Welcome to Litsy!

This book tells the story of how the rape kit came into being and gives proper credit for its invention to Marty Goddard, a forgotten advocate for women and victims of sexual assault in Chicago. The author then takes on the task of trying to locate Ms. Goddard to give her the credit she is due. The book ends by looking at the sexism and issues sexual assault survivors still face today and looks at how things continue to evolve in modern times.

It was hard to get into this book. The writing does get stronger, and very powerful by the end, and I wonder if that was deliberate or incidental. I expect to see a lot kore out of Chanel.

It was hard to stay with this because of the subject matter, but worth it. It‘s infuriating but important. If you can, read this book.

He‘d seen me as a body, but would attempt to destroy me as a person.

An incredibly compelling, frustrating, important, and infuriating read that truly has everything. Playboy founder being a force for good in the world, cops being cops, Chicago, dozens of women doing the world work without proper credit, and all the trauma that you might expect to find and some you wouldn‘t.

Very good. Thanks @Chelsea.Poole for putting this on my radar.

Marty Goddard wouldn‘t take no for an answer. She developed the rape kit but she didn‘t have an easy go of getting this established in hospitals and with investigations. She persisted! The author also goes into other devices created more recently to help those without access—at-home kits which may have issues with credibility, etc. But this was a fascinating read.

Bonus points for the audio because it‘s narrated by Claire Danes.

Sexual assault is something not many people know how to talk about. It‘s been around a long time, and so has its stigma. The ‘rape kit‘ is no exception. Mary/‘Marty‘ Goddard invented it because she was tired of the (still persisting) problem of the police not taking SA seriously. It isn‘t surprising that her kit was named after a man, not her. Kits have evolved and become better. Men have not stopped raping us, however. Read on for more.

Well, I just read this in one sitting. 😂 There were some problematic character flaws (mainly any and all forgiveness of terrible people), but Grace is just so kick-ass that she smooths over most of them for me. I very much enjoyed the final altercation and was glad that Grace continued standing up for herself.

It was interesting to learn about Marty Goddard and her advocating for rape victims. It was infuriating to learn about the attitudes toward rape at the time and the way police mistreated victims.

This is exactly why the title says it is. Now what I was not expecting is that this is an account more so on how the author herself searched for Marty, the actual creator of the rape kit. The book was written from her point of view, so that took some getting used to. Otherwise, the education was well put, with reference at the end. The second half was nice to look through on how the future of the tape kit continues. That it‘s still relevant