Leila was violently raped nearly 30 years ago. This month, her rapist walked free. Her rape kit went untested for years; by the time she found out, the state’s statute of limitations for a rape prosecution had expired. She told annalouiesuss her story
I was a 22-year-old college student when I was raped in June 1993. I had moved from New York City down to Memphis to study at Memphis State. I play the fiddle and sing, and I thought I’d have a career in music — bluegrass music was my passion. I loved being onstage, performing, meeting new people. That night in June, my roommate was out of town, and I had fallen asleep on my couch with the TV on quietly after taking a run on a beautiful street in Midtown, my neighborhood.
When it’s happening to you, you can see that it’s so clearly not about the sex. It’s so clearly about anger and dominance and power. Over the next few months, I was brought in several times for questioning. A detective had me look at tons and tons of mug shots even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to recognize him because I never saw his face. He suggested maybe it was someone I knew, and I might be able to recognize his face that way. At one point I asked, “Well, what about my rape kit?” And I was told, “I’m so sorry, but it was inconclusive.” At that time, I had no idea how long it took for a rape kit to be analyzed.
My mom had moved down from Massachusetts to live with me while I finished college. When she moved out to a house a few doors down, I started watching crime shows, fictional ones like. She’d come over and say, “Why are you watching that?” I liked learning how people get away with stuff. One night, in the fall of 2014, there was an episode about untested rape kits. I swear, it was as if my head exploded. I could feel heat — literal heat — rising up into my head, like it was going to explode.
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