Women Against Rape

Psychologically, rape is the most traumatic of crimes against women, and for many victims, the police investigation that follows is even more shattering. Unwilling to tolerate the situation, women in some 20 cities across the country have recently organized rape squads or rape crisis centers. Their aims: to prevent the crime and to ease the emotional hurt of its victims.

In most cases, the anti-rape groups are an outgrowth of the Women's Liberation movement and include many women who have themselves been raped. To get their message to other women, they advertise in the underground press or list themselves in the telephone book with an easy-to-remember number. In Boston, women can dial 492-RAPE any time during the day or night to get help. In Washington, D.C. (dial 333-RAPE), lines are open from 7:30 a.m. to midnight. Most of the rape squads follow similar procedures. At the Washington center, the volunteers first determine if the rape victim wants to go to the police. There is no pressure to report the crime; the caller is simply briefed on what to expect during police interrogations and during physical examinations at hospitals or by private doctors. If she decides to go to the police, the center will send a sympathetic volunteer with her to give emotional support and to deter male officers from taking a voyeuristic interest in details or implying that the victim provoked the crime. Explains one Baltimore feminist: "The woman who files a complaint is sometimes herself treated as a criminal."

As part of their prevention efforts, some squads have adopted near-vigilante tactics. In East Lansing, Mich., members of the rape crisis center are said to have scrawled "rapist" on a suspect's car, spray-painted the word in red across a front porch, and made late-night warning telephone calls. In Los Angeles, the squad has adopted a counter-harassing strategy: when a woman called to complain that a neighbor followed her whenever she went out, squad members followed the follower for three days. That was enough to make him change his ways.

Other rape squads use more conventional preventive measures. The Women's Coalition for Rape Prevention in Madison, Wis., has set up a "women's transit authority" to provide, for a 250 donation, late-night transportation for lone women. Most groups run educational campaigns advising women about ways of discouraging attack. The Los Angeles squad, noting that karate takes years to master, advocates screaming as a possible alternative. Sandy Pinches of the East Lansing center wholeheartedly advocates force: "A karate chop to the Adam's apple can kill a guy. Or you can stomp down with your heels on his shins--rip out his skin there or smash his instep." In Washington, the center recommends carrying spray oven cleaners, plastic lemons for squirting juice or ammonia, lighted cigarettes ("smash out in eye"), or corkscrews ("jab quickly and directly, then twist").

Message. Many squads are hostile to the police and avoid them entirely; others try to make policemen understand how women feel about rape. Explains a Washington center spokeswoman: "We want the police sex squad to appoint more women officers so that a woman is always available in rape cases." That message is apparently getting across. The District's 27-member squad now includes five women and will soon have ten.

A few other police departments have also taken some remedial measures of their own. The Atlanta police department recently named Joyce Miller as its first woman officer to the homicide division; her first responsibility is to handle rape cases. But the greatest progress has been made in New York City. There, the police department has established a special rape squad within the detective bureau. Headed by Lieut. Julia Tucker, the squad is staffed with seven other women, and is responsible for providing emotional support for rape victims. It is also charged with educating the male policemen who still do much of the work in rape cases. To this end, Lieut. Tucker has organized psychologist-led seminars for both male and female officers. These days, she says, New York police who interview rape victims are now selected with an eye to their emotional sensitivity. But, acknowledges the detective bureau's Deputy Inspector Terrence McKeon, "You have to be a woman to understand the shock a rape victim has experienced."

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