Hope Shattered: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis of Survivors' Experiences With Untested Rape Kits. (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bach, Maria Hardeberg; Ahrens, Courtney; Howard, Rebecca; Dahlgren, Sherisa
• Is Part Of: Violence against women. Volume 28:Number 15/16(2022)
• Page Start: 3886
• Page End: 3909
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: sexual assault -- medical forensic exam -- rape kit backlog; Abused women -- Periodicals; Women -- Crimes against -- Periodicals; Violent crimes -- Periodicals; Femmes victimes de violence -- Périodiques; Femmes, Crimes contre les -- Périodiques; Crimes violents -- Périodiques; 362.8292
• DOI: 10.1177/10778012221083335
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8012

Abstract

Rape survivors who submit to a medical forensic exam generally expect the resulting rape kit to be tested, but hundreds of thousands of rape kits have been left untested in police storage facilities nationwide. The current study sought to understand what the experience of having an untested rape kit was like for survivors. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, this study examined narratives of 15 survivors whose rape kits had been part of the rape kit backlog. Analysis suggested that survivors experience an extreme sense of betrayal and loss of faith in the criminal justice system when their kits are not tested. For these survivors, the rape kit was more than just evidence in a box; it was part of them. Implications are discussed.