Palin cut funding for medical exams that rape victims undergo in order to gather evidence against their attacker. These tests cost anywhere between $500 and $1200 each.
If you were raped, would you be able to cough up that much money?
“Under Sarah Palin's administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees. Although Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella wrote USA Today earlier this week that the GOP vice presidential nominee 'does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test...To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice,' Palin, as mayor, fired police chief Irl Stambaugh and replaced him with Charlie Fannon, who with Palin's knowledge, slashed the budget for the exams and began charging the city's victims of sexual assault. The city budget documents demonstrate Palin read and signed off on the new budget. A year later, alarmed Alaska lawmakers passed legislation outlawing the practice.”
Full Story http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html
But the problem goes beyond that. What people may not realize is that Alaska has a serious sexual assault problem. Check out these facts:
According to the Department of Justice, the percentage of lifetime rate of rape /attempted rape for women by race is as follows:
All women: 17.6%
White women: 17.7%
Black women: 18.8%
Asian Pacific Islander women: 6.8%
American Indian/Alaskan women: 34.1%
Mixed race women: 24.4%
And regarding...
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN ALASKA
- Almost 75% of Alaskans have experienced or know someone who has experienced domestic violence or sexual assault.
- There were over 6,000 reported cases of domestic violence in Alaska in 2005.
- 524 forcible rapes were reported in Alaska in 2005, representing almost 13% of all violent crimes.
- The Alaska rape rate is 2.5 times the national average.
- Child sexual assault in Alaska is almost six times the national average.
- Alaska has the highest rate per capita of men murdering women.
- Almost 30% of Alaskans were not able to access victim services or encourage others to do so because there were no services available in their area at the time.
- Almost 90% of Alaskans would vote to increase funding for victim service programs, and over 90% would support increased penalties for domestic violence and sexual assault perpetrators.
More than 1 out of every 3 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be raped in her lifetime.
More than 3 out of every 4 American Indian and Alaska Native women will be physically assaulted in her lifetime.
So it's not JUST that Sarah Palin has zero credentials, a legacy of political much behind her and neoanderthal ideas about reproduction, education, Feminism or the acceptable use of power... she's just generally doesn't give a shit about anyone except herself. Not even rape victims.
And we're supposed to believe she's a public servant?
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