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Montana has seen a distressing increase in rape cases over the last forty years. While this is sadly true of many states, Montana is noteworthy for the steps it is taking to address the issue and work on solutions.
In the last 48 years, Montana has seen the number of rape cases jump from 48 to nearly 300 according to the Montana Law Enforcement Agency Uniform Crime Report. So far this year in Yellowstone County 37 rape cases have been reported. Officials say the numbers of unreported cases are much higher and it’s something that needs to change.
No state wants to have a black eye in terms of large numbers of rapes and murders. However, 37 rape cases in one county? I realize that Montana’s a big state, but that’s one hell of a shiner.
Perhaps the biggest concern in terms of sexual assault cases is in the reporting.
“Basically after a rape or sexual assault someone’s body is the crime scene,” said Angie Lancaster, the Sexual Assault Coordinator at Gateway House.
Getting to the hospital for a rape kit is necessary if the victim decides they want to report the crime. It’s recommended they don’t shower. If they change clothes, they’re instructed to put them in a paper bag and bring them to the hospital. “I really would recommend that they come into report or even just to come into get the exam. If they really refuse to have law enforcement involved that okay. That’s their choice,” said Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Lyndie Jolly of Billings Clinic.
The kit contains different envelopes for each phase of the exam. Antibiotics are included to help prevent the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases. “It’s kind of a process as far as examining the patient, as far as collecting forensic evidence and providing medical treatment.” The kits are later turned over to law enforcement or sent to the Department of Justice to be stored for sixty days while the victim decides whether they want to report the assault.
It’s easier said than done, though. Trust me, I know. From my personal blog (and I have thought long and hard about whether or not to post this excerpt here, never mind link to the full story … however, I want to at some point get up the guts to be a rape advocate on a higher level, so I guess it makes sense to post this here and now):
I was up at Andy’s condo with Andy, his friend Steve, and a bunch of Steve’s buddies so we could go snowmobiling. When we got back to the condo, Andy had one of the other guys, Tom, sleep in the fold-out bed with me (there were a lot of people there) and he went upstairs with the others. I was, as usual, pretty passed out, but I sort of remember Tom kissing me, and then it’s all a blur. When I woke up, there was blood all over the bed, and the source of the blood was obviously me. I had been abused in ways that no one ever should be by this guy, who wisely left before anyone else came up. I saw Andy’s eyes when he saw me naked in those bloody sheets, unable to move without hemorrhaging more blood out, and I saw whatever might have been between us die. Although it was insane for Andy to think I brought this on myself, he obviously did. We did not speak again for a long time, and then only sporadically (you say hi when you bump into someone at Wal-Mart, for example).
And so while I applaud Montana in general and the Gateway House in particular for their efforts, I can tell you that there is no way in hell I was getting a rape kit done. I would not have been able to tell that story to the police—I couldn’t even tell it to my family or friends or even to myself. I only came to terms with it on any sort of level in the last year and a half or so.
Am I weak? Well, that’s arguable, I suppose. Is what happened to
me uncommon? Unequivocally no … and that is what scares me. Rape is the most under-reported crime, with 60% of these horrific events going unreported. With support networks (and Law and Order: SVU) breaking the taboo at least in terms of conversation, that 60% number makes me sick to my stomach.
Is Montana doing enough? And what else CAN be done that is not that might do something about this horrible and all too common problem?
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It’s cathartic and healing to finally be able to talk about horrible things. I think that most people can’t let it out immediately. It’s as if it is some strange kind of poisonous wine. It takes years to ferment, but when it is ready – it has changed. It leaves your soul clean and strong when you can finally tap the barrel and share it.
I don’t know what you do for a living,but you have a way with the written word.
You’ve totally hit the proverbial nail on the head here … thank you :-)
I completely agree with you!
I’m not sure how much can be done if no one wants to report the rape. I haven’t ever been raped, so I can’t understand the feelings that someone goes through, but I just cannot understand why no one wants justice.
And Katie, your story about Andy really pissed me off. I cannot fathom how the fact that you were covered in blood and unable to move proved that you brought it upon yourself. Christ.
I commend Montana for doing what it can. And it is enough. Maybe there are things that can be done in other areas (education, law enforcement, sentencing, etc), but i don’t see more here.
What could anyone possibly expect the state to do about people who choose not to report a rape?
“If they really refuse to have law enforcement involved that okay. That’s their choice.”
This is really important. And it is the survivor’s choice. Of course we wish all women would feel comfortable reporting rape, both to prevent the rapist from hurting more women, and to get justice. But on the flipside, as a rape survivor, I completely understand the vast number of reasons a woman wouldn’t want to report. Feelings of shame, embarrassment, not wanting people to find out, not wanting to cause drama or make an accusation when the incident happened without witnesses, not wanting to go through the sexual assault exam (which is very traumatizing for many survivors – it can make them feel ‘re-raped’ and even induce PTSD, although the SANE program has helped with this).
I didn’t report my rape. I was 15 years old and didn’t even realize I had been raped. This was because of both ignorance and denial (the person who raped me was my boyfriend, I thought I was in love with him and didn’t want to get him into trouble). I didn’t even tell my parents about it for 5 years after it happened, after therapy addressing it and an apology from the guy.
A lot of states will not even do a SANE examination unless the survivor states that he or she wishes to press charges, and I think this is really messed up. You have to have the exam done as soon as possible after the sexual assault happens. You are not in the right state of mind to be making decisions about pressing charges within 72 hours of being the victim of sexual violence. You should be allowed to have the exam done without committing to reporting the rape officially, until you have some time to sort things out and do some physical and emotional healing.
I understand that testing costs money, but doing the exam and collecting evidence, with the survivor ultimately deciding not to report is not a waste of money. And having the policy to allow 60 days for the survivor to decide probably results in more reporting anyway.
These programs need to give survivors OPTIONS and those options needs to be advertised. On the radio, in bathroom stalls, etc. along with a message that decries sexual violence.
I think it’s really brave of you, wanting to be an advocate. I think that is the most important piece of giving survivors the nonjudgmental help they need. I wish I had known about advocates when I was 15, because I know my story would have ended differently.
Sorry, did not mean to make the first part of my post sound like rape involves female victims. There’s actually a huge need for male sexual assault advocates and services for male rape survivors, because that is even more under-reported than for females, and male rape victims often have to use services meant for females, which in turn makes them feel more emasculated and alienated.
**only female victims. Sorry, hangover.
I grew up in Montana. In 1994 or so they put a law into effect that if a woman was drunk at the time of having sex then she could claim rape. Suddenly on college campuses, rape accusations exploded as morning after remorse set in (I had several friends who filed rape claims on this basis. All but one was thrown out for a lack of evidence). I don’t know if that rule is still on the books or not.
Part of Montana being a big state with very few people is the isolation. It’s also Libertarian in mindset so there’s a live and let live philosophy that can work against rape victims. Montana is also not a very wealthy state and with such a sparse population, there isn’t the drive nor the funds for the types of programs that others are advocating for rape victims. This is the state, after all, that voted in medical marijuana and has since spent their time firebombing marijuana dispensaries and fining doctors who prescribe medical marijuana (my hometown, Whitefish, just did this).
You make it sound as though all Montanans firebomb medical marijuana facilities. It’s only happened in one town, to the extent of my knowledge.
And as for the libertarians, did you never to go Missoula?
I have been to Missoula. My BA is from University of Montana and my MA is from Montana State. I also spent a year in Billings. If you live in Montana, you know that Missoula is the exception and not the rule. Missoula is also not the political center of Montana (although it might be the most vocal) and is often whelmed by the rest of the state.
When I say I grew up in Montana, I mean I grew up in Montana. I’m not some transplant who moved there at the age of 8 or 12 or for college. I spent my first 26 years there. Granted I’ve spent the last 8 in Louisiana and Wisconsin, but from the newspapers and my parents’ updates, things haven’t changed much.
[...] about her status as hot gossip on JuicyCampus.com. At first she was shocked that someone could be so ignorant as to blame a rape victim. Then she felt betrayed, knowing it must have been someone close to her because so few people knew. [...]
RAPE is NOT happening more today that it happened in the past, its just ‘posted’ on the internet or elsewhere in this current ‘information age!’ It happened before, but it was NEVER mentioned to the ‘media!’ I feel this media ‘publicizing’ it will just cause it to occur more often?
I’m not following your logic there Jeff, how on earth would publicizing rape lead to an increase in rape? This is an honest question, I’m totally baffled.
[...] finally believed and a sexual predator is now behind bars, I don’t think this story is exactly going to encourage rape victims—past, present, and future—to come forward. Instead, it supports the knee-jerk “blame the [...]