For my first blog post, the article I chose to analyze is from the Minnesota newspaper The Star Tribune titled “When Rape is Reported and Nothing Happens.” Initially, I was hooked to the story because of the first victim’s retelling of her assault as it occurred two blocks from where I lived last year. It is especially frightening to know something so horrible happened steps away from where I felt safe.
The story sticks with me because the authors discuss how if homicide cases were treated in the same way that sexual assault cases are, essentially thousands are never solved or simply not assigned an investigator, people would be appalled. Something that I thought about after reading this story is, what are police doing instead of investigating these sexual assault cases? What possibly could be more important than putting a predator away, especially when there is evidence in some cases?
This story made me fearful to be a woman who can be alone at night. It also scares me that several of the victims that recounted their experiences in the story knew their attackers. It scares me that someone you trust could do this to you.
There are very few stories that I react to in the same way that I reacted to this one. After reading this story, I cannot stop thinking about it. Before reading this story, I knew that there were a lot of unsolved sexual assault cases, but I did not know the number was as high as 1,000 and that some cases are not even assigned an officer to investigate the case.
Something that challenged me as well as bothered me was that many victims when they gave their statements felt as though they were suspects themselves in their own sexual assault case. The police even asked some of them if they were telling the truth. It is never the victim’s fault if they were sexually assaulted. It is horrible and humiliating that a police officer would question a victim who is recounting her sexual assault.
What makes this story last is that there are thousands of sexual assault cases that have not been solved. So many women will never get justice.
Something that I would have done differently would be to include something about a successful rape case that put away an assaulter. What the timeline of the case was like, such as how long it took to be solved, how the victim is coping and maybe a link or phone number of where to report a sexual assault if you are a victim.
In summary, this was a very well written story. It made me as a reader angry that so many women feel as they are suspects in their own sexual assault cases, that they are being asked if they are lying or not. It made me angry that the police just stopped investigating some cases and some women had to pursue justice on their own. I truly cannot stop thinking about this story. I wish that something drastic could be done so there are more victories for the victims in sexual assault cases than there are losses.
Claire Henneman 