The Houston Rape Kit Debacle

How many rape kits are sitting on the shelves in Houston? It started with 3,000 kits; last I heard it was possibly 11,000 rape kits. It seems the city doesn’t know or doesn’t want to tell us how many. Each rape kit represents a woman going though unimaginable torment, with no closure in sight. These kits represent women of all ages, races, financial and educational status. Each woman brave enough to go to the hospital and let the necessary items be collected. This only adds to the horror of their experience while they wait not months, but years before knowing. This is unbelievable, unthinkable and unconscionable. We cannot allow this to go on.

Would it help if we banded together with others to focus a spotlight on this subject? Could the Republican women’s clubs join with the Democratic women’s clubs in calling for this to stop? Could other political clubs join with the NAACP in bringing pressure to resolve this travesty? The Tea Party is non-partisan and this fight is something for them to target. How about the LNRC and Lulac, the League of Women Voters, the list is endless. But let’s not restrict the cry of outrage only to women. This isn’t political, this is our patriotic duty. We need to say with one voice, one hundred thousand strong, this is not acceptable!

Who can take over the rape kit testing until the city is better suited to handle the crime lab again, if ever? Can the state come in? How about Harris County? How did Mayor Parker and Irma Rios allow this to happen? They are both women and should know better than anyone what these kits represent to women. How could this go on for over a decade? The people of Houston, of Harris County, of Texas and most importantly eleven thousand women who were victimized demand answers! More so than answers we demand action. Where is the D.O.J.? Haven’t these ladies rights been violated, and violated again in delaying the processing of these rape kits?

No one wants to address this “rape kit” issue. Can you blame them? This has more ways to look bad than buying your clothes from the clown store. If you can’t get something going quickly, we’ll say you’re as bad as the city. If you go too fast you will overwhelm the DA's office, and we will say you’re as bad as the city. And then there is the money. I’ve heard several prices for testing each rape kit; I doubt anyone knows for sure what the total cost will be. We will spend millions on the rape kit testing. I’ve heard 12 to 20 million. Where does that money come from? The testing has to be funded. We could stop buying art work or any of a thousand less important things the city spends money on every day. It is unconscionable not to find the money somewhere.

This is a monumental task that will truly take a Herculean effort to accomplish. It can be done and it must be done, now. Houston is only the beginning. Dallas, San Antonio and other Texas cities have problems also. This is not just a Texas problem but a national problem. L.A. also has quite a backlog of rape kits that need to be tested. If you have a mother, wife, sister, daughter or a female friend, please lend your voice to this movement. This is a national disgrace and it would be unforgivable to allow it to continue.