Comment by dragonwriter | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dragonwriter | Hacker News Reader

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> Isn't sexual assault a serious crime?

In theory, yes; in practice police, prosecutors, and judges all too often don't treat it (or even actual rape) seriously.

With regard to judges, the Stanford rape case is the banner example recently; but earlier in the chain the fact thatany departments collect but then do not process rape kits is a huge problem.

> The difference I see between Dave McClure and Robert Scoble is that the former was accused of 'sexual harrassment' whereas Robert Scoble appears to have been accused of 'sexual ASSAULT' by a couple of women atleast

McClure was accused of sexual assault as well (and not strictly legally speaking sexual harassment at all, AFAIK, but acts, both the assaults and lesser acts, that would have been harassment if VC-founder relationships were governed by the same legal rules as employer-employee relationships.)

> in practice police, prosecutors, and judges all too often don't treat it (or even actual rape) seriously.

You might have more experience with police, prosecutors, and judges than I do, but in my experience this isn't the case. I've known many to be dismissive of drug crimes and even property crimes, but sexual assaults and rape are both addressed earnestly.

That's not to say that sexual assaults and rapes are not nolle pros'd and often. As recent events demonstrate, unless people feel comfortable coming forward, then it is impossible to prove the case. The Confrontation Clause is an obstacle that is difficult to overcome in these cases without a profusely willing victim.

This is to say saying that law enforcement is the problem is an oversimplification.

> With regard to judges, the Stanford rape case is the banner example recently; but earlier in the chain the fact thatany departments collect but then do not process rape kits is a huge problem.

In a lot of states, crime labs are independent of police departments. There are severe backlogs because they are understaffed. If you want more processing, you need to ensure your state representatives properly fund these bodies.

Consequently, it's not up to the police in many cases when and if a rape kit is tested. Thankfully, there are organizations like SAKI[1] that are pursuing rape kit testing reform in many places where there are impediments to testing these kits.

[1]: https://www.sakitta.org/

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