Secondary Victimization Secondary victimization is the harm that occurs to the victims of crimes due to the response or nonresponse of the criminal justice system, the media, the public, or others...

Secondary Victimization

Secondary victimization is the harm that occurs to the victims of crimes due to the response or nonresponse of the criminal justice system, the media, the public, or others including family members, friends, and acquaintances. Fear of secondary victimization is a reason crime victims do not report crimes. An example of serious secondary victimization is the failure of the police to follow up on the investigation of sex crimes. For example, a 2014 report concerning the New Orleans Police Department reported that 86% of 1,300 sex crime-related calls were not investigated by detectives beyond the initial report.27 An example of a nationwide concern is the backlog of rape evidence kits that police departments have not processed for years or even decades. While rape kits can provide vital evidence in identifying and prosecuting the offender, only about five states require the testing of all rape kits. It is estimated by the U.S. Justice Department that there are hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits held by the police. The U.S. Department of Justice, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, and a collation of private businesses and community organizations are providing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to the police to pay for the testing of backlogged rape kits. As a result of testing, police are identifying thousands of serial rapists.28 Proponents of mandatory testing argue that the backlog is due to “official indifference” and a “rape culture” that tolerates sexual assaults against “marginalized groups, such as the poor, homeless, and transgendered or sex workers.”29 Should laws be passed requiring mandatory testing of all rape kits?