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THREAD-Each year, roughly 125,000 rapes are reported across the United States. But in 49 out of every 50 rape cases, @barbarabradleyh reports, the alleged assailant goes free—often, we now know, to assault again. theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
"How many rapes could have been prevented if police had believed the first victim? How many women would have been spared a brutal assault?"
"But the rape-kit scandal has turned out to be only a visible symptom, a mole on the skin that hints at a pervasive cancer just below the surface.
"The deeper problem is a criminal-justice system in which police officers continue to reflexively disbelieve women who say they’ve been raped—even in this age of the #MeToo movement, and even when DNA testing can confirm many allegations.
"From the moment a woman calls 911 (and it is almost always a woman; male victims rarely report sexual assaults), a rape allegation becomes, at every stage, more likely to slide into an investigatory crevice. Police may try to discourage the victim from filing a report.
"If she insists on pursuing a case, it may not be assigned to a detective. If her case is assigned to a detective, it will likely close with little investigation and no arrest. If an arrest is made, the prosecutor may not bring charges: no trial, no conviction, no punishment."
"Each year, roughly 125,000 rapes are reported across the United States. Sometimes the decision to close a case is surely correct; no one wants to smear an innocent man’s reputation or curtail his freedom because of a false report.
"But in 49 out of every 50 rape cases, the alleged assailant goes free—often, we now know, to assault again.
"Which means that rape—more than murder, more than robbery or assault—is by far the easiest violent crime to get away with."
