Rachel Lovell, PhD Profile picture
Sep 26, 2020 8 tweets 4 min read Read on X
YES! Just published article "The Bureaucratic Burden of Identifying your Rapist and Remaining “Cooperative”: What the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Tells us about Sexual Assault Case Attrition and Outcomes." Full-text link. @BegunCenter @SAKInitiative

link.springer.com/article/10.100…
/2 Main Qs: We know kits weren't tested but why didn't these cases result in holding the offender accountable? When did these cases fail to proceed in the criminal justice process and why?
3/ Findings: 1) Most "closed" very early in the process. Soon after reporting, soon after the assault. 2) Most were minimally investigated. 3) Most closed before detectives interviewed victims.
4/ Why did they "fail?" -- 1) victims unable to identify rapist 2) victims did not remain engaged in the process ("cooperative").
5/ Implications: The system places a bureaucratic burden on victims to solve their own rapes and remain "cooperative" in an often harmful process and system. It's a more passive way to (mis)handle sexual assaults - to get them off the "books."
6/ Policy: CJ system is not designed to support victims. So, we need to revamp the system to ensure victims have sufficient and trained support thruout the process. System needs to be held accountable. If we do this: rapists held accountable, communities are safer.
7/ Coauthors: @LauraOverman1, Duoduo Huang,& @danieljflannery

@MandelSchool @cwru
8/ Implications: And of course #testall #kits! Increased use of forensic evidence (#testing #rapekits) & following up on the testing w/ trauma-informed responses from the CJ system. Evidence: most of the cases in this sample now have convictions!
@ProsMikeOMalley @TheJHF

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More from @rlovell100

Oct 1, 2022
Thanks to all the contributors. We continued to be inspired by the work that you do. We have a long way to go when it comes to reforming our response to rape. But you have provided a framework for learning from our past, reforming our present, and envisioning a better future.
Sneak peek of the book -- introduction and Chapter 1 by the legendary @beckibooks @feeneyh. books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr…
A massive initiative to test hundreds of thousands of SAKs, also known as rape kits, in the United States—the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (or SAKI)—has unearthed failed practices while shining a bright light on thousands of shelved stories.
Read 5 tweets
Sep 9, 2020
So proud to be connected to the impressive work of the Task Force. 800 indictments! @ProsMikeOMalley @SAKInitiative cleveland.com/court-justice/…
2/ So many lessons to be learned from this. But the sheer political will to see this thru...many victims finally got justice, our community is safer, and it has saved our community money @BegunCenter
3/ For more info on cost savings, see our 2016 research: digital.case.edu/islandora/obje…. Updated #s are coming (the peer-review process takes forever!). For more info on other lessons learned, see (digital.case.edu/islandora/obje….
Read 4 tweets
Feb 24, 2020
1/ Research suggests such public convictions for rape have significant implications for ⬆️ reporting to police but that those ⬆️ can be short lived without messaging to the public that the CJ system is (really) willing to investigate & prosecute rape. @BegunCenter @MandelSchool
2/ The Weinstein news might also be trigger for some. Your friends & family might also disclose or otherwise want to talk to you about their experiences. Educate yourself on the best ways to respond. For all: there’s a 24-7/365 hotline # for more info: rainn.org/about-national…
/3 Weinstein verdict is also evidence that times are changing. Jurors can understand victim behavior and believe victims when given a chance to. It’s the CJ system’s job’s to explain the science to them. Convictions from Cuyahoga County’s #SAKI also demonstrate this. #TimesUp
Read 4 tweets
Feb 19, 2020
1/Preparing to testify at the Ohio Statehouse about @BegunCenter’s #SAKI research that supports OH #SB162, a bill that would among other things, eliminate the statute of limitation for rape in Ohio. @MandelSchool Image
2/Unfortunately, in my nerdiness, I sat in the front, which is in camera shot. I must force myself to be on my best behavior. No tearing up paper. No “you lie!” Minimal eye rolls. No sleeping. Image
3/key points based our research in support: #1 serial sexual offending is far more common than previously thought and often spans decade. So: elimating SOL greater chance of catching and prosecuting to fullest eaten the possible. Offenders like Nathan Ford.
Read 7 tweets
Jan 7, 2020
1/ Our @BegunCenter's SAK team's newest pub on rapists' criminality, “Offending histories and typologies of suspected sexual offenders identified via untested sexual assault kits” doi.org/10.1177/009385…
@rlovell100, W. Huang, @LauraOverman1, @danieljflannery, & J. Klingenstein.
@BegunCenter @LauraOverman1 @danieljflannery 2/ What’s new here: the data. Most of what we know about rapists is based on convicted rapists or those who self-report. Data from now-tested rape kits allow us to examine criminal histories of suspected sexual offenders who had not been “caught”, disclosed these crimes.
@BegunCenter @LauraOverman1 @danieljflannery 3/ Findings: 1) lots of serious criminality, 2) lots of serial general offending 3) lots of serial sexual offending, 4) more often than not, no arrest for rape in criminal history, 5) 3 “types” of sexual offenders, & 6) challenge assumptions that rapists only commit sex crimes.
Read 8 tweets
Sep 24, 2019
Heard about @netflix #Unbelievable (based on a true story)? Sadly, these stories are not new to those of us working in this field. It doesn't have to like this. We can do better. Excited to start research funded by @BJA's @SAKInitiative to help improve how victims are treated.
We can also do better by people working in the criminal justice system. Police. Prosecutors. Victim advocates.
Read 4 tweets

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