Wasilla Paper: Under Mayor Palin, Rape Victims Charged for Own Forensic Tests

I wonder what the Senator for the State of Illinois has ever done to oppose the practice of charging Illinois rape victims for THEIR testing kits?

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-health-and-money/2008/2/21/rape-victims-c...

The Senator's name? Why Barak Obama! Strange that this obnoxious policy in Illinois escaped your - and Obama's - notice.

People in glass houses, and all that ?

I wonder what the Senator for the State of Illinois has ever done to oppose the practice of charging Illinois rape victims for THEIR testing kits?

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-health-and-money/2008/2/21/rape-victims-c...

The Senator's name? Why Barak Obama! Strange that this obnoxious policy in Illinois escaped your - and Obama's - notice.

People in glass houses, and all that ?

So with all that tons of money Palin was bringing into Wasilla, the police were still charging for such services? How much do you want to bet that providing better services for victims of rape and domestic abuse wasn't proposed in at least one of the government grants Palin snared? The money probably went to abstinence programs instead.

welcome to the TALIBAN U.S.A.

Sad u see Pharisees like McCain/Palin are of the opinion that the criminal is the girl who got raped, because it had to be her fault, so why help her. WE THE PEOPLE sure do not need this bunch back in the presidency of the United States. We will do much better with Obama/Biden. Give a full Democratic Presidency and Congress a chance to show the difference. The Congress was Republican when Clinton was in and for the past 8 years has been REPUBLICAN led. It is time to allow our government to be wholly democratic in order for our country to be able to get out of this $53 TRILLION DEBT and get the people back on track where they will be able to have good permanent jobs, instead of continuing having their jobs taken away.

McSame/Pain 08 -- the real "bridge to nowhere"

thats crazy..Palin asked for the most money for her state then any other state...Shes planning to start drilling in Alaska..thats why she wont put Polar bears on the endangerd species list..Even tho ppl dont know her..the politicians do..she's another bush

tasha,said "this bitch". Referring to women as dogs is sexist. The use of the "b" word is inappropriate. Please watch your language on this intellectual blog.

I know I am not the best writer but
this is a true story
This is MY personal story
As a woman who was raped at knife point at age 19 in my own bed in my own home
I personally know what kind of courage it takes to even call the police and report a rape
When they respond the first thing they do is make you change clothes and
take the clothes and bed sheets(in my case) you were wearing for evidence
They do not allow you to shower or even brush your teeth, as in my case because I was forced to perform oral sex on my rapist
You are then asked every type of demeaning question possible most likely by male officers
Then you go to the hospital and wait and wait for what seems an eternity
I waited hours for the official person that performs the rape exam to arrive
just wishing and longing for a shower and to just brush my teeth to wash him off of me
and as I waited regretting reporting the crime because i felt so horrible
Finally after hours of waiting the official rape nurse arrives and does the exam with the "rape kit"
Then the police want you to come and id photos at the station
while it is fresh in your mind
I was an art major so I drew a picture of my rapist for them

I was raped at 5 am and did not get home from all of this and actually get in the shower until 4 PM
He was never caught
I am 45 years old and this all happened 26 years ago but
I can remember the horror and all the humiliation that went along with it as if it were just yesterday
I could not imagine the additional humiliation and stress if I were charged for the rape kit 300- 1200 dollars that I did not have
as Sarah Palins administration did to rape victims during her term of mayor of Wasilla, Alaska
I suppose this is her idea of balancing a budget
and I certainly can not imagine the horror of getting pregnant in that instance and being forced to have the baby
I have a hard time as a rape victim believing that this cruel and heartless person is a woman and not a monster
I do not like her or her politics on the issues but this truly hurts my heart
It breaks my heart and as a woman I do not understand how any woman could vote for her

This is a woman against a woman's right to choose even in the most extreme cases of rape or incest
Let me tell you that now a days many little girls get their periods at 11 or 12 years old now
can you imagine an 11 year old incest or rape victim being forced to carry a pregnancy to term under that circumstance or even dying from an illegal and dangerous abortion, or self inflicting a dangerous abortion upon themselves
This is Sarah Palin's world
Many people especially women are still upset over the treatment of Hillary Clinton
they say that they will stay home and not vote on election day
because they have lost faith in the process
or even worse they will vote for Mc Cain and the self proclaimed "pit bull with lipstick"
I voted for Hillary and was also upset, but I now support Barack Obama
Hillary appealed to her voters to vote for the causes she stands for and for all of the people she has helped and will continue to help
As a woman, a democrat and a Hillary supporter I beg all Hillary supporters to take Hillary's words and pleas to heart and as she said keep going
and vote for Barack Obama for president
I am personally BEGGING you for me and all the hundreds of thousand rape victims and incest victims, some of the people that Hillary has devoted her entire life to helping
to vote for Barack Obama
for the brave women who were suffragettes
please do not let women be set back 100 years
please do not take action
no action will force us into hell
please vote for Barack Obama
and if you can not bring yourself to do that for the good of all women
please vote AGAINST the anti-women Sarah "Barracuda" Palin

Click here: Feministe » Sarah Palin: Objectively pro-sexual assault
please read this and send this to every woman you know
for you, for me and for every woman
this is my story
this is many brave women's stories
this is the most heart felt plea I can make

I hope people stop being dumb. I mean I thought American people were smart, but some women and men are showing either one of the two right now in this election. You're either dumb or racist? What I mean by that is this here. You're a Dem all your life and never voted Republican and now that Barack Obama can be President all of a sudden "you don't know the canidate". Let me tell you a secret...tsk tsk come closer....NONE OF US KNOW NONE OF THE CANIDATES LIKE THAT! Republicans are against everything the majority of America is for. I hear and see women and men saying "wow, McCain pick the right person, she's excellent for the VP job", but you just was the same person saying Obama didn't have experience. Obama been on the national scene and has done plenty and the Republicans no this, but here you go saying someone that was "GOOGLED" chosen as your VP and now she's right for the job. The same person that asked in a interview "what do a VP do?" I mean you're taught that in elementry school. People you are not hurting Obama by thinking you're paying him back by not voting for him. See Obama can write a book and make a movie on his life and live well. You on the otherhand have to live another term of Bush with Cain/Palin the war President and the Animal Killer VP. So ask yourself, who are you paying back? Barack or just yourself? This lady is dodging interviews, repeating that same written speech from the RNC everywhere she goes with McCain and saying that same line about some damn lipstick. What about policies, education, jobs, housing, the people, healthcare, taxes, energy, etc. Everything she says this day foward in interviews is not the thoughts of her but of the Republican who is training her right now for her first interview.

Reasons not to vote for her as a WOMAN AND MAN:

pro-life

pro-killing animals for sport

pro-handguns (means more
violence in the street)

NO policy knowledge

NO terrorist knowledge (believe the War is GOD's doing)

Anti-gay and lesbian

Her church teach "jews for jesus" lecture meaning if you jewish and don't believe in jesus you're going to hell.

Her church is putting on a convention saying that they will pray the devil out of gays and lesbians. smh

I can go on and on

Sarah Palin is also for the shooting and killing of wolves from helicopters because they eat moose and caribou and then the hunters apparantly don't have enough moose and caribou to kill.If she believes so devoutly in God, woulldn't that be Gods job or natures job to control the balance of nature? To shoot a poor defenseless animal from a helicopter for your own benefit is just sick and pervrted.
She asked the Wasilla librarian how she could ban books more than once. I guess she did not like the answer she got because she fired the librarian.
She will try to impose all of her extreme religious based beliefs on the country.
Take away all the civil liberties left except of course the right to bear arms and kill defenseless animals.
One of the reasons that our country was founded and basic tenents of Democracy is religious freedom.The separation of church and state is most critical and important for Democracy to exist.
This woman scares me for all these reasons and more.
She is evading interviews while she keeps rambling off the same canned one liners over and over again and telling the same lies about the bridge that she first supported and then kept the millions of dollars given and used for other pork projects. She needs to be exposed for the lies by the mainstream media.
Her first interview Charlie Gibson???????????????
What a joke.
Against all womens rights to the extreme.
I can not wait for Joe Biden to shreddd her in the debate.

Here is more info on the Wasilla Sports Complex land seized by palin through immenent domain fiasco.
oh coincidentally it has a hockey rink and they planned for the Iditrod which is the snow mobile race to begin from there. Can you say "self serving" Seems like she did leave Wasilla in a quite a mess.Is this what they consider her executive experience? WHAT EXACTLLY DOES THE VP DO?????????????Cut and paste the link below for the details.
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Where is the media with this story?

I agree with you 100%.

Wow! She needs to take care of her own house before she tries to get in the White House. I'm shaking my head at the fact that this woman can sleep at night knowing how wrong she is. She needs to control her children or WE will be taking care of them in the long run.

This is ridiculous.....So what about saving the city money. How about catching a rapist so a city can sleep better at night? So what if a rape victim could not afford a rape kit then what? Please Sarah Palin supporters she is not qualified to be V.P and her track record shows it. We need change and BARACK gives the American people hope!

laya,

I feel for you, for I too am a victim of rape at age 19. I am 54 now, but we know the scars never really go away. My story is different, as I didn't report it - for the very reasons you mention. Back in the bad old days, they blamed the victim, yes indeed. Maybe you were dressed "provocatively" or in the wrong place or with the wrong guy. But, by god, it was your fault. I was on vacation in Hawaii and didn't want my vacation to be ruined any more than it already had been, so I copped out. But, I am not sorry. I know and knew then that the same crap would've happened to me as happened to you. After being slapped down and gagged and raped at knife point, I didn't want to be subjected to a bunch more mouth breathers who would look at me like a piece of meat...Luckily (or so I thought), those bad old days are gone. Now women can expect (in most states) to be treated with respect and as victims not perps. And for cryin out loud, making them pay! At this moment, I am so goddamn mad that I'm just about foaming at the mouth. How dare she! How dare she! Putting the burden of proof on the victim is a crime in itself. If that's how she defines a free country, maybe we should let her and her secessionist husband bail out - I mean, our country would be better off without AK anyway - or talking about that - what about Texas. We shoulda let them go to and maybe we wouldn't have had to put up with Bush.

I agree with everyone on this post. She is not a woman and she does not represent women - or any woman with self respect. It's a shame, we have fought so hard for women's rights that it sometimes make me feel like we have something that resembles equality - then the Rightards throw this bitch at us. Aaarrrgh. I just hope this hits the news and hits it hard. And if I hear anyone saying - "well, did she really make anyone really 'pay' for an abortion or did they just bill their insurance," I will probably have to strangle them. Oops, I see there are some of you out there already...just think, she didn't actually ban any library books, she just threatened to fire a librarian who told her she wouldn't ban any...so, that makes it ok. Uh huh. Like I said, I've been raped - this hits me like a ton of bricks and for you to say that is abominable. What difference does it make? The word is "intention."

Sorry, I meant pay for forensics...

Perhaps a look at the original article covering this issue would be a good idea:

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2000/05/23/news.txt

Unquestionably no victim of a crime should be charged for materials used to collect evidence. As the article states however, "states are supposed to pick up the tab." It took a law passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor to correct it. It sounds to me like the the state needed to explain, not one mayor of one small town.

Progressives are really getting desperate.

will somebody with some morals ask palin to resign already and do america a favor... she is involved in over 8 scandals already and she is not even the vp yet... i think obama should ask her to resign in the protection of national security. mccain obviously did not vet her at all other than looks at her boobs and butt on national tv with his wandering eyes...

Response to MAKE A TRUE STAND LADIES:
"Her church is putting on a convention saying that they will pray the devil out of gays and lesbians. smh"

If she is so against gays and lesbians, whey would she agree to follow in the footsteps of Cheney and his daughter. I swear they all have strong views against something until it hits there family. It shows how much she know about her own party!!! If you support the "leaders" (if you wanna call them that) that you want to take over for, you should atleast respect there beliefs and family, especially if there in the same political party. Her whole campaign is pure hypocrasy!!!

No sex ed in school...but my daughters pregnant.

I want to bring victory in Iraq...but I want more guns on the street so more people can die.

I want to be the a female VP...but we can't help raped women in need.

Can't keep a 8,000 community in the green...but i can some how pull a country out of a $9.6 trillion debt.

ONLY A DUMBASS WOULD VOTE FOR THIS TICKET. ONE IS ABOUT TO DIE AND ONE SUPPORTS DEATH. IT THEY WIN IT PROVES AMERICA DESERVES THE MORGAGE CRISIS, HURRICANES AND TORNADOS THAT DESTROY OUR COUNTRY, AND TO BE HATED BY THE WORLD, BECAUSE WITH ALL OF OUR F-UPS WE STILL BELIEVE WE CAN "RESCUE" OTHER COUNTRIES (OH WAIT WE'RE REALLY ONLY THERE FOR THE OIL!!!)

Thank you!!!! DITTO...DITTO...DITTO...DITTO!!!!

Of course the rapist should pay, that's the neat and tidy answer...but the reality is, rapes are hardly EVER cut and dry cases. The evidence collected in those kits is often essential, and in my opinion charging for the collection is akin to obstruction of justice. And what if you decide not to prosecute...and there are people who have reasons not to and they should NOT be forced...do they send a tidy little bill to their rapist, especially if it is someone they don't know? Invite them to court to battle it out?

To boojygirl
I am also very sorry for what happened to you too . Thanks for sharing your story.I probably would not have reported it either if not for my roommate at the time.The rapist told me he would come back and kill me if I reported it and that is standard what they always say according to the police.
You are right things are much better now and forensics are so far advanced with DNA evidence that it is very important to collect it now more than ever. There are much better chances now of catching the perpetrator and prosecuting sucessfully.
I just hope the truth comes out more and more on this woman because she is so anti- woman and from what I have researched things she did benefited big businesses more than the common working person or family.She has told a lot of lies regarding her accomplishments and earmarks. It seems she is getting caught on it .
In her interview with Charles Gibson he called her on it. I think she came across as a big blunder.She was evasive in her answers and with whatever she did reveal she was a typical bush bot with the same war mongering and tax policys as bush only she did not know what the Bush Doctrine was - her own partys foreign policy.I enjoyed it when Gibson said to her "was that a yes or no I was lost in the blizzard of words."
She seemed painfully unprepared for the interview and even worse for such a high office, potentially the highest office. It is just frightening.
I have travelled and have far more foreign experience and exposure to many cultures than this woman and I am a massage therapist and did not come from money.
No, she did not ban any books but she inquired as to how she could have books removed multiple times and asked the librarian if she had issue with removing some books that the voters found offensive.She then did fire the librarian after she said no she would not remove books. After a town protest from 100 people she rescinded her termination letter to the librarian. This is from TIME magazine and not from a blog as the right wing would have you believe. The Alaska Daily News and the Frontiersman also have multiple arcticles that pre date her nomination that support and validate all the so called "rumors", as the right wing media are calling them.
I hope this troopergate scandal blows up in her face.
It is really odd how she first said she would fully cooperate and now her staff and also her husband are refusing to cooperate and be subpoenaed and there are 1000 emails she is withholding citing executive privledge. She had cc her husband on those emails and he is not part of her executive staff.
Something stinks in Alaska. Sounds like more of the same to me.

Now Fran..., you aren't supposed to comment on hypocrisy at Mother Jones unless it's being exhibited by Republicans!

You should know that!!

Ooops. Sorry for double post.