dreamer_easy: (feminist)
[personal profile] dreamer_easy
Ta to [livejournal.com profile] thegameiam: the Confederate Yankee blog has a stab at discrediting the Sarah Palin rape kits scandal, contending that despite the policy, there's no evidence that rape victims were actually billed.

There are a number of difficulties with this argument. One is that Wasilla's financial records only go back to 2000 - the year that charging rape victims for forensic kits became illegal. Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002. The blog also asked the Wasilla police to check their records, but doesn't tell us how far back those records go.

Citing minutes from the Alaska state legislature from March 2000, the Confederate Yankee tries to make the case that, since it was hospitals billing victims and not the police, the entire scandal is a lie. However, reading those minutes, it's clear that the hospitals were doing the forensic exams at the request of the police (who presumably lacked their own facilities), and then charging at least some rape victims. It was, after all, complaints about such charges that led to the practice being banned - despite the police chief's defence of charging rape victims. What's more, Palin slashed funding for such "contractual services" in Wasilla's 2000 police budget.

It would be reassuring to learn that, despite the policy and the funding cut, no rape victims were ever actually charged. Sadly, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

ETA: The CNN report that prompted the blog's response is important reading.

Date: 2008-09-25 05:06 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jblum.livejournal.com
Cool.

Then we could have her go up against Dark Phoenix.

Date: 2008-09-25 06:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] murasaki-1966.livejournal.com
In that case, I'm backing Dark Phoenix

Date: 2008-09-25 12:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] stephen-dedman.livejournal.com
Ellen Datlow just linked to this: http://jezebel.com/5054308/debunking-the-sarah-palin-rape-kit-debunkers

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