Thursday, September 11, 2008

Mayor Sarah Palin Charged Rape Victims for Rape Kits

And I guess if a rape victim couldn't afford a rape kit, then the criminal went free for lack of evidence:
While Gov. Palin was Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska in the late 1990s, the city's policy was to charge rape victims for the cost of the 'rape kits' used to collect forensic evidence to help prosecute the rapists. Eventually the state had to step in and pass a law banning the practice. And according to former Gov. Tony Knowles, the law was passed specifically in response to Wasila's policy. "There was one town in Alaska that was charging victims for this, and that was Wasilla," says Knowles.

So Wasila was either the only or one of the only towns in the state to follow this practice. And the state legislature had to intervene to put an end to it. There's no controversy about this. So this part is clear.
Doesn't discouraging women from collecting forensic evidence that could lead to the prosecution of their rapists by forcing them to pay for kits merely re-victimize them?

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