Charging Rape Victims

I have heard and read a little about this story for a week now, but I was not sure what to think. It was just to disgusting to believe, but sadly it is proving true.

Under the mayoral leadership of Sarah Palin, rape victims in Wasilla were charged for their own rape kits. A rape kit is a sexual assault forensic evidence kit, used to collect DNA that can be used in criminal proceedings to assist in the conviction of those who commit sex crimes. The kit is performed as soon as possible after a sexual assault or attack has been committed. It is usually humiliating and uncomfortable for the victim-imagine enduring that and then paying $1200 just so that the criminal who assaulted you might be caught. I couldn't even believe this article, it's just so disgusting. This article was published in Frontiersman which is the local Wasilla newspaper back in 2000, so it isn't a hit piece aimed at Sarah Palin because of her rise in the national media.

Feministing weighs in on this disturbing news.

Really, how can women vote for a woman like Sarah Palin who would charge rape victims for their own forensic exams?

Just so you know, Wasilla was unique in Alaska in this practice of charging victims, per a press story at the time.

And not that the story could get any worse, but apparently the reason they charged rape victims for their own police forensic exams was in order to keep taxes low. Yes, Sarah Palin's "tax cutting" policies led to rape victims being charged for their own exams, because low taxes was more important. Yes, Sarah Palin didn't want to "burden" taxpayers with having to support victims of rape. Yes, they were more interested in lowering taxes then justice or supporting the victim of a most despicable crimes. It would have cost the city between $5,000 and $14,000 a year to pay for the rape victims' police medical exams. And if the City of Wasilla, circa the year 2000, wants to go there in terms of balancing rape vs, burdening taxpayers, you should know that each and every Alaskan gets a check from the state government each year, it contains their portion of that year's oil revenues. The check would have been over $2,000. With an estimated population of 5000, the citizens of Wasilla were saved $1.00 to $3.00. I think the citizens of Wasilla had the money.