Raped college students processed over seven gruelling hours
THE two female students who were raped at gunpoint at the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTC) two weeks ago were reportedly forced to endure some seven gruelling hours at the rape unit, prompting the college to call for a change in the processing method.
The UTC said the police’s method of processing rape victims is far too “painful” and “stressful”, and the college has proposed ways to improve it.
“Part of the concern is that the process is as stressful and painful as the initial experience,” Reverend Trevor Edwards, acting UTC president, told the Observer.
According to Edwards, the two women were subjected to “very detailed processing” at the Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse (CISOCA).
In a recent letter addressed to Commissioner of Police Lucius Thomas, Edwards asked that CISOCA reduce the time that victims spend there.
“The interview, which was done at the Rape Unit (CISOCA).resulted in the two young women having to be at the unit from approximately 11:30 am to 6:30 pm,” the letter said.
Efforts to get a response from the Commissioner’s office were unsuccessful. But Inspector Dutress Foster-Gardner from CISOCA said the processing time included the collection of statements as well as medical examinations.
“Statements take time,” Foster-Gardner remarked. “We have to collect comprehensive statements.”
Foster-Gardner said one factor that resulted in this particular case taking a long time, was that the victims were not willing to share details.
She said victims are advised to share as much as possible, so identifying perpetrators can be easier.
Currently, rape victims can report the crime to CISOCA between 7:00 am and 10:00 pm daily. If the rape occurs after hours, then the first police station the victim goes to, would take the report, and arrange for a female officer to be present at the examination.
Reverend Marjorie Lewis, who accompanied the UTC students to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), said they had to wait while the police officers who answered the 119 call searched for a female police officer to be present at the examination.
Lewis said last April, after a similar incident happened on the campus, they drove to CISOCA, but the facility was closed. They then went to the Half-Way-Tree Police Station before going to the UHWI.
In calling on the police to change the methods of processing rape victims, UTC proposed that:
. the Rape Unit be opened at nights and that interested parties informed of the date on which this will be effective;
. female officers be placed on call overnight with immediate effect as an interim measure until the Rape Unit is re-opened, and
. relevant resources and support be given to the officers with immediate responsibility for the investigations to ensure that the perpetrators are successfully apprehended and prosecuted.