The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story

(Paperback)

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Marty Goddard dreamed up a new crime-solving tool-a kit that could help rape survivors fight for justice. This thrilling investigation tells the story of the troubled, heroic woman who kicked off a feminist revolution in forensics, and then vanished into obscurity. "Astonishing . . . Marty Goddard takes her rightful place as a visionary thanks to Kennedy's relentless investigation."-Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises Marty Goddard dreamed up a new crime-solving tool-a kit that could help rape survivors fight for justice. This thrilling investigation tells the story of the troubled, heroic woman who kicked off a feminist revolution in forensics, and then vanished into obscurity. "Astonishing . . . Marty Goddard takes her rightful place as a visionary thanks to Kennedy's relentless investigation."-Rachel Louise Snyder, author of No Visible Bruises In 1972, Martha "Marty" Goddard volunteered at a crisis hotline, listening to girls sob with shame. The girls had been molested by their fathers, their teachers, their uncles. Soon, Marty was on a mission to answer a question- Why were so many sexual predators getting away with these crimes By the end of the decade, she had launched a campaign pushing hospitals and police departments to collect evidence of sexual assault and treat survivors with dignity. She designed a new kind of forensics tool--the rape kit--and new practices around evidence collection that spread across the country. Yet even as Marty fought for women's rights, she allowed a man to take credit for her invention. When journalist Pagan Kennedy went looking for this forgotten pioneer, she discovered that even Marty Goddard's closest friends had lost track of her. As Pagan followed a trail of clues to solve the mystery of Marty, she also delved into the problematic history of forensics in America. The Secret History of the Rape Kit chronicles one journalist's mission to understand a crucial innovation in forensics and the woman who championed it. As Pagan Kennedy hunts for answers, she reflects on her own experiences with sexual assualt and her own desire for justice.

Reviews

"Pagan Kennedys book is astonishing in every way that matters. The Secret History of the Rape Kit is the story of hidden genius and the centuries-long fight for women to simply be recognized and heard. Marty Goddard as a footnote in history takes her rightful place as a visionary thanks to Kennedys relentless investigation. This book is gripping, vulnerable, assured and way overdue.
Rachel Louise Snyder, author of Women We Buried, Women We Burned and No Visible Bruises

Author Bio

PAGAN KENNEDY is the author of eleven books. Her journalism has appeared in dozens of publications, and she has worked as a columnist for The New York Times Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, and The Village Voice. She has co-produced and authored a serial podcast for Radiotopia network that won a Webby Award. She has also been awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at MIT, an NEA Fellowship, a Smithsonian Fellowship, and two Massachusetts Cultural Council fellowships.