Reviews with content warning for Rape - Is Rape a Crime?: A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Is Rape a Crime? is a scorching, no-holds-barred work that’s part memoir, part investigation into a society that refuses to treat rape like the felony that it is.

For you if: You are interested in joining the national conversation on how rape is handled, including the fight to get rape kits in backlog tested.

FULL REVIEW:

“If it were one city or one bad cop. If it were one DA who wanted a high win rate so declined to prosecute rape cases. If it were one judge who voiced empathy for the perpetrator and culpability on the victim’s part. If it were one isolated police department where kits were lost, shelved, or thrown away. If it were one crime lab where felony evidence sat untested. If it were one politician who made a throwaway comment minimizing rape. If it were one dean at one college who thought that they didn’t need training to decide a sexual misconduct complaint because their untrained but clearly stellar judgment on these matters would surely suffice.

“But it wasn’t just one.”

Wow.

Is Rape a Crime? is sure to grab your attention with its title alone. And that’s the point, but it doesn’t stop there. This book — as of now, longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award’s nonfiction category — will grab you by the shoulders, tell you like it is, call you out for refusing to make eye contact, and shake you hard until you hear what’s being said.

Let me say clearly that if you have triggers around rape and sexual violence, tread carefully with this book (or skip it altogether). Bowdler was a victim of a violent rape and has battled severe PTSD, and her story is woven into the fabric of the whole narrative.

But for those of us who can, I recommend reading it. It is uncomfortable, but worth it.

As Bowdler tells the story of her trauma (which comes across clearly as something she’s had to do often throughout her life) and post-trauma, she pauses and dives deep into the moments that carry the most injustice: the way the police who responded to her call made her feel at fault; the not only lack of support but outright dismissal that she received from any form of law enforcement; the search for her missing rape kit years later. She shines a light on the way the justice system refuses to take rape seriously and the impact it has on victims.

I value this book for Bowdler’s honesty and candor; her resolve to speak up on behalf of others who’ve suffered like her, even though it’s painful; her investigation into these societal failings; her moments of hope; her resolve to keep fighting; her call to arms. Thank you, Michelle, for all of this.

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Violent rape (graphic); PTSD; Suicidal thoughts

Content Warnings

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