Home › Books › The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime …
The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story
by
75/99
Critics' Rating Index
38/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
89/99
Volume of Reviews
89/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
A thrilling, novelistic work of journalism that uncovers the remarkable and hidden story of Marty Goddard, the woman who invented the rape kit, changed the course of how we treat sexual assault forever, and then vanished from the record. The idea came to Marty Goddard in 1971. She was working at a crisis hotline, haunted by the stories of survivors and plagued by two principle Why were so many predators getting away with crimes? And, how do we stop them? In the coming years, Marty set off a massive campaign that lobbied to have sexual assault treated and investigated as the crime that it is. By creating the first rape kit, she revolutionized forensics. The kit would live on as one of the most powerful and effective tools for bringing perpetrators to justice. Marty, however, and any record of her, simply disappeared. The Secret History of the Rape Kit chronicles the story of one journalist's mission to uncover the story and woman behind an invention that transformed the lives of women the country over. As Pagan Kennedy peels back the layers behind the history of the kit and Marty's life, she falls into a deeper and deeper obsession. As she pursues this overlooked but critical story from our past, she dives into the inequities built into our patent system and our understanding of technological progress, the problematic and gendered history of forensics, and sexual forensics in particular, the misogyny that runs rampant in police departments, the legacy of Marty's invention and the failings that persist in how we prosecute rape. And, as Pagan unearths who Marty really was, and what happened to her, she reflects on her own experiences with sexual assault, and how one forgotten woman's legacy could have saved her, as it has so many.
Reviews
"Readers will encounter multiple descriptions of sexual violence, including a section called 'ungaslighting' in which Kennedy re-examines her own past."
"No wonder Kennedy wanted to tell this forgotten story."
"It's an important investigation of a complex inventor, her flawed but revolutionary technology, and how it has never been allowed to live up to her hopes for it."
"Kennedy's efforts to find out what happened to Goddard after she faded from public life uncover not only personal details but also an in-depth history of the treatment of women survivors of sexual assault and other crimes."
"Perhaps the most important and heartening section of the book illustrates the progress that came as a direct result of Goddard's invention — including insights into perpetrators of sexual violence and innovations in investigating sexual assault currently being made today, even still to come ..."
"It acknowledges that the system works best when it can be improved by those who are most affected by sexual assault—and the women who are willing to risk obscurity or damage to their reputation in order to finish the job Goddard started."
"An exhilarating biography ..."
"Part engrossing memoir, part page-turning detective story and part mesmerizing biography, The Secret History of the Rape Kit is a brave, bold story of social oppression and revolution that everyone should read."
"Absorbing detective work."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!