FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 5, 2001


SCHUMER: SHODDY FORENSIC PROGRAMS LEAVE CRITICAL EVIDENCE IN RAPE CASES UNCOLLECTED

Schumer Announces New, $100 Million Bipartisan Bill To Expand Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Programs, Providing Better Care for Rape Victims and Uncovering Evidence to Apprehend and Convict Rapists

Standing in front of the emergency room at St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital with victims of sexual assaults and specially trained forensic examiners, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced new, bipartisan legislation to provide $100 million in new federal funding to expand Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) programs in New York and nationwide.

Most rape victims who seek treatment go to hospital emergency rooms, where they often wait for hours in public waiting rooms. To make matters worse, most emergency room nurses and doctors have little training in properly treating victims of sexual assaults or in collecting, correctly handling and preserving forensic evidence from rape victims. Most hospitals also lack the latest forensic tools, meaning crucial evidence is often mishandled or never uncovered in the first place. Because of the long delays in stressful, emergency waiting room conditions, some sexual assault victims leave the hospital altogether, never to receive treatment or supply the evidence needed to arrest and convict their assailants.

The SAFE program deploys specially trained forensic examiners who immediately treat victims of sexual assault and help them recover from their attack. At the same time, SAFE examiners gather evidence that dramatically increases the odds of apprehending and convicting the attacker.

"Usually in government, we deal with tradeoffs, balancing something we like with something we don't like quite as much," Schumer said. "Not today. The SAFE program is a win-win: it helps victims of sexual assault recover and move on with their lives, and equally important, it helps police catch and prosecutors convict rapists who would otherwise remain at-large, free to strike again."


Currently, fewer than 750 SAFE programs exist nationwide, serving less than 5% of all sexual assault victims. Only 50 SAFE programs are established in New York State. Just five SAFE programs operate in New York City - one in each borough - and only three exist on Long Island.

In 2000, 2,067 rapes were reported in New York City, and in 2001, 1,112 rapes have been reported to date. Of all the boroughs, more rapes were reported in Brooklyn (738) in 2000 than in any other. Queens had the second highest rape report rate with 503, followed by the Bronx with 413 reported rapes. In 2000, 358 rapes were reported in Manhattan and 55 were reported in Staten Island. On Long Island, 243 rapes were reported in 1999.

Schumer's bill - the SAFE Grant Act of 2001 - would expand SAFE programs by providing $20 million a year from 2002 to 2006 - $100 million in total - in grants to new or existing SAFE programs. Schumer, along with Republican co-sponsor Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), introduced a bill in the Senate on August 3 providing $50 million in new funding. Schumer said that when the new Senate session begins in September, he will introduce an amendment doubling the bill's funding to $100 million. In total, these grants will pay for 100,000 new exams a year and 500,000 exams over the life of the bill. Schumer said that SAFE programs are currently forced to compete against a myriad of other law enforcement and victims' programs for federal funding under the Violence Against Women Act and the Victims of Crime Act. Schumer said that the Justice Department, which is already responsible for developing national standards for SAFE programs, would administer the grants, ensure that recipients conform to the national standards, and give priority to SAFE programs in currently underserved areas.

Schumer outlined the problems with the current system, which lacks funding to provide SAFE examiners in over 95% of sexual assaults:

• Long Waits for Victims: Most rape victims who seek treatment go to hospital emergency rooms, where they often wait hours in public waiting rooms. Some leave the hospital altogether rather than endure extended delay, decreasing the likelihood the offense will ever be reported or prosecuted.
• Poor Evidence Collection: Emergency room nurses and doctors typically have little training in collecting, correctly handling and preserving forensic evidence from rape victims. Many hospitals also lack the latest forensic tools, such as dye that reveals microscopic scratches, and colposcopes, which detect and photograph otherwise invisible pelvic injuries. As a result, evidence is mishandled or never uncovered in the first place - jeopardizing prosecutions.
• Insufficient Cooperation with Police and Prosecutors: Emergency room personnel, already overworked, are sometimes reluctant to cooperate with police and prosecutors in sexual assault cases, knowing this entails time-consuming interviews, witness preparation and court appearances - to say nothing of unpleasant cross-examinations.
• Inadequate Care: After waiting, most victims are treated by a series of rushed emergency room nurses, doctors and lab technicians who often lack specialized training in the particular physical and psychological care rape victims need.
  
  

Schumer said that expanding the SAFE program will lead to better care for sexual assault victims and more convictions, putting more rapists behind bars. Specifically:

1. More convictions: SAFE examiners are specially trained in the latest techniques of forensic evidence gathering, cooperating fully with police and prosecutors. Their specialized training and experience also makes them better witnesses in court. In many rape trials, defendants claim that the victim consented to intercourse, forcing prosecutors to offer physical evidence of force. SAFE programs are far more capable of immediately gathering evidence of force, allowing prosecutors to rebut claims of consent and win convictions.
2. Better Care: Rather than face a long public wait and a revolving door of emergency room care-givers, victims treated by SAFE examiners are seen immediately in private, tell their story to and receive care from a single attendant, and are treated with greater sensitivity by examiners with specialized psychological training.
   
   

"The SAFE program is so logical and so successful, I can't understand why we didn't expand it long ago. Every day we wait means another rape may go unsolved, and another day a victim of sexual assault has to wait to move on with her life. That's unacceptable. We need to pass this bill now," Schumer said.

Schumer's SAFE bill builds upon his work in helping police and prosecutors apprehend and convict rapists. In December, Schumer and Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) helped pass the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (DABEA), legislation that provides over $125 million in new federal funding over four years to test thousands of rape kits, including New York City's backlog of 15,000 rape kits. Rape kits - which preserve biological samples from rape victims - play a critical role in helping police identify and convict rapists. Schumer and Weiner announced the first grants with Attorney General John Ashcroft last week in Washington.

Schumer was joined by Dr. Sig Ackerman, President and CEO of the St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital Center; Dr. Lorraine Giordano, Medical Director for the SAFE program at St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital Center; Harriet Lessel, Executive Director of the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault; and Karen Coleman, RN, Coordinator of the Westchester Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Program and a rape survivor.

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