Posted on 08/13/2017 4:35:33 PM PDT by Mark
LAW-ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY
Time to show rape victims matter
By Helena Lazaro
Id just turned 17 when I was abducted from a car wash by a stranger near my Los Angeles home and repeatedly raped at knife-point. I begged the attacker to spare my life and release me, and he did but not before he took my drivers license swearing to kill everyone in my home if I ever told police what happened.
That cold night in 1996, I risked my life and the safety of my family by reporting what happened. I underwent the deeply traumatic evidence collection process needed to compile a rape kit. As the doctor put his fingers inside my body in the torn and bleeding places where I had never been touched until that night I wept in pain and humiliation.
I recounted my trauma to four disbelieving law enforcement agents that night, one after another, answering the same questions again and again while I sat completely vulnerable nude but for my paper gown. The nurse combed and plucked, swabbed and inspected, as the men examined my account with equal scrutiny.
When I left the hospital with my mother, the sun was rising. I had made it. I had survived. But the crime went virtually ignored by the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department for more than 13 years. Throughout that time, I lived in a constant state of terror.
I called the sheriffs station repeatedly, begging for updates and help from anyone who would listen. But no one did until 2009. That year, I got an advocate at a local rape crisis agency to help with my case. Within two weeks, a sergeant from the L.A. Sheriffs Department called to tell me that my rape kit had finally been processed and there was a DNA match.
Through my own research, I discovered that the man who abducted me was a serial rapist and a murderer. He was imprisoned in Ohio for an identical abduction that could have been prevented if my kit had been tested sooner. And my case could have been solved less than six weeks after my abduction when the knife-point rape of his wife established his identity, making his DNA available in a national database. The information was always there. But no one from the Sheriffs Department could be bothered to investigate.
I just didnt count.
Assembly Bill 41, the landmark bill by California Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, that would mandate the tracking of rape kits, is the first step towards California ensuring the most basic level of accountability from law enforcement. Today, in spite of unanimous, bipartisan support, the bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The sole opponent is the California Sheriffs Association, which claims that tracking evidence related to sexual assault constitutes an undue burden to them. Its unfortunate that they consider this most basic of measures to improve the safety of their constituents to be burdensome. The truth is, tracking kits could actually reduce costs down the line.
A tracking system would reduce the burden on law enforcement by allowing victims to determine the status of their kits without requiring assistance from personnel; it is a labor-reducing and victim centered best practice. Transparent reporting would help identify where additional funding or support is necessary. Millions of dollars in state and federal grants are available to agencies wishing to address untested evidence, and have been for more than a decade. Tracking would tell us where these resources are needed.
Opposition to AB41 is motivated by a desire to maintain the status quo and to preserve the present lack of accountability enjoyed by law enforcement agencies that do not wish to acknowledge victims of sexual assault.
Im lucky. Despite the mishandling of my investigation, my evidence was not lost or destroyed. I am alive. And the man who attacked me eventually received a 25-year sentence. Not because he raped me, but because he stole $20 from my wallet. That theft constituted a special allegation that wasnt subject to the long-expired statutes for rape or abduction.
But Ive come to believe that it doesnt really matter why he is in prison as long as he is. And he will be, until 2044.
I hope that, by then, California will have finally enacted legislation to ensure that the law is enforced equally, and that all victims know they count.
Helena Lazaro is a Los Angeles-based writer and advocate for rape victims.
By, "lucky", she must mean that her attacker's attorney wasn't Hillary Clinton.
Or, that her attacker wasn't Bill Clinton.
Serial Rapist and a Murderer, then why the hell was this man released, I swear this justice system is pissing me off.
OR her attacker wasn’t Muslim.
That, too. Otherwise, she would’ve been buried up to her neck and stoned to death.
Tell it to the NAACP and BLM.
Couldn’t be because of all the false accusations now, could it.
False accusationas are all the more reason to process the DNA evidence ASAP.
It can clear a man.
Rape and abduction allegations should never expire.
Self centered policing is at the root of a plethora of problems, not just this.
Rape is a serious accusation. The collection of evidence is a sterile and cold process. The victim is questioned by multiple people to gather important details. It’s a horrible but necessary process.
Processing the rape kits another thing. There has to be some math that shows processing cases early will prevent multiple cases down the road—thus reducing the caseload.
Brave young women - she’s in my prayers.
“Couldnt be because of all the false accusations now, could it.”
While there are plenty of false rape allegations, there is no rape victim on the planet that would volunteer for a rape kit for any other reason than to seek justice.
Victims who are strong and brave enough to fight for justice should be commended. As this woman pointed out, doing so can prevent other rapes from happening.
False allegations of rape, if proved conclusively, should have similar consequences as those who commit the alleged crimes.
However, aggravated kidnapping should generally be considered a capital offense, and that goes double when it leads to a sexual assault.
If like Memphis, the Rape kits are 10 or more years old and not tested, after a huge uproar they are starting to test, and are now finding the rapist, who has raped again or committed other crimes.
Agreed.
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