Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/30780
creating a safer environment for victims to report. Tracy and the Women’s Law Project, supported by more than 90 other advocacy and women’s groups, launched a campaign in 2001 to change the definition, calling for FBI director Robert Mueller to update UCR language in order to re- flect a modern understanding of rape. But the FBI never replied. The Women’s Law Project and other advocacy groups then decided to seek change at the local law enforcement level—until 2010, when they revitalized their push to change the UCR definition. Sen. Specter, who was then chair of the crime and drugs sub- committee of the House Judiciary Committee, responded to their efforts by holding hearings on sexual assault last fall. A panel of experts, including Tracy, Feminist Majority Foundation president (and Ms. publisher) Eleanor Smeal and Susan Carbon, director of the Office of Violence Against Women, testified to the effects of the national failure to properly count rapes. In her testimony, Smeal advocated for more women in policing: “Women police officers utilize a style of policing that relies less on physical force and more on communica- tion skills.” However, despite decades of advocacy by the feminist movement, women remain grossly underrepre- sented in law enforcement. What’s the next step? Tracy says it could be as simple as including all felony sex crimes in the current “forcible rape” category and redefining the category according to modern standards. “I really don’t think it’s that hard to do,” she says. Tracy plans to keep pushing for a change in the defini- tion, as does the Feminist Majority Foundation, which has begun its own campaign. (See box at right to learn what you can do.) The UCR definition of forcible rape may not be at the forefront of consciousness for many rape survivors, but it affects the seriousness with which the crimes against them are taken. For survivors like Morin, a new defini- tion could mean having a more supportive experience with enlightened police officers—and a real chance at justice. Most importantly, a new definition will signal to society that all rapes are crimes, all rapes matter and all rapes count. n STEPHANIE HALLETT is a Canadian-born, U.S.-based journalist. She helped launch the Canadian feminist magazine Shameless and currently writes for Sadmagazine in Vancouver. www.msmagazine.com JOIN OUR CAMPAIGN A message from Ms. publisher Eleanor Smeal Feminists helped defeat the Republican attempt to narrow the definition of rape to “forcible rape” in their recent efforts to put new restrictions on abortion. But as Ms. writer Stephanie Hallett reports on the preceding pages, the FBI—in its Uniform Crime Report—still uses an impossibly narrow and outmoded definition of “forcible” rape to gather its statistics. The FBI needs a modern definition of rape that reflects a popular understanding of the crime and doesn’t exclude the vast majority of rapes. Rape is rape. Period. Without an accurate definition we won’t have accurate statistics about rape, and without accurate statistics we will never have adequate funding for law enforcement to solve these crimes and stop violence against women. We also need to make sure that police departments swiftly test rape-evidence kits. The backlog of untested kits around the country is outrageous, as it leaves serial rapists—and the vast majority of rapes are committed by serial rapists—free to rape again. So we need your help. Join the No More Excuses! campaign of the Feminist Majority Foundation and Ms. magazine and demand that: 1. 2. The FBI must change its outmoded definition of rape. City police departments must test every rape kit in their backlog and make sure untested kits don’t accumulate again. Go to our online campaign headquarters (see below) where you’ll be directed to letters you can send to FBI director Robert Mueller and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. You can also order a local take-action package that includes a dramatic video about the rape-kit backlog by Lorraine Sheinberg and Susan Rubin and ideas for making a difference in your community on this vital issue. Together, we can make our communities a safer place for all women! www.feminist.org/nomoreexcuses SPRING 2011 | 31 N O M O R E E X C U S E S !