NCJ Number
198507
Date Published
2002
Length
313 pages
Annotation
The author, a cultural anthropologist and rape-survivor, uses her professional skills to analyze her criminal victimization by the rapist and her subsequent experiences with the criminal justice system, the media, friends, and university administrators and colleagues.
Abstract
The crime occurred in the author's home, as a stranger broke into her house in the dead of night and repeatedly raped and beat her over a period of four hours. The crime, with all of its associated physical and psychological trauma, was followed by the frustration of interacting with the personnel and procedures of a justice system that not only was inept in its investigation of the crime, but began blaming the victim. The social service system provided no services to ease the impact of her victimization, and friends felt uneasy and uncertain about how to relate to her under the circumstances of her condition. Administrators at the university where she taught were insensitive, as were her professional colleagues. The media sought to exploit her victimization for dramatic effect. The rapist eluded capture for some 10 years before he was brought to justice through one of the first successful uses of DNA evidence in a rape case. The book, however, is not just a testimony about how badly the author was treated as a result of her victimization; it is also about how she persisted in making the criminal justice system and the media work on her behalf in finally putting the rapist in prison for life. 64 references