skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Sexual Assault: Indiana's "Silent, Violent Epidemic"

play audio
Play

Monday, April 7, 2014   

INDIANAPOLIS - More than one woman in five in Indiana is a rape victim, and more than two in five have been sexually assaulted. Despite the alarming numbers, getting help in recovery can be difficult. According to Anita Carpenter, who heads the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault, in nearly half the state's counties, there are very few resources available to help victims, and in some places, none at all.

"We have way too many circumstances where we're receiving a phone call, after the fact, from a victim who is frustrated because they are unable to find services and support," she said.

Carpenter said there is no state funding in Indiana for victims of sex crimes, a priority she hopes can be addressed in the next budget session. In the meantime, she said, they're trying to meet the needs of every victim who reaches out. A hot line, 800-656-HOPE, can direct callers to the closest rape crisis center.

Indiana has a statute of limitations of five years for filing rape charges. Carpenter said the recent Jenny Wendt case, in Marion County, in which the attacker came forward nine years later but couldn't be prosecuted, highlights the need for change.

"We have got to eliminate this statute of limitations in Indiana, so that victims have an opportunity to come forward and have something done about the crime that's been committed against them," she declared.

Carpenter said sexual assault is viewed as a silent, violent epidemic, because misconceptions about it cause some victims to feel they don't have a voice, even if they come forward to report it. She said in 80 percent of cases, the victim knows her attacker.

"This is one in five women, and one in four girls, and one in six boys that are out there being sexually assaulted," she said. "And we just simply don't have enough education out there for the general public to wrap their minds around what that really looks like."

According to the CDC, one in six high-school-aged girls in Indiana has been sexually assaulted, the highest proportion in the country. The Indiana House is backing a plan for a committee to study the causes and research solutions.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
Iowa families can apply for up to $7,600 a year for private school costs. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

An ethics committee in the Republican-led Iowa House has dismissed a complaint filed by a group of community activists against a state lawmaker for hi…


play sound

Each spring, hundreds of thousands of California high school seniors have to figure out if they can afford to go to college in the fall - and two new …

Health and Wellness

play sound

A health care workforce shortage in New Hampshire is leaving Alzheimer's patients and their families with few options for treatment. Patients facing …


South Dakota ranks 49th in the country for its contribution to indigent legal defense costs, according to a 2023 report from the Indigent Legal Services Task Force. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month…

Environment

play sound

A Knoxville-based environmental group is voicing concerns over what it sees as an increasing financial strain imposed on taxpayers by nuclear weapons …

Environment

play sound

A bipartisan law set to take effect this summer prohibits foreign adversaries from buying Hoosier farmland. The signature of Gov. Eric Holcomb was …

Social Issues

play sound

Today, people across Arizona are voting in the Presidential Preference Election, a chance for registered Democrats and Republicans to choose their …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021