Editorials

The epidemic threatening Alaska’s future

When it comes to rates of domestic violence and sexual assault in Alaska, the question is never whether the news is good or bad. The only uncertainty is how bad the news will be. And when the state’s “Crime in Alaska” report was released Monday, there was an answer: as bad as it’s ever been. Alaska’s rape rate, already the worst in the nation, shot up by 11%, making the state rate almost four times as high as the national average. It was only the latest setback for our state, which has persistently failed to make headway in reducing sexual assaults. Since 2014, the incidence of reported rapes has increased every year, growing by almost a third in that time. There has been much talk of Alaska’s budget crisis, its property crime crisis, its opioid crisis. But although those problems are serious and deserve our energy and effort, none of them display as abject a failure on nearly all fronts as Alaska’s rape crisis.

We’re not fixing our rape crisis. We’re not improving it. We’re not even stopping it from getting worse. If anything good can be said about our efforts so far, it is that we have continued to report our troubling statistics despite what they say about our inability to make progress on the fundamental safety of Alaskans. This is essential to ultimately addressing the issue successfully, as it will help us define where we succeed and fail. But without action beyond that reporting, our success or failure is out of our hands.

Alaska’s rape crisis affects us all, and all of us are needed to move toward a solution. Figures compiled by nonprofit group Standing Together Against Rape estimate that 59% of Alaska women have experienced domestic violence, sexual violence or both. Think about that. On average, three of every five women you know are victims of this crisis. It is not a problem endemic to a particular group, race or region. We cannot pretend it happens only to people in other homes, in other places.

Nor can we deny its causes. Of the 1,100 rapes reported in Alaska last year, 97% were committed by men. We must face the fact that across the state, many of our men are not choosing respect. Some of them are no doubt our friends and family members. We cannot minimize, defend or ignore their behavior.

In the same vein, we cannot pretend that this is a problem that can or should be solved solely by other people. Changing Alaska’s culture to make domestic violence and sexual assault inexcusable will require work by all of us. And we’re working against the fact that sexual assault has already taken deep root among shockingly young Alaskans: Of the 1,100 rapes reported in Alaska last year, a staggering 23% — nearly one in four — were committed by juveniles. Crimes like domestic violence and sexual assault are generational, and those who are victims early in their lives are at greater risk to be revictimized or, worse, become perpetrators in the future.

No problem can be solved just by throwing money at it, but there’s no question Alaska can and should be doing more to stem the tide of domestic violence and sexual assault. One major way our governments can help do so is to do a better job at ensuring our system of handling, processing and prosecuting cases is actually working. That means devoting the resources to processing the state’s inexcusable backlog of untested rape kits (work which, to give credit where credit is due, has already begun but is far from over). It means erecting a framework of law enforcement, particularly in rural communities, that will result in victims being able to trust that their reports will have consequences — and patching the many holes in the public safety net stretched thin across our state. It means providing for more district attorneys and public defenders alike, as unmanageable caseloads on both sides of the courtroom lead to multiple-year delays in bringing cases to trial. In that time, witnesses’ memories grow hazy. Evidence is misplaced. Officers change departments. And victims fear, correctly, that the result at the end of the day may be that they relive a horrific assault only to see their assailant walk free.

We all have a duty to be part of the solution within our own communities. That means not looking the other way when we see abusive behavior among our friends and relations. It means speaking up for what we know is right instead of staying quiet to avoid difficult conversations. It means raising our sons to know that violence in a relationship is never acceptable. Emotional abuse is never acceptable. Sex without consent is never acceptable. And it means making sure their friends and partners know it too.

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We won’t collectively choose respect until we’re willing to confront the problems of domestic violence and sexual assault — and their precursors — whenever and wherever we see them. That’s a fight we can’t afford to lose. If women in Alaska can’t feel safe in their homes and communities, how can we pretend we’re succeeding as a state in any capacity?

Anchorage Daily News editorial board

Editorial opinions are by the editorial board, which welcomes responses from readers. Board members are ADN President Ryan Binkley, Publisher Andy Pennington and Opinion Editor Tom Hewitt. The board operates independently from the ADN newsroom. To submit feedback, a letter or longer commentary for consideration, email commentary@adn.com.

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