"That will be $1800, please"

If someone broke into your home you would probably expect the police to do an investigation. You would probably not expect the police to ask for personal payment for this investigation, but that is exactly what is happening to sexual assault victims in Texas, and other parts of the country (previously Alaska and North Carolina). Victims are being asked to pay for their own rape kits, which can cost up to $1800 .

The Vancouver Sun reports, "Texan women have to hand over a credit card before their investigation can commence - or face debt collectors afterwards."

Hopefully the uproar from the media will pressure Texas to reverse this practice the same way it did in Alaska and North Carolina.

You can read more about this issue here, here or here.

"That will be $1800, please"

Spot Light On: Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault

The Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA) is a network of 21 statewide programs providing shelter, legal advocacy, counseling and crisis assistance to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault since 1977.

Some stats about Alaska taken from a Public Opinion Survey conducted by Hellenthal and Assoc., 2006.

• Alaska rates as the number one state in America for sexual assault and murders of women by their abusers
• Almost 75% of people in Alaska have or know someone who has experienced domestic violence
• 73.1% of Alaskans can name their local domestic violence resource

For more facts and stats about Alaska, you can also read this study published by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Spot Light On: Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault