[Vision2020] Rape Kit Costs

[Tom Hansen]

Chief Weaver -

While browsing around the internet I came across a blog entry, from the US 
News and World report, concerning costs related to processing and 
administering rape kits being passed on to the victims.  This blog entry 
is pasted below.

As atrocious as this practice seems to be, it is also reported (in the 
blog entry) that such costs normally become the responsibility of the 
victim in many communities.

My question:  Without violating any confidentiality, may I ask what the 
practice is of Moscow, if you are aware of such information.

Thank you for your anticipated reponse.

Respectfully,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

>From US News and World Report at:

http://tinyurl.com/6j4ma4

---------------------------------------------------------- 

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. 



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