EDITORIAL: Grant survivors proper care


Loss of grant for rape kits is unacceptable


editorial

Try to put yourself in the place of a person who has been sexually assaulted. You have just experienced physical trauma, you are being interviewed by the police and you are advised to get a medical examination, also called a rape kit. 

Because hospital staff is not certified to perform a rape kit, you are advised to go to either Saginaw or Midland for one that will hold up best in court. After driving either 27 miles or 56 miles in the car — unable to change your clothes — you enter a new emergency room in a city you are unfamiliar with. 

You sit through three to four hours of examination before being sent back to Mount Pleasant, potentially on your own, to process what has just happened. 

This is the experience of anyone who has gone through a sexual assault in Mount Pleasant, if they wish to successfully press charges later.

This is unacceptable.

Four years ago, the grant program that provided rape kit materials and trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in Mount Pleasant expired. The most recent application to get the grant back was denied.

Survivors of sexual assault in Mount Pleasant can still get a rape kit done. Unfortunately, the evidence found could be challenged in court if the survivor wished to pursue charges.

Without those properly trained nurses, the validity of evidence collected for a rape kit can be challenged in a court of law. If survivors want to pursue a legitimate post-rape examination, he or she must travel to Midland or Saginaw.

Times, and medical practices, are changing. The proper process for administering a rape kit has been established and is recognized as the most valid by law enforcement officials. The mentality surrounding sexual assault and rape culture is transforming — albeit slowly — to favor understanding and protection for survivors. 

Advocates and activists continually call for better treatment for survivors. This grant is an obvious, concrete way to do that. There is no reason survivors should have to drive 30 minutes to an hour following the trauma of a sexual assault just for proper treatment.

Lt. Larry Klaus of the Central Michigan University Police Department is working to get the grant back in Mount Pleasant. He is working in conjunction with Roger Skrabut, director of the heart and vascular center at McClaren Central Michigan, representatives from Foust Hall and members of the Sexual Assault Response Team through the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe.

Students and citizens should be supporting these efforts wholeheartedly.

One out of every five college women is sexually assaulted during her time on campus. If you think this is an issue that doesn't affect you, you're wrong. A large portion of the CMU community will end up being the mother, friend, brother, classmate or coworker of a survivor of sexual assault.

The very least these survivors deserve is proper care.

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