TX Women Paying for Own Rape Kits?
| Fri May. 8, 2009 6:28 AM PDT
Consider this the Friday edition of the "You Gotta Be Kidding Me" beat: Women in Houston are being forced to pay for processing their own rape kits. So I guess that means that people claiming burglary will have to pay for fingerprint analysis, right? From Click2Houston.com:
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Victims of sexual assault are getting bills, rejection letters and pushy calls from bill collectors while a state crime victims' fund sits full of cash...
"I'm the victim, and yet here I am. I'm asked to pay this bill and my credit's going to get hurt," said a single mom from Houston.
She received bills marked, "delinquent," after she visited a hospital where police told her to have evidence gathered. Officers assured her she would not pay a dime for that rape kit to be handled.
..."It is set up legislatively so that the criminal justice system pays for whatever evidence collection occurs," said Kelly Young, with theHouston Area Women's Center, a rape crisis facility.
That may be the theory, but the reality is that women alleging rape get to experience it twice; first the perp, then the bureaucracy that clearly discriminates against rape claimants.
Great. You survive the rape, you muster the gumption to press charges and undergo that hideous rape exam within hours of the crime. Then six or so months later, just when you're just starting to heal emotionally, you find that the state has thrown you to the bill collectors so you get to relive the rape again.
Read the piece to see the run-around women have to go through to get the bills paid,if they ever do; we'll never know how many just pay these huge bills, or take the hit to their credit reports, simply to have the whole horrible thing behind them. Just imagine calling some faceless bureaucrat trying to get these bills paid; "Hi. I was...you know... raped and you guys said you'd paid for the... rape kit?"
Here's the worst part:
Texas State Comptroller's office figures show the fund has tens of millions of dollars left over at the end of each year.
In September 2006, the balance was $67,058,646 and one year later, the balance was $57,669,432.
In 2008, that figure was up again to $66,572,261 that was left unspent in the fund.
Attorney General's spokesman Jerry Strickland said the crime victim fund is enforcing strict guidelines imposed by the legislature as to which bills are paid and which victims are sent a denial notice.
Otherwise, he said that fund could become "insolvent."
He said state law is clear that crime victims must exhaust all other potential funding sources, such as local police or their own health insurance.
"The legislature set it up that way," said Strickland.
This is the kind of thing that keeps me a hairy-legged, humorless, paranoid Paleo-feminist.
Comments
The Violence Against Women Act
Submitted by pol on Fri May. 8, 2009 6:38 PM PDT.
says states must pay for rape kits, or lose federal funding They were supposed to have complied by January 2009. I assume those states that did not pass legislation for the kits to be covered have lost the funding, but can act as they choose. My state, Virginia, passed legislation to comply with VAWA in 2008.
So, beginning in 2009, states will have to pay for Jane Doe rape kits to continue receiving funding under the federal Violence Against Women Act. The loss of that funding will mean less money for things like women’s shelters and law enforcement training. Emergency rooms usually use a rape kit to collect evidence for use by police and prosecutors.
http://www.apbweb.com/featured-articles/873-states-must-pay-for-rape-kit...
Rape Kits ...
Submitted by Pat Henry (not verified) on Fri May. 8, 2009 11:39 PM PDT.
So, what's to be surprised about? Alaska's Gov. Palin has already established the precedent: billing rape victims for their kits.
Now Rick Perry's State, the Lone Star of exceptionalism, wants to do the same. The same State where a former governor bragged that he spent no more than 10 minutes thinking about a death-sentence appeal before condemning someone to die.
Alaska's First Dude and Gov. Perry have both advocated secession.
I say let them. They can fund their effing economies on oil revenues and the income from selling rape kits to the victims of redneck brutality. They'll get along fine, and we'd be much better off without them.
What the hell are they thinking, anyway? Do they want to re-visit the catastrophic Civil War. Isn't advocating secession a frank act of treason?
My own mindset is so far removed from theirs that if they want to go, I'd say let them; don't slam the door on your way out.
Texas is rightfully a part of Mexico anyway.
Rape Victims Pay for Rape Kits
Submitted by Burr Deming (not verified) on Sun May. 10, 2009 6:14 PM PDT.
Outrageous
Your right
Submitted by Txgator on Mon May. 11, 2009 8:02 AM PDT.
As a white conservative Texas male, I agree with you. I think it is outrageous that a woman should be put through this. But I do take exception to some of the nasty slanderous talk that Pat Henry has for Texas.
1. Stating that rape is a product of redneck brutality. Im not a redneck nor am I an advocate of thiers. Just seems like your letting alot of non-rednecks off the hook for similar brutality. Or do only rednecks rape where you are at?
2. Even if Texas were to seceed from the union, it would not be treason. That right was built into our state constitution and ratified by the Government of the United States.
3. The death penalty. When someone in YOUR family is murdered by someone who has been released from jail after serving 8 years for a previous murder, then you can quote me as much self important tripe about being anti-death penalty as you want.
4. And we took out land from Mexico? I suppose the people in your state were all born there?
I for one am glad my mindset is different from yours. Mine allows me to see anothers point of you and not be so miopically narrow minded as to think I am 100% right about everything.
And when the door closes behind me, please lock it. I'll do the same.
Texas
Submitted by Deane (not verified) on Thu May. 21, 2009 7:23 PM PDT.
It has been my experience, working in the military over the last 20 years and having spent some amount of time at Ft. Hood, etc...there are alot of Texans in the military. They are usually the most conceited, brainwashed, simple minded individuals you will meet in a unit. Texas itself is a state of entirely unredeeming qualities. Every time you get a texan in the white house, you get a war, most of the time an illegal one. LBJ and Viet nam, George 1 and Desert Storm, and George 2 and the current mess. If you listen to the people that texans send to Washington to represent them, (Tom Delay) they talk propaganda with no substance, and texans eat that stuff up. I sincerely wish that they would secede, so that the national discourse will return to a more down to earth and realistic tone. I'm so tired of "yeah, we're gonna show them Iraqui's...they shouldn't've sent them hijackers to do that 9/11."
Talk about bad taste
Submitted by Godless Heathen on Mon May. 11, 2009 9:15 AM PDT.
Guys, this thread is about women being victimized, not the relative merits of Texas. Take that shit to the secession thread.
On topic: The fact that there is an approval process is disgusting and just goes to show the lack of the concept of relative merit amongst many of our lawmakers. Even if you could be lead to believe that there are women who would order unnecessary rape kits, how could you think that there would be enough to make it worth harassing those who are in need of protection by the law? If it's a matter of whether or not a locality will pay, pick an answer and force it. There should be no question as to whether a claim is legitimate.
Here's an easy solution, how about instead of making it the responsibility of the victim, we just assume the locality will foot the bill. If they have some sort of financial issues, they can apply to the victims' fund for assistance. Solved.
Does anyone, except
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon May. 11, 2009 9:16 AM PDT.
Does anyone, except desperate people from south of the border, move TO Texas? Why would anyone not white, not male and not conservative, want to?
Exactly the type of narrow minded responses I expected, especially from someone proud to be a heathen and someone who wishes to remain anonymous. Your exactly right Anonymous so please remain where you are. And to you Godless Heathen, this was not the forum for this, but then again, I didnt start with the personal attack and I must point out that you, of course, took your shot at Texas before you made your point. I would respond with more but frankly your not worth the time or effort.
re:
Submitted by Rodger Bush (not verified) on Wed May. 13, 2009 10:59 PM PDT.
thnks for your post. it's wonderful.....Outrageous
The Executive Director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault wrote an open letter to Texas sexual assault survivors regarding this issue on our blog.
http://taasa.org/blog/?p=1024
The letter talks about the numerous problems with the news story as well as the fact that this is not, as far as we at TAASA have witnessed, a recurring problem in Texas.
Horrible laws in texas
Submitted by payday one day (not verified) on Tue Sep. 8, 2009 9:37 AM PDT.
Horrible laws you have there in Texas. It is just hard to believe that such things can happen in the modern community nowadays. Government is not thinking about people at all. Their aim is to sit in the government chair and live like couch potatoes. I am sorry for those raped woman who had to pass through this horrible experience. Btw thank you for such a valuable information.
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