Bad Rape Reporting
Posted on May 13, 2008 by andrew
This struck me as some pretty awful writing about a fairly sensitive topic:
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.
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.
[Emphasis added]
Shouldn’t the phrase I emphasized read, “…rape victims who are initially uncertain as to whether they will press charges…” or, “… rape victims who do not immediately go to the police…” or something else that does not pejoratively assume the mental state of women who have just been raped?
But perhaps I’m being unfair to the reporter. I suppose the possibility exists that the test will literally only be available to those women judged afraid or ashamed. In that case, we would have a whole new issue on our hands.
UPDATE: I should have added that the requirement for states to provide these kits to hospitals so that women have the option at their own discretion sounds like good policy to me. Not that I trust anyone to carry out the policy particularly well, but the core idea strikes me as correct.
Sphere: Related Content» Filed Under gender, rape, the media
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It’s true…his sentence doesn’t cover any of the women that just have too goddamn much to do that day to go to the police, and additionally lacks the multiple awkward phrases that your suggestions provide.