Victims in Howard hospital?s Safe Room must decide whether their experiences will be among the approximately 60 percent of sexual assaults that go unreported in the United States every year.
“They don?t want their lives laid out in court. Sometimes they will come to the ER and change their mind before we get there,” said Sharon Coburn, a certified forensic nurse and coordinator of the Howard County General Hospital?s sexual assault program.
“They say they don?t want a forensic exam; they just want the morning-after pill.”
Victims in safe rooms nationwide are unfavorably weighing the prospect of exposing themselves to a criminal justice system that puts the burden of proof on the accuser.
That reality has persisted even as the incidence of rape has subsided, according to national and county statistics.
“It?s very scary for these women. I?ve seen how defense attorneys tear them to shreds in court,” Coburn said.
The Howard police department recorded 42 rape offenses last year ? that is, cases where the victim sought to prosecute their assailant ? while the hospital recorded 45 instances of sexual assault between Oct. 1, 2005, and Oct. 1, 2006, and 35 more in the time since, Coburn said.
On average, the hospital records about 60 cases a year, Coburn said.
And those are the cases in which the victim consented to a forensic examination. Coburn said she wouldn?t speculate on the number of victims who shy from the examinations, perhaps out of fear, shame or even forbearance.
But, she said, “the hospital sees more than I report out to the [Specialized Trauma Treatment and Recovery Center]. They?re often brought in by the police, and maybe the police will be talking with them and they say, ?I really don?t want to do this because I don?t want to prosecute.?”
She and the other forensic nurses hear that refrain often.
“I tell them, ?Look, you know what, just because you undergo this forensic exam doesn?t mean we have to take it to court. It justmeans we have the evidence if you decide to in the future,?” Coburn said.
Polce spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said, “We have no recourse if the victim decides not to pursue prosecution.”
AT A GLANCE
In 2005, there were 191,670 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assaults, according to the most recent National Crime Victimization Survey. Children under 12 years of age are not included in the survey, which found that just 41 percent of sexual assaults were reported to the police.
