Until Last Week, The Official Policy Of One Virginia City Was To Assume All Rape Victims Were Lying

[LanternWaste]

Until last week, Norfolk, Virginia police classified sexual assault claims to be “unfounded” — or not valid — by default. According to the Virginian-Pilot, a 22-year-old woman’s case prompted Norfolk police chief Mike Goldsmith to update the policy so that officers must now assume rape victims are telling the truth.

The woman reported the attack immediately to police, only to be told, “If we find out that you’re lying, this will be a felony charge.” Before giving her a medical examination, officers subjected the woman to interrogations during which they said things like, “You’re telling us a different story than you told … the other detectives,” and “This only happened hours ago. Why can’t you remember?” Having had enough, the woman cut off the interview.

The police eventually arrested and charged the attacker for multiple other sexual assaults and felonies, and Goldsmith apologized for mishandling the woman’s initial allegations. Now that Goldsmith has updated the policy for handling sexual assault cases, the department will also undergo training for post-traumatic stress disorder and rape trauma.

For law enforcement to assume that rape victims are usually lying is a gross misunderstanding of the number of false rape accusations. Only two to eight percent of reported rapes are false reports, and even fewer ever include a specific false accusation. In fact, the real problem is that most rapes go unreported.



http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/08/13/2457991/virginia-law-enforcement-rape/



(Posted without comment because today I feel like there's nothing left to say...)

[BainsBane]

1. No, we don't have a rape culure

Its defenders keep saying so.

[ismnotwasm]

2. What CAN you say?

Every time I look for news for this group there's many, many horrid stories of rape, and the worldwide injustice around it. Rapeculture *is* a culture, and not actually being a rapist doesn't mean someone isn't a part of supporting it--and that support can be disgustingly enthusiastic indeed.

[TheOther95Percent]

3. I had to check the date and the source on this story.

It's not The Onion and this article was written in 2013 and not, say, 1713. Unbelievable. Little wonder that this crime is so underreported.

[UtahLib]

4. Better late than never, I guess.

Based on the obvious hostility victims of rape have been subjected to, I don't believe updating their policy and a little training is going to magically resolve the issue. Sometimes I wonder if these people can even relate to the women with whom they have personal relationships.

I appreciate your contributions to DU and I'm sorry you're feeling so discouraged.