On December 9, 2006, a Howard University sophomore was allegedly drugged and raped at an off-campus house party. After leaving the party, she was repeatedly denied a rape kit—which could have been used to collect evidence to identify her attacker—at two hospitals, first because she appeared to be intoxicated, and later because police thought there was not enough evidence that she had been raped. All allegations of rape must be taken seriously and the hospitals’ decision to deny her a rape kit is appalling.
On the night of the alleged assault, the woman’s friends brought her to Howard University Hospital, where doctors sent her home and refused to administer a rape kit because she appeared intoxicated. When she returned the next morning, a police officer concluded that there was not adequate reason to believe a crime had occurred, so she turned away again. The victim tried again at George Washington University Hospital but was refused there as well. She is now suing several doctors, the hospitals and the District of Columbia for negligence and medical malpractice, according to the GW Hatchet.
The Metropolitan Police Department, Howard University Hospital and George Washington University Hospital’s mistreatment of this woman was reprehensible. Denying her a rape kit because she appeared to be intoxicated implies that accusations of rape need not be taken seriously if the victim is inebriated. Sexual assault is inexcusable regardless of the victim or perpetrator’s level of intoxication. A victim of an alleged rape who has the courage to come forward should be assisted by police and medical officials, not demeaned by them. Representatives of the hospitals could not be reached for comment.
Given the existence of date-rape drugs, the hospitals’ employees should not have assumed that the victim was responsible for her state of intoxication. And even if she did become inebriated of her own accord, it does not mean that she was culpable in the alleged rape. Drinking is not synonymous with asking to be raped, nor does it somehow excuse the act.
The decision to administer a rape kit is made on a case-by-case basis by the investigating officer based on whether he or she feels the case warrants it, according to Lt. Joseph Trippi of the MPD Sexual Assault Unit. A woman repeatedly insisting that she was raped should be warrant enough, and this woman’s claims should have been thoroughly investigated. Although she might have been intoxicated, it does not follow that her allegations are without merit.
We hope that Georgetown University Hospital would abide by its stated policy and administer a rape kit if a similar situation occurred here. According to GUH spokesperson Megan Duke, “If someone comes in saying they’ve been raped, we don’t refuse anyone.”
The District’s hospitals and its police department must learn from this egregious mistake and not allow a similar incident to happen again.
