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// 20-500 y/o \\
// Artist \\ // Animator \\
// Any pronouns are fine \\
COMMISSIONS: OPEN
Please don't repost my work
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”I was in shock. I was outraged and I just assumed kits were being tested,” said actress Mariska Hargitay about the thousands of rape kits in Detroit and across the country that have been left sitting in storage without being processed, allowing rapists to remain free to attack again. And they often do.
Hargitay joined Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to announce legislation that will soon be introduced to state lawmakers that is aimed at setting guidelines and deadlines for rape kits tests to be processed.
“Testing rape kits is vital for keeping rapists off the street,” said Hargitay during Monday’s press conference.
Over 11,000 sexual assault kits, some dating back to the 1980’s, were found abandoned in a Detroit Police storage facility back in 2009.
Not long after the rape kits were discovered, Worthy pushed to start the processing with Michigan State Police.
So far, 1,600 rape kits have been processed, resulting in the identification of about 100 serial rapists and ten convicted rapists, according to Worthy.
Worthy told reporters that perpetrators have moved on from Michigan to commit similar crimes in 23 other states.
“It was mind blowing to me,” said Hargitay that so many rape kits have gone unprocessed. “My head exploded.. We have the means to do it and DNA equals justice.”
Hargitay, best known for her role as Sergeant Olivia Benson on the television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has also become an advocate for real life victims of sex crimes. She founded the Joyful Heart Foundation that works to “heal, educate and empower survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.”
Nationally, an estimated 400,000 rape kits have gone unprocessed, allowing rapists to remain free and their victims to wonder if they will ever see justice.
“These rape kits in Michigan are over 25 years old,” said Worthy. “Want to make sure we deal with the victims mercifully, honestly and genuinely.”
Fourteen prosecutions have resulted from what is being called the “Detroit Rape Kit Project”, including the case of DeShawn Starks, 32.
11,000 abandoned rape kits dating back to the 1980’s.
100 serial rapists identified in 1,600 finally tested.
They moved on to commit similar crimes in 23 other states.
An estimated 400,000 rape kits remain untested nationally.Meanwhile half of the prison population in America is there for non-violent, drug-related offenses.
nine photographs portraying quotes said to sexual assault survivors by police officers, attorneys, and other authority figures
more info about project unbreakable here
original tumblr here
previously: nine photographs portraying quotes said to sexual assault survivors by their friends/family
Cops kill mentally ill teen after parents call police to help him
A Boiling Springs Lakes, North Carolina family is looking for answers after local police shot and killed their mentally ill teenage son while responding to a call for help.
The family contends that Keith Vidal, 18, was “killed in cold blood” after police were requested to help calm the teenager down during a schizophrenic episode.
Now, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation has decided to look into the matter, as Brunswick County District Attorney Jon David vowed to meet with the family and “go wherever the truth leads in this case.”
“The public deserves to have a process put in place that will lead to the most just resolution," he said, according to NBC News.
The incident occurred on Sunday, January 5, when Vidal suffered from a mental breakdown in which he threatened to fight his mother. He was holding a small screwdriver in his hand when the first of three police units arrived at the scene. A confrontation was noted in the county event report obtained by local WECT, but the responding unit radioed in multiple times that the situation was under control.
Little more than a minute after a third police unit arrived, it reported that a gun was fired in self-defense.
According to the teenager’s father Mark Wilsey, however, Vidal posed no danger to anyone. He said the screwdriver in his son’s hand was small and not a threat, while the family noted that the young man had just turned 18 and weighed 90 pounds. Wilsey said that Vidal had been subdued until the third officer walked in and the boy became agitated.
"Then all of a sudden, this Southport cop came, walked in the house [and said]: ‘I don’t have time for this. Tase him. Let’s get him out of here,'”Wilsey told NBC. After the stun gun was used on Vidal, Wilsey said the third officer shot him, saying he was protecting his officers.
"He reached right up, shot this kid point-blank, with all intent to kill," Wilsey added. "He just murdered him flat out.”
Stay safe out there everyone
signal boost. This happened 30 minutes from where I live. Please reblog.
This was my good friend :( we went to shows together and I talked to him just about everyday
Keith was a very good friend of mine. I was his mentor in high school. Please spread.