The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "rape victim" ...
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Testing the System: Justice for Rape Victims
Thousands of rape victims in Colorado were victimized twice – once by their attacker and again by a system failing to utilize a crucial piece of evidence, a rape kit. Our investigation revealed the vast majority of rape kits police collected were never tested and the painful process a victim endures to provide the evidence is often in vain. Our story immediately prompted change. One department changed its policy and is testing old rape kits that should have been tested years ago. State lawmakers are filing bills to require rape kit testing. These changes have led to more thorough rape investigations in police departments and could ultimately prevent a rapist from striking again.
Tags: rape; rape victims; rape kits; police; criminal justice system; broadcast
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Intersecting Lives
Twenty years after a Kansas man was wrongfully convicted of a rape, a Lawrence Journal-World investigation revealed the real rapist, finally bringing closure to the victim and the wrongfully convicted man.
Tags: Crime; rape; wrongful convictions
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Broken Shield
Decades ago, California created a special police force to patrol exclusively at its five state developmental centers – taxpayer-funded institutions where patients with severe autism and cerebral palsy have been beaten, tortured and raped by staff members. But California Watch found that this state force, the Office of Protective Services, does an abysmal job bringing perpetrators to justice. Reporter Ryan Gabrielson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, exposed the depths of the abuse inside these developmental centers while showing how sworn officers and detectives wait too long to start investigations, fail to collect evidence and ignore key witnesses – leading to an alarming inability to solve crimes inflicted upon some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. Dozens of women were sexually assaulted inside state centers, but police investigators didn’t order “rape kits” to collect evidence, a standard law enforcement tool. Police waited so long to investigate one sexual assault that the staff janitor accused of rape fled the country, leaving behind a pregnant patient incapable of caring for a child. The police force’s inaction also allowed abusive caregivers to continue molesting patients – even after the department had evidence that could have stopped future assaults. Many of the victims chronicled by California Watch are so disabled they cannot utter a word. Gabrielson gave them a resounding voice. Our Broken Shield series prompted far-reaching change, including a criminal investigation, staff retraining and new laws – all intended to bring greater safeguards and accountability.
Tags: California; police; autism; cerebral palsy; abuse; children
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Fugitives from Justice
Growing numbers of criminal suspects flee the U.S. each year to evade trial for murder, rape and other serious felonies. The investigation penetrated the government secrecy that shrouds America's interntaional fugitive extradition programs, giving a voice to forgotten victims.
Tags: murder; secrecy; extradition
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Pawlenty's Pardon
Jeremy Giefer was charged with raping his own daughter and then received a pardon for a 1993 sex-crime conviction for raping a 14-year-old -- the mother of his latest alleged victim. City Pages revealed that Giefer wanted the pardon so his wife could open a daycare center in his home. Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty chaired the board which granted the pardon.
Tags: Geifer; Pawlenty; rape; pardon; cleared; guilty; sex-crime
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Sexual Assault on Campus: A Frustrating Search for Justice
As part of a collaborative effort with the Investigative News Network, the Center for Public Integrity finds that students responsible for sexual assault on college campuses often receive no punishment, yet their victims' lives are turned upside down. Even when the perpetrator is a repeat offender, college judicial systems rarely expel the student.
Tags: sexual assault; rape; victim; perpetrator; sex crime; rapist; rape victim; rape on campus; rape in college
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Campus Sexual Assault: A Culture of Indifference
The stories explored the "culture of indifference" that many college women report experiencing after being sexually assaulted. Many schools across the country are in denial about the scope of the problem and the systems in place for women to report assaults are often barely existent at many campuses. Victims in the story tell their stories and explain how their school's handling of their assault cases only made things worse.
Tags: sexual assault; culture of indifference; rape; date rape; rapist; college; university
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Untested Justice
WREG uncovered that sexual assault victims in Memphis weren't being properly handled within the system. A failure to process rape kits made it more difficult to bring the victims' attackers to justice. Their investigation found as few at 6% of the rape kits were being processed. Since the story ran, sweeping changes were announced by the City of Memphis and over 2000 backlogged rape kits have been processed as a result.
Tags: sexual assault; criminal justice system; rape; rape kits; sexual abuse; police; courts; crime; sex offenders
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The Second Rape
This is the story about two young rape victims in athe small town of Bjasta in the norther part of Sweden. Although the rapist was convicted, people in the town began to blame the victims. Despite DNA-evidence, almost everyone thinks that the girls are lying.
Tags: rape; criminal conviction; sexual assault
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Sexual Assault on Campus: A Frustrating Search for Justice
Roughly one in five college women will become the victim of a rape or an attempted rape before she graduates. The Center for Public Integrity's investigation reveals that the students "responsible" for these sexual assaults on college campuses often face little or no punishment, while the lives of the victims are turned upside down. Rarely are those who are responsible expelled, even those who are repeat offenders.
Tags: rape; sexual assault; victim; attempted rape; Department of Justice; college