down is up
Major Nikon
Apr 2014
#75
"Men" like that should be offered a free vasectomy at best, quarantined at worst.
nomorenomore08
Apr 2014
#85