Jane Doe rape kits are going national

[DrunkBomber]

ELKTON, Maryland (AP) -- Starting next year across the country, rape victims too afraid or too ashamed to go to police can undergo an emergency-room forensic rape exam, and the evidence gathered will be kept on file in a sealed envelope in case they decide to press charges.

art.doe.jpg

 

Anne Bean is director of the rape crisis center in Cecil County, Maryland, which has used the kits since 2004.

 

The new federal requirement that states pay for "Jane Doe rape kits" is aimed at removing one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting rape cases: Some women are so traumatized they don't come forward until it is too late to collect hair, semen or other samples.

 

"Sometimes the issue of actually having to make a report to police can be a barrier to victims, and this will allow that barrier to cease, to allow the victim to think about it before deciding whether to talk to police," said Carey Goryl, executive director of the International Association of Forensic Nurses.

 

The practice is already followed at some health clinics, colleges and hospitals around the country and by the state of Massachusetts. But many other jurisdictions refuse to cover the estimated $800 cost of a forensic rape exam unless the victim files a police report.

 

Beginning in 2009, states will have to pay for Jane Doe rape kits to continue receiving funding under the federal Violence Against Women Act, which provides tax dollars for women's shelters and law enforcement training. States will decide how many locations will offer anonymous rape exams and how long the evidence should be kept.

 

Emergency rooms typically use a "rape kit" to collect evidence for use by police and prosecutors. It consists of microscope slides, boxes and plastic bags for storing skin, hair, blood, saliva or semen gathered by a specially trained nurse. The victim's injuries are also photographed.

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What makes a Jane Doe rape kit different is that it is sealed with only a number on the outside of the envelope to identify the victim. Police do not open the envelope unless the victim decides to press charges.

 

The FBI has recommended such an option since at least 1999.

 

"The idea is to collect the evidence now, while it's still there," said Scott Berkowitz, president of the national Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.

 

The new requirement applies only to adult victims. Hospitals and doctors must still report incest or abuse involving children to the police.

 

In Cecil County, local authorities started offering Jane Doe kits four years ago, after a rape victim recanted. Anne Bean, clinical director for a rape and sexual assault counseling program in Cecil County, said giving women the option of keeping police out of it until they are ready to press charges is crucial.

 

According to the U.S. Justice Department, 272,350 sexual assaults were reported in 2006. The same survey estimated that only 41 percent of rapes and other sexual assaults are reported to police.

 

"Many times, you have people who were drunk, maybe doing drugs, maybe they're underage, and you start talking about the police and they get scared," Bean said. "So, sometimes it's not until long after they're willing to report, at which point of course any physical evidence is gone."

 

Massachusetts officials had no immediate figures on how many rape kits were collected anonymously there, or how many were ultimately opened.

 

In Allegany and Cecil counties in Maryland, evidence is kept at least 90 days. So far, 13 women have submitted anonymous evidence, and none has returned to press charges.

 

Still, hospital and police officials credit an offer of Jane Doe testing with encouraging a reluctant victim in Cecil County to undergo an exam. During that process, she decided to report the crime, and her attacker was successfully prosecuted.

 

"Just to let people know this option is out there is good, to say, 'It's OK, you don't have to prosecute if you don't want to,"' said Kathleen, a rape victim in Pennsylvania who spoke on condition her full name not be used.

 

Kathleen underwent an exam after being raped in Virginia in 2004, but her rapist was never found or charged. Kathleen said she wasn't offered anonymous reporting, but she has met rape victims in group therapy who regret not going for an exam.

 

"They're embarrassed. They don't even go get tested for STDs because they're so embarrassed," Kathleen said.

 

At Union Hospital in Elkton, forensic nurse Chris Lenz said Jane Doe testing is not offered unless a medical professional fears the victim will leave without the option.

 

"Of course we encourage reporting. That's what we would like. But when they're adamant they don't want to report -- if we think, `She's going to walk out if she has to go through with this,' -- that's when we offer it," Lenz said.

I think the premise behind this is good. Rape is one of the worst crimes there are. I just hope they have a way that they can prevent this as being used as a tactic for things like blackmail. Especially for wealthy people or celebrities. I guess you could add in married men but people might be less sympathetic but nobody deserves to be accused of rape wrongly.

[jackie hayes]

I think the premise behind this is good. Rape is one of the worst crimes there are. I just hope they have a way that they can prevent this as being used as a tactic for things like blackmail. Especially for wealthy people or celebrities. I guess you could add in married men but people might be less sympathetic but nobody deserves to be accused of rape wrongly.

 

So, you're imagining women who fake a rape, store the evidence in one of these boxes, and then go to the innocent guy and tell him to cough up the money or else it'll be opened up? That's the only way I can make sense of this...

 

I somewhat doubt that's a real concern...

[mreye]

 

So, you're imagining women who fake a rape, store the evidence in one of these boxes, and then go to the innocent guy and tell him to cough up the money or else it'll be opened up? That's the only way I can make sense of this...

 

I somewhat doubt that's a real concern...

 

Nope,

 

not

 

at

 

all.

Edited May 16, 2008 by mreye

[southsider2k5]

This is long over due... Rape has to be one of the worst crimes out there because the victim is almost always put on trial just as much as the rapists are. "she wanted it" "she said "no" but she didn't mean it" "look how she was dressed"... They bring up their sex lives, their histories, and everything else that can be used to discredit the victim. There is a reason that it is the most underreported violent crime out there.

[lostfan]

 

So, you're imagining women who fake a rape, store the evidence in one of these boxes, and then go to the innocent guy and tell him to cough up the money or else it'll be opened up? That's the only way I can make sense of this...

 

I somewhat doubt that's a real concern...

That kind of stuff really happens unfortunately. In my mind it's a couple steps from being as bad as an actual rape, because not only can false accusers ruin a man's life with the stigma of being a rapist (even if he is acquitted and she is found to be lying), they are just making it that much more difficult for actual rape victims to come forward or be believed in some cases. "Women" who lie about being raped for their own personal gain deserve every bit of the punishments they get.

 

However, I think this is a good move and the positives far outweigh any potential downside.

[DrunkBomber]

 

So, you're imagining women who fake a rape, store the evidence in one of these boxes, and then go to the innocent guy and tell him to cough up the money or else it'll be opened up? That's the only way I can make sense of this...

 

I somewhat doubt that's a real concern...

You didnt read the article obviously. Its not storing evidence in personal boxes. I know its cynical to think but this situation is very real: Say a rich or famous guy meets a girl at a bar or where ever and they end up hooking up. Say for whatever reason, she either planned it all along or even just gets pissed because the guy doesnt call her. She can go to the hospital, get a rape kit without anything being reported to the police and the hospital will hang on to the dna without contacting police. Thus giving the woman the opportunity to contact the man and say, if you dont give me "X" Im going to report this as rape. Now, even if you could end up proving your innocence later on. You would still have to pay for a lawyer, go to court, and most importantly everyone would know you were accused of rape. For the rest of your life that will stick with you.

 

Or even if a married guy cheats on his wife a girl could blackmail him because he more than likely would pay so his wife wouldnt find out.

 

I agree that something needed to be done to make the 60% of rapes that go unreported come out so that people cant get away with them as easily. I just hope they have a plan to prevent false accusations. Look at Duke Lacrosse...Maybe, make the punishment for a false accusation or extortion the same punishment as the rape itself. I know that sounds harsh, but people have to be too scared to try and do that and harsh punishment might be the only way.

[southsider2k5]

You didnt read the article obviously. Its not storing evidence in personal boxes. I know its cynical to think but this situation is very real: Say a rich or famous guy meets a girl at a bar or where ever and they end up hooking up. Say for whatever reason, she either planned it all along or even just gets pissed because the guy doesnt call her. She can go to the hospital, get a rape kit without anything being reported to the police and the hospital will hang on to the dna without contacting police. Thus giving the woman the opportunity to contact the man and say, if you dont give me "X" Im going to report this as rape. Now, even if you could end up proving your innocence later on. You would still have to pay for a lawyer, go to court, and most importantly everyone would know you were accused of rape. For the rest of your life that will stick with you.

 

Or even if a married guy cheats on his wife a girl could blackmail him because he more than likely would pay so his wife wouldnt find out.

 

I agree that something needed to be done to make the 60% of rapes that go unreported come out so that people cant get away with them as easily. I just hope they have a plan to prevent false accusations. Look at Duke Lacrosse...Maybe, make the punishment for a false accusation or extortion the same punishment as the rape itself. I know that sounds harsh, but people have to be too scared to try and do that and harsh punishment might be the only way.

 

Now see, I would rather have people scared to try raping someone, and any tools that help that are fine by me. I have to imagine the number of false rape accusations are NOTHING compared to the number of rapes in this country.

[jackie hayes]

Nope,

 

not

 

at

 

all.

 

That kind of stuff really happens unfortunately. In my mind it's a couple steps from being as bad as an actual rape, because not only can false accusers ruin a man's life with the stigma of being a rapist (even if he is acquitted and she is found to be lying), they are just making it that much more difficult for actual rape victims to come forward or be believed in some cases. "Women" who lie about being raped for their own personal gain deserve every bit of the punishments they get.

 

However, I think this is a good move and the positives far outweigh any potential downside.

 

You both missed my point, and mreye inadvertantly helped make it. These kits don't make it much easier to lie about a rape, that I can see. Those links show that it happens now, even without these kits being widely available, and any woman wanting to blackmail someone could just as easily do so before going to the ER. So I don't see why it has anything to do with these kits.

[jackie hayes]

You didnt read the article obviously. Its not storing evidence in personal boxes. I know its cynical to think but this situation is very real: Say a rich or famous guy meets a girl at a bar or where ever and they end up hooking up. Say for whatever reason, she either planned it all along or even just gets pissed because the guy doesnt call her. She can go to the hospital, get a rape kit without anything being reported to the police and the hospital will hang on to the dna without contacting police. Thus giving the woman the opportunity to contact the man and say, if you dont give me "X" Im going to report this as rape. Now, even if you could end up proving your innocence later on. You would still have to pay for a lawyer, go to court, and most importantly everyone would know you were accused of rape. For the rest of your life that will stick with you.

 

Or even if a married guy cheats on his wife a girl could blackmail him because he more than likely would pay so his wife wouldnt find out.

 

I agree that something needed to be done to make the 60% of rapes that go unreported come out so that people cant get away with them as easily. I just hope they have a plan to prevent false accusations. Look at Duke Lacrosse...Maybe, make the punishment for a false accusation or extortion the same punishment as the rape itself. I know that sounds harsh, but people have to be too scared to try and do that and harsh punishment might be the only way.

No, I read the article, and I asked why this is of particular concern with these kits. As you point out, this happens now, like in the Duke case. I don't see this skyrocketing because these kits are available. Maybe the reading problem belongs to you.

[lostfan]

You both missed my point, and mreye inadvertantly helped make it. These kits don't make it much easier to lie about a rape, that I can see. Those links show that it happens now, even without these kits being widely available, and any woman wanting to blackmail someone could just as easily do so before going to the ER. So I don't see why it has anything to do with these kits.

Sorry, I thought you were saying that false rape accusations weren't a real concern which you clearly weren't.

[DrunkBomber]

No, I read the article, and I asked why this is of particular concern with these kits. As you point out, this happens now, like in the Duke case. I don't see this skyrocketing because these kits are available. Maybe the reading problem belongs to you.

This isnt a take home kit or something personal. Its just the name of the testing they do at the hospital. You keep calling them kits like its for home pregnancy. The problem with this is that it draws DNA from the woman, whether it was consenting sex or not and you dont have to make a police report immediately. So its basically the hospital holding a mans DNA and giving the woman the opportunity to confront him and say, if you dont give me any money Im going to accuse you of rape, or tell your wife or whatever. Since there isnt any risk of the woman getting in trouble at that point because even if she changes her mind the hospital wont say anything to the police.

 

So my point is, if a woman gets raped and goes to the hospital to get a rape kit and the police are immediately contacted and she has to give a statement, a girl would be much less likely trying to do something like this because there is no turning back for them at that point. Whereas, the new system, without consequence they can store evidence in a hospital that could be enough to get him arrested for rape whether it was consensual or not and then if the girl gets what she wants or gets spooked she can just forget about it because since the police werent notified she wont get in trouble for false accusations.

[DrunkBomber]

You both missed my point, and mreye inadvertantly helped make it. These kits don't make it much easier to lie about a rape, that I can see. Those links show that it happens now, even without these kits being widely available, and any woman wanting to blackmail someone could just as easily do so before going to the ER. So I don't see why it has anything to do with these kits.

Thats the thing, that DNA isnt going to be there very long so if she wants to do something it has to be done immediately and you have to go to the ER quickly and more than likely wouldnt have time to set something like this up. The new way allows her to pull the evidence and pretty much, store it until she figures out what she wants to do.

[jackie hayes]

Thats the thing, that DNA isnt going to be there very long so if she wants to do something it has to be done immediately and you have to go to the ER quickly and more than likely wouldnt have time to set something like this up. The new way allows her to pull the evidence and pretty much, store it until she figures out what she wants to do.

But the physical evidence is more than just semen. She would have to take further steps to fake the physical injuries associated with rape, and construct the story, and she'd also have to do those things right away.

 

I find it hard to believe that a woman would have sex with someone, make it look like she'd been raped, then just wait to decide what to do. It seems like once you've decided to fake the injuries, you're already pretty dedicated to the scam, so you'd just call in the blackmail right away. I'm having a hard time imagining a woman who would go to such lengths and then have moral qualms about blackmail.

[Soxy]

Just because you had a rape kit done (even well before now) doesn't mean that charges would be filed or pressed. Or even reported to the police (unless we're talking about a minor or incapacitated adult). I'm not sure this is anything new at all.

 

And I doubt this will do anything to increase reporting rates.

[DrunkBomber]

But the physical evidence is more than just semen. She would have to take further steps to fake the physical injuries associated with rape, and construct the story, and she'd also have to do those things right away.

 

I find it hard to believe that a woman would have sex with someone, make it look like she'd been raped, then just wait to decide what to do. It seems like once you've decided to fake the injuries, you're already pretty dedicated to the scam, so you'd just call in the blackmail right away. I'm having a hard time imagining a woman who would go to such lengths and then have moral qualms about blackmail.

I understand your point, and I think without any other evidence it would be hard to get a conviction. However, it would be hearsay at that point and if a jury believed her more than him he could get convicted. Not all rapes have other signs of physical evidence either. the victim could be passed out, too scared to fight back etc. I guess a person could even put other physical marks on themselves if they wanted. That coupled with DNA evidence would be enough to press charges. Even if they got thrown out later, just the accusation would follow someone for the rest of their life. Even if they didnt report it as a rape either, the DNA is there if she would want to let a cheating husbands wife know. Without the evidence its his story versus hers but if shes got DNA should could blackmail him too.

 

This isnt something that would have to be premeditated either. It could be over something as simple as a guy not calling a girl back. The point about the athletes I think is valid too. Its pretty well known they meet women a lot and Im sure sleep with a decent amount that they dont know. Im willing to bet that even if they didnt do it a lot of them would accept it and pay the girl off because they wouldnt want to have to go through what Kobe Bryant did.

 

Also, Im not saying that this is going to turn into an epidemic Im just saying the new system opens a lot more doors IF someone wanted to do this and I was saying basically I hope they have a way to keep stuff like this at a minimum. There are people out there would try stuff like this, weve seen it more than a few times in the media and I used the Duke Lacrosse as an example. That girl was after one thing, money, and we know she isnt the only one doing that kind of stuff.

 

I also said I think its good theyre doing something to try and get women who are scared or too embarrassed to come forward and report real incidents. I just hope this doesnt open doors for fake accusations which might make real victims even more scared to come forward.

[DrunkBomber]

Heres some other takes on it

I applaud the new Federal "Jane Doe rape kit" initiative, but there is another equation here. What about those women who are traumatized and do not seek initial help or gather evidence? What about the women who do come forward, yet do nothing about the crime?

 

In many cases of rape, the victim may just want to 'forget about it' and move on. An example would be a female college student who was raped by a friend or date. They are thinking, "I was drunk." "No one will believe me." "I flirted with him". The self accusations are endless.

 

Will these women take the initiative to get something like this done...IMMEDIATELY? Being raped is traumatizing enough, but to have to go through the whole rape kit examination is replaying the ordeal over and over again.

 

There are many women out there who would utilize this...but I'm afraid there are more out there that won't use this opportunity. Depending on the woman and the circumstances of her rape, a majority of women NEVER report this crime. It is a misperception that women are raped by seedy, Ted Bundy-ish strangers. In fact, most rapes occur between two people that know each other. Unfortunately,a lot of these women want to move on. They believe that they can "deal with it" in their own way and get over it.

 

That is where I think this "Jane Doe" rape kit initiative is seriously flawed. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

[southsider2k5]

Heres some other takes on it

I applaud the new Federal "Jane Doe rape kit" initiative, but there is another equation here. What about those women who are traumatized and do not seek initial help or gather evidence? What about the women who do come forward, yet do nothing about the crime?

 

In many cases of rape, the victim may just want to 'forget about it' and move on. An example would be a female college student who was raped by a friend or date. They are thinking, "I was drunk." "No one will believe me." "I flirted with him". The self accusations are endless.

 

Will these women take the initiative to get something like this done...IMMEDIATELY? Being raped is traumatizing enough, but to have to go through the whole rape kit examination is replaying the ordeal over and over again.

 

There are many women out there who would utilize this...but I'm afraid there are more out there that won't use this opportunity. Depending on the woman and the circumstances of her rape, a majority of women NEVER report this crime. It is a misperception that women are raped by seedy, Ted Bundy-ish strangers. In fact, most rapes occur between two people that know each other. Unfortunately,a lot of these women want to move on. They believe that they can "deal with it" in their own way and get over it.

 

That is where I think this "Jane Doe" rape kit initiative is seriously flawed. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

 

So making it easier to prosecute these crimes isn't going to help underreporting? That makes no sense to me. Argue it could cause other problems, fine. It gives women the ability to have the evidence on hand, even if they feel they want to try to "get over it" at first, but as time passes decide she needs to prosecute to make sure the crime doesn't happen to anyone else. It actually could help with reporting.

 

[DrunkBomber]

So making it easier to prosecute these crimes isn't going to help underreporting? That makes no sense to me. Argue it could cause other problems, fine. It gives women the ability to have the evidence on hand, even if they feel they want to try to "get over it" at first, but as time passes decide she needs to prosecute to make sure the crime doesn't happen to anyone else. It actually could help with reporting.

I think the point of that article is saying that, while it will help a little. The main problem is getting women to come forward at all, because if they even take a shower the evidence will be gone and a lot of women just want it to go away and the next challenge is finding a way to make them come forward.

[jackie hayes]

So making it easier to prosecute these crimes isn't going to help underreporting? That makes no sense to me. Argue it could cause other problems, fine. It gives women the ability to have the evidence on hand, even if they feel they want to try to "get over it" at first, but as time passes decide she needs to prosecute to make sure the crime doesn't happen to anyone else. It actually could help with reporting.

Actually, I think it could go either way. Consider a woman who goes into the ER unsure what to do. Now, she might feel pressured to report the crime. But once it's widely known that this is an option, it might seem like a "safe" option. But every day after the crime, she might have more and more doubts about reporting it, and about her credibility after waiting to report. (And, honestly, I can't imagine that argument wouldn't be used in court.) I don't think it's impossible that you would have more treatment but fewer prosecutions.

 

I'm not sure, but I can imagine that. It'll be interesting to see the statistics.