Untested Rape kits in Central FL: How would you feel it were your mother, sister, daughter?

What excuse do our Republican Overlords profess for more tax breaks for the rich?  When will we say No More!

Governor Voldemort

Rape Kits and a Lawful Society

We start with a few propositions in a lawful society, the most important perhaps that we agree to act under certain rules which cover our business and interactions with others.

We deem safety of individuals paramount and thus set up rules criminalizing actions which injure others.

Few actions can injure as much as rape.

Rape violates the very personhood of an individual, man and woman, and reduces the victim to less than human, a thing with no control of one's very self, in essence a slave to the whims and actions of another.  Any just society would consider that among the most reprehensible of actions deemed as criminal and thus subject to removal from a lawful society.

A just society than would investigate and punish accusations of rape.  One of the main tools in a rape investigations has collection of of DNA evidence, generally called a "rape kit."  Such collecting happens in a clinical setting and certainly also feels intrusive to the victim.

Think about telling a rape victim that a large percentage of rape kits collected have yet to get tested.  They certainly would fail to find our society just.

"To me, the rape kit backlog is one of the clearest and most shocking demonstrations of how we regard sexual assault in our society," [actress Mariska] Hargitay said in a statement. "A rape kit can bring justice, so often an integral part of a survivor's healing. Testing rape kits sends a fundamental and crucial message to victims of sexual violence: You matter." (emphasis added)  http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/chi-new-data-rape-kit-backlogs-20141003-story.html

For instance in Las Vegas. only 16% of rape kits have gotten tested.  Sixteen per cent!  That only marks the most egregious example of the shocking pattern of neglect shown across this country, proving to some that we live in a patriarchal society where the aspirations and very lives of women matter little.

In Tennessee, 9000 kits remain untested, which actually makes an improvement, as reported in the Washington Post.  Of attacks in Seattle, Washington, authorities only managed to get 22% tested, also Wisconsin has 5951 kits untested.

Across the country, estimates put the number of untested kits at over 100,000, "some held for over decades."  That it fell to a private citizen, Hargitay, to bring attention to the widespread lack of testing of rape kits, remains unconscionable, especially view of the grave effects for survivors.

By accident, Hargitay got a role in a television crime drama often dealing with the crime of rape.  As she went on public appearance, survivors told Hargity of their travails.  Delving into the issue, found herself shocked--as should we all--that tens of thousands of rape kits remained untested all across the country.  So she founded an organization--A Joyful Heart--focused on helping people heal, not perpetuating their victim hood but helping humans rise above terrible circumstances.

Amen for Mariska Hargity.

And No More!

My Role in Rape Culture

Although never having forced my self on a woman, my nieces off in college at THE University of FL and recent tragic events in US high schools have made me re-evaluate my entire life.

As the diarist at Daily Kos refllected, my life at times had me silent when teammates and male friends spoke derogatively about females and people  attracted to others of their same sex.

I participated in conversations objectifying females and spoke of them as merely objects for sexual conquest, and that was wrong.  Even though for the life of me never perceived of those conversations condoning rape and rape culture, they dd, and it was wrong.

Sadly having now realized that and perhps now consigned to a wheelchair and maybe never to return to my local, I'll never get to make amends--and never get to give a birthday present book to and rejected again by Deidre, my favorite and amazingly literate bartender.  Serves me right to suffer

Oh heck, that reads depressing.  Let me make myself feel better bagging on bumpkin Old Testament Christians condmning Ho-Mo-SEX-uals and sodomy and other stuff.  Methinks they doth protest too much!

They invent figments of their own imagination when they decry the "homosexual agenda."  Most differently gendered people I've known just try to make it through life without getting their asses beat while looking for love--except for the lesbian block layers I saw who cleaned the clocks of some 7-11 cowboys at Nancy's Guys and Dolls in Orlando.

'Ceptin; for them, most homosexuals plan on driving from Orlando straight through to Tampa because people way less tolerant in counties on the way.

Progressive folk realize we ought not to judge those who look for love from not the opposite sex, even accept the transgenderd and all different permutations thereof.  Can't for the life of me understand it 'cause just ain;t wired that way.

Without further ado, please forgive me for shamelessly cutting and pasting words which made me think and challenged me:

[Let me first say that I am implicated in the rape culture not only in Maryville Missouri, where I played football and grew up, but also that which prevails across our country.  And I owe an apology to girls like Daisy Coleman who have been victims of sexual violence, as well as other who have been bullied or otherwise abused.

Because I was there - literally - in that locker room.  Not during Daisy's time, but years earlier.  And when people called you a skank, or a fag, or said they'd "bone" you or kick your ass, I didn't join in.  But I didn't speak up, either.  For my own reasons of fear and insecurity, I didn't speak up when I could have.  I didn't just put a foot forward in that room and say something even so simple as "hey guys.. come on! I don't really want to hear that stuff." and I could have. I am very sorry that I didn't do more, because clearly the culture didn't change - hasn't changed.  If it had, we wouldn't be having to read about stories like this....

And I really should have taken more of that to heart when I had the opportunity to hold my peers to that standard of accountability.  It's a responsibility guys have as teammates, school peers, brothers, parents, teachers, etc etc.  It's a responsibility I had - to lead - and allowed fear to get the best of me.  And, like I said, I really should have known better, because the above statement was written by my father, who taught me more than enough about respecting and standing up for all people - women and men, popular and unpopular, etc.

So, if you look at the Maryville rape case and are so angry that you want to blame someone for what went wrong - you can start with me  - DKOS UID 5593.  Because I didn't speak out when I should have. Please accept my apologies.]  emphasis added
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/16/1248120/-Justice-for-Daisy-and-an-apology