2008 Woodie Awards
Letter: Student wants rape kits back at URI
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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11/02/07 - To the Cigar,
The information featured in your Oct. 3 article, "University no longer offering rape kits" could potentially produce an unwelcoming environment at URI Health Services for sexual assault victims. Young women who have been sexually assaulted have most likely gone to Health Services in the past because they perceived it as a safe haven.
If the university in general, and Health Services in particular, are no longer offering rape kits, then what substitute arrangements are being made for sexual assault victims seeking assistance at Health Services? Failing to offer rape kits might send a signal to students that Health Services is no longer fully treating sexual assault victims.
If you signal to students that URI Health Services will not fully treat sexual assault victims by refusing to administer rape kits, you risk pushing victims further into shame, silence and isolation. We need to send the opposite message to our students and to the perpetrators who count on our collective silence.
Offering rape kits at Health Services is one way of reminding students that URI Health Services is a place to go if one is sexually assaulted, and that the staff at Health Services are trained and prepared to gather evidence that a sexual assault has occurred.
According to a 2005 study by the National Institute for Justice: Less than 5 percent of completed and attempted rapes of college students are brought to the attention of campus authorities and/or law enforcement.
Failure to recognize and report the crime not only may result in underestimating the extent of the problem, but also may affect whether victims seek medical care and other professional help. Thus, a special concern of the study was what schools are doing to encourage victims to come forward.
And in direct reference to response protocols: One of the most promising practices is providing victims access to a trained, certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). SANE practitioners provide appropriate treatment and forensic examination. Their documentation of evidence can corroborate a victim's account.
The information featured in your Oct. 3 article, "University no longer offering rape kits" could potentially produce an unwelcoming environment at URI Health Services for sexual assault victims. Young women who have been sexually assaulted have most likely gone to Health Services in the past because they perceived it as a safe haven.
If the university in general, and Health Services in particular, are no longer offering rape kits, then what substitute arrangements are being made for sexual assault victims seeking assistance at Health Services? Failing to offer rape kits might send a signal to students that Health Services is no longer fully treating sexual assault victims.
If you signal to students that URI Health Services will not fully treat sexual assault victims by refusing to administer rape kits, you risk pushing victims further into shame, silence and isolation. We need to send the opposite message to our students and to the perpetrators who count on our collective silence.
Offering rape kits at Health Services is one way of reminding students that URI Health Services is a place to go if one is sexually assaulted, and that the staff at Health Services are trained and prepared to gather evidence that a sexual assault has occurred.
According to a 2005 study by the National Institute for Justice: Less than 5 percent of completed and attempted rapes of college students are brought to the attention of campus authorities and/or law enforcement.
Failure to recognize and report the crime not only may result in underestimating the extent of the problem, but also may affect whether victims seek medical care and other professional help. Thus, a special concern of the study was what schools are doing to encourage victims to come forward.
And in direct reference to response protocols: One of the most promising practices is providing victims access to a trained, certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). SANE practitioners provide appropriate treatment and forensic examination. Their documentation of evidence can corroborate a victim's account.