Sarah Palin and the Rape Kit Question
The blogosphere is reporting that when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, in the late 1990s, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's municipal police department charged rape victims for the "rape kit" used to collect the forensic evidence necessary to convict their attackers. According to reports, this changed in 2000 when then Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles signed a bill protecting rape victims from being charged. As I wrote recently, however, the situation described in Wasilla is not unique. In all too many instances, women are still being stuck with the bill for rape kits. This despite the fact that in order to qualify for federal grants under the Violence Against Women Act, states are supposed to pick up the entire tab.
If on her watch Sarah Palin allowed women to be charged for rape kits, she has some serious explaining to do. But while she's undoubtedly the most visible offender, if the story is true, she's unfortunately not the only one to have permitted this reprehensible practice.
Tags: Alaska | crime | police | Sarah Palin
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Reader Comments
No Opinion is "Stupid!"
In the end, it doesn't really matter if Sarah Palin is a woman or a man. She is running, alongside John McCain, to lead the Executive branch of the U.S. government. Anyone who voluntarily applies for this all-important job must first go through the interview process with the American people, and I, for one, as a woman, am worried by what I see in Sarah Palin. It is our right (and our JOB) as citizens, who will undoubtedly be impacted by their future decisions, to question, criticize, and ultimately decide if their opinions, experience, and character qualify them to lead our country. We do this with our own vote.
My own ultimate feelings about the McCain/Palin ticket has little to do with the Rape Kit controversy alone, but in combination with her ultra-conservative views and the inevitable changes to come on the U.S. Supreme Court, I worry about my future rights as a woman. This is why I feel that Sarah Palin is a dangerous woman. She is not an "Every Woman". She does not represent me, or most other women around me. To me she is the "anti-Woman". It is not just about the now, or the decisions/opinions expressed in the past. It is also about future conditions that may arise to change the lives and rights of America's women. Look ahead!
Fannon (Wasalla's Police Chief) said the criminal should pay it not the victim
I have read all of that and then some: He may ahve said he would "like" to see the offender pick up the tab but the victim still has to pay first. And then get reimbursed. By a rapist who might, all the Gods willing, end up in jail. So exactly how are the victims going to be reimbursed? Apparently YOU didn't read the entire article.
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