Traumatized by their attackers, sexual assault survivors are made to feel ruined and humiliated. But they’re not only victimized by the rapist who attacked them, but by the society that treats them.
Survivors have long received the short end of the stick when it comes to reporting the crime and getting medical treatment.
One of the best ways to find and convict a rapist is through the use of a rape kit, a small box containing various tools to collect forensic evidence.
But these kits, along with the personnel costs, examination fees and hospital stays involved add up - sometimes with a bill of more than $800 that the survivor pays.
And even then, examinations can often be cold and inattentive, completely lacking in the care the situation demands. Doctors or nurses administering the examination need to be trained to understand the gravity of the situation and give the time patients need to feel comfortable and at ease.
These factors too often lead women to drag their heels in getting an examination, if they even do it at all. Fear becomes a debilitator and often ruins the best tool for police and prosecutors. For these exams to be effective, they must be performed within 72 hours of the assault. After that, the evidence that can be gathered begins to degrade and becomes less useful.
Fortunately, state Sen. Shirley Johnson, R-Royal Oak, has sponsored a bill that would compensate victims for the cost of rape kits. And there is an initiative to train and hire more forensic nurses who are specially prepared to gather the evidence they need for the rape kits without alienating the victim.
The Legislature should give this measure speedy approval.
What’s bothersome, however, is that there has to be measures taken to achieve this in the first place. Rape is a blight on society that should not be tolerated. To put it mildly, anyone who perpetrates or aids in the crime is a abomination.
We hope the increased accessibility of rape kits will encourage more rape victims to come out and get an examination to help bring their attacker to justice.
But the general view of rape is another societal evil that needs to be rectified. Too often men can joke about or laugh off the idea of rape.
But nearly 99 percent of the perpetrators in single-victim rapes are men. They need to understand what role they play in sexual abuse. It cannot be left solely to women to stop rape, when they are most frequently the victims.
Men’s groups across the country are working to combat stereotypes in our culture that contribute to the act of rape, including the view of women as sex objects. As long as women can be seen as something less than human, rape can still persist.
The programs and initiatives in the works to help combat this terrible evil must go through, and they need the support of everybody to succeed. It’s a travesty for anyone in the position to help to simply stand by while these measures struggle along.
It’s kind of a poignant and ironic similarity. We may not have been able to help any rape victims escape the crime, but it doesn’t mean we can do nothing at all.
