Feminist Daily News Wire
July 24, 2008
House Passes Grant for Processing Untested Rape Kits
The House of Representatives passed the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008 last week, which will help process a backlog of rape kits across the country. The Act provides funds for a grant program that started in 2004, with the objective to process the nearly 400,000 untested rape kits nationwide. In the United States, more than 200,000 rapes are reported to authorities each year. Thousands of victims agree to a rape kits, an invasive process that can take up to six hours. These individuals are often unaware that the critical evidence gathered is never tested.
The Washington Post reports that the proportion of rape victims who report the crime has increased. However, rape arrests have decreased in the face of growing backlogs in evidence processing. Most states are not required to notify victims about the processing of their rape kit.
The backlog of untested rape evidence within the kits has been attributed to lack of financial resources. However, over the past four years, Congress has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for states to conduct DNA testing for sexual assaults. Failure to process rape kits is linked to states "failure to treat rape as seriously as other violent crimes", while other non-sexual violent crime evidence is regularly processed, reports the Washington Post.
Media Resources: Washington Post 7/22/08, Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate 7/10/08
Feminist.org:
Your daily source for the feminist perspective on national
and global events.
If you liked this story, consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Feminist Majority Foundation! Your contribution helps support the Feminist Daily News Wire.
 Subscribe to the Feminist Daily News Wire
|
|
|
Also In the News
|
7/24/2008
House Passes Grant for Processing Untested Rape Kits - The House of Representatives passed the Debbie Smith Reauthorization Act of 2008 last week, which will help process a backlog of rape kits across the country. . . .
|
|
|
|
|
7/24/2008
Anti-Abortion Groups Continue Fight to Close Aurora Clinic - The Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based law firm that specializes in anti-abortion issues, filed appeals this week against an Aurora, IL clinic. . . .
|
|
|
|
|
7/24/2008
HealthNow Fined for Denying Claims from Women Seeking Infertility Treatment - HealthNow, a Buffalo, New York based insurance group, has been fined over $1 million by the New York State Insurance Department for denying claims from women seeking infertility treatment and failing to give legal notice of rate increases.
New York State law requires that infertility treatments be covered by insurance companies with few exceptions, according to the National Partnership for Women & Families. HealthNow must now reprocess and pay the claims for more than 2,500 women in Albany, Buffalo and Central New York. . . .
|
|
|
|
| |
|
