NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Sue Wray with BrightHouse said that numbers for them in 2023 were nominally down, but it's not clear if that's because of fewer incidents or less reporting of them by victims.
"Just a few fewer people came in," Wray said. "We also had some things happen in some of our counties. One of our county people had a baby, so was not available as much, so we may not have had people coming in as much. Also, the hospital was doing things a little bit differently, so there may have been people going through the hospital who weren't coming to BrightHouse, they may have been going there instead. We're not sure whether the numbers were actually down for the year or whether they just weren't coming to BrightHouse."
Historically, rape incidents reported to BrightHouse actually outpace those reported to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. In 2022, the KBI recorded 37 rape cases in Reno County, with BrightHouse working with 133 victims. Wray said there are reasons that women sometimes don't go through with cases.
"People don't want to report, they don't want to go to the police," Wray said. "There are a lot of reasons for that. A big one is that, it's just a really difficult thing to take to law enforcement. It's a difficult thing to go to court with. Out of all of the rapes, out of a thousand rapes nationally, 25 will go to jail. Two percent. That is actually our average, too. Two percent are incarcerated. Part of it is that you just look at that when you're looking at what you want to do and you think, is it worth it?"
The legal process, by its very nature, requires the retelling of the incident multiple times.
"We will go with the victim," Wray said. "BrightHouse will accompany them to every law enforcement encounter. They'll go with them to court. It's difficult. You have to tell that over and over. You get questioned. You get challenged on everything. They bring up your past. It's really hard. We don't encourage anybody to do it, if they don't want to."
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. And every 9 minutes, that victim is a child.
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