Posted on Aug 22, 2021
How Rape Affects Memory And The Brain, And Why More Police Need To Know About This
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/08/22/ [login to see] /how-rape-affects-memory-and-the-brain-and-why-more-police-need-to-know-about-thi
Annie Walker woke up one morning in 2019 with little recollection of the night before. She had bruises on her arms, legs, wrist and lower abdomen.
"But I literally had no idea what had happened," she says. "And, for days, I was trying to put the pieces together."
She knew she had gone to a Sacramento bar and restaurant with a group of people, and she remembered drinking there and being left alone with the man she'd later identify as her rapist. But not much else.
Still, memories that she couldn't summon that first morning gradually came into focus over the following days and weeks — details such as what the man had been wearing, and the way he shoved her against the bar. One week after the attack, She reported the crime to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
Then, in the days after making the report, another wave of memories surfaced — she recalled, vividly, that the man had raped her, and that he had a weapon.
"I knew that there was a gun at my neck, at my back," she says. "It was just clear."
Annie Walker woke up one morning in 2019 with little recollection of the night before. She had bruises on her arms, legs, wrist and lower abdomen.
"But I literally had no idea what had happened," she says. "And, for days, I was trying to put the pieces together."
She knew she had gone to a Sacramento bar and restaurant with a group of people, and she remembered drinking there and being left alone with the man she'd later identify as her rapist. But not much else.
Still, memories that she couldn't summon that first morning gradually came into focus over the following days and weeks — details such as what the man had been wearing, and the way he shoved her against the bar. One week after the attack, She reported the crime to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.
Then, in the days after making the report, another wave of memories surfaced — she recalled, vividly, that the man had raped her, and that he had a weapon.
"I knew that there was a gun at my neck, at my back," she says. "It was just clear."
How Rape Affects Memory And The Brain, And Why More Police Need To Know About This
Posted from npr.org
Sexual Assault
Police
Law Enforcement
Memory
Posted >1 y ago
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It's absolutely frustrating to deal with law enforcement when it comes to rape and domestic violence.
The first case I had as BN SARC - I took the victim to the police off post since the incident happened off post. She had to make a statement. So I went with her as the SARC/VA. I never met her before this. She had I guess actually approached the CSM about it - he was the one who referred me to her. So I'm sitting with her as she's telling the cop her story and then he gives her the form to fill it out what she just said.
He asks me to go in the hall and I go after making sure she was ok if I did. He closes the door. "Do you think she's telling the truth?" I said "That's literally not my job here. I am here as her advocate. It's your job to investigate. I don't know her. I just met her today. Even if I did, it's still not my place to determine if something did or didn't happen."
I just thought what the actual...and of course they closed the case as unsubstantiated pretty quickly. CID did take it and they actually took their time investigating. But again unsubstantiated. She waited 2 weeks to report. There wasn't any physical evidence. The alleged perpetrator's friends covered for him. So sadly I had to tell her there wasn't going to be anything done. To see someone's soul basically break in front of you through their eyes...yeah.
In my personal experience as a DV survivor - when I report the first time I got hit to the police it was a female officer. She swore up and down oh he'd be in jail before the weekend (it was a Friday), she took pictures of my bruises. I had only waited one day to call them and then went into do my statement 3 days later when I could get to the police station. They sent cops to talk to him - he denied. Of course. The worst part is somehow he got into that female cop's head and she was believing him. Meeting him off duty at lunch and other times talking about the case and everything I told her. Told him she didn't believe he did it. I did complain through Victim Witness and the police chief reassigned her and put a male detective on it. But I lost any trust I had in cops after that.
It's the same story over and over where cops just don't believe a rape or DV victim because they don't understand how it works. Everyone reacts to trauma differently. Some might remember details right away, others may not. They need to be educated more on sexual assault and DV.
The first case I had as BN SARC - I took the victim to the police off post since the incident happened off post. She had to make a statement. So I went with her as the SARC/VA. I never met her before this. She had I guess actually approached the CSM about it - he was the one who referred me to her. So I'm sitting with her as she's telling the cop her story and then he gives her the form to fill it out what she just said.
He asks me to go in the hall and I go after making sure she was ok if I did. He closes the door. "Do you think she's telling the truth?" I said "That's literally not my job here. I am here as her advocate. It's your job to investigate. I don't know her. I just met her today. Even if I did, it's still not my place to determine if something did or didn't happen."
I just thought what the actual...and of course they closed the case as unsubstantiated pretty quickly. CID did take it and they actually took their time investigating. But again unsubstantiated. She waited 2 weeks to report. There wasn't any physical evidence. The alleged perpetrator's friends covered for him. So sadly I had to tell her there wasn't going to be anything done. To see someone's soul basically break in front of you through their eyes...yeah.
In my personal experience as a DV survivor - when I report the first time I got hit to the police it was a female officer. She swore up and down oh he'd be in jail before the weekend (it was a Friday), she took pictures of my bruises. I had only waited one day to call them and then went into do my statement 3 days later when I could get to the police station. They sent cops to talk to him - he denied. Of course. The worst part is somehow he got into that female cop's head and she was believing him. Meeting him off duty at lunch and other times talking about the case and everything I told her. Told him she didn't believe he did it. I did complain through Victim Witness and the police chief reassigned her and put a male detective on it. But I lost any trust I had in cops after that.
It's the same story over and over where cops just don't believe a rape or DV victim because they don't understand how it works. Everyone reacts to trauma differently. Some might remember details right away, others may not. They need to be educated more on sexual assault and DV.
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