This is one of my ideas that will have to be implemented in The Study in order for some of the programs to work.
Melania
Trump had a point when she said that women need hard evidence before they
accuse a man of sexual assault. Women are not believed as victims, and he
said-she said is very hard to prove. We also live in a culture where the woman
is often blamed for the incident, including by herself. We live in a culture
where “boys will be boys” and we train women on how to avoid an all-too-common
scenario, as if they have the power to prevent the situation from occurring.
All this means that if women need hard evidence to see their accusers brought
to justice, they need a way to gather evidence in a way that is less traumatic
for the survivors, so that more will be empowered to come forward.
Talk to
someone who was strong enough to withstand the invasive and humiliating process
that is getting a rape kit done in a hospital, and you will hear stories of
trauma following the initial violence that tug at anyone’s heart strings. There
are trained professionals who handle processing these kits, but there are not
enough, and the emotional support that survivors need is often lacking. So how
can we, as a modern, technologically savvy culture, empower women and reduce
the trauma that comes with collecting evidence from a traumatic event?
Enter the
DIY rape kit. It is the size of a large first-aid kit and contains everything a
person would need to provide evidence for their sexual assault in a court of
law. In this kit are bandages, sterile gloves and swabs with tamper-proof bags
and labels. These are used to collect DNA evidence and send to law enforcement
for analysis. There is also a separate, tamper-proof compartment with a
microphone and camera for victims and a trusted third party to record the
victim’s account and take photos of wounds. It runs on a small battery and a
2-4 hour window to collect evidence and record the victim’s account. The
container is sealed in such a way (electromagnet, tamper-proof tape, etc.) that
law enforcement know that the kit has not been tampered with and is admissible
evidence in court. The collector and survivor sign statements included in the
kit stating that all the information contained was collected in the allotted
time, accurately portrays the events, and will include jail time for the
accusers if the intent is to defame the accused instead of justice for the
survivor. The last piece of reinforcement so the account of the victim is valid
is a timer that is activated when the kit is opened, and stopped when the kit
is closed, which can only happen once, that allows those processing the
evidence to know how long it took the survivor and their evidence collector to
complete the task.
The first
response from many people has been “What about the men who are falsely
accused?” I’m not going into how small a number that is relative to the
unreported incidents, but it worth finding a way to reduce false accusations.
The way to protect the innocent lies in the training and dispensing of the
kits. If those who are trained in the kit’s use sign a form at the end saying
they understand that using the tool to condemn the innocent will result in jail
time, say 30 days. This will stop people from trying to use the kit for
nefarious purposes. How do we know this is effective? Talk to those who are
mandatory reporters of child or elder abuse; that fear of punishment for not
reporting is enough to overcome the fear of the child or adult’s life changing
dramatically in the name of their safety.
Who has
the kit and is able to administer it is also important. This cannot be an
over-the-counter solution, as it is evidence for criminal behavior and needs to
be regulated to ensure its validity. Emergency responders (fire, police, and
EMS), medical professionals, and people who take an extended First Aid course
can have the kit on them, so that if someone needs the evidence on their body
to be processed, it will be done so more comfortably and without condemnation
or judgement.
It is sad
that this idea could change the world, because if men and women respected
themselves and each other, this would not be a problem. This is a higher ideal
than is feasible in today’s society with all of the fighting, sensationalism,
and divisive nature of the government. However, something does need to be done
so that women are less fearful of retaliation or hatred after experiencing
something already traumatic. We have to empower women to come forward in a
timely manner so that their aggressors can face justice. This could be the
first step to ensuring what she said carries as much weight in court as what he
said.
This
doesn’t help those who were assaulted before DNA evidence was admissible or
collectible, nor does it help those who waited over 72 hours to have the
evidence collected. Who it does help are the survivors who are impacted by this
from now on, so that the culture can change when the people at large see how
many citizens are impacted by this type of violence. In my head I see mountains
of these pastel plastic containers ready to be processed by an understaffed
investigative unit.
This is
also just the first step in solving the problem. Rape kits across the country
are in a horrible backlog, as Time reported in 2014, and Mariska Hargitay’s
organization Joyful Heart is trying to fix. Law enforcement needs the resources
and the determination to process these kits and see justice done. Giving women
a way to collect their evidence in a safe, supportive situation is only going
to increase the number of rapes and sexual assaults that are reported, but not
the number of perpetrators that come to justice; that responsibility lies with
our government.
We have
the technology and the infrastructure to get these kits, and create the
training needed to use them properly, overnight, but do we have the will and
the compassion to empower victims of this crime we have only started to bring
to light? I’m not looking for credit for the idea; that’s not the point. I want
justice for the thousands of women around the world who daily have to endure
the trauma of their experiences in a society that doesn’t believe them. I want
this problem to stop, and hopefully, so do you.
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