Victims of sexual assault have another avenue to notify authorities: a website launched Thursday by local agencies.
The website — ReportRapeGainesville.org — was developed by Gainesville Police and the Alachua County Victim Services and Rape Crisis Center. It features various buttons users can click on to report an incident anonymously or to get information about victim resources.
The goal is to give victims an additional outlet to report their story — one that may be more comfortable than speaking directly to authorities, said Laura Kalt, a victim advocate counselor.
Kalt was inspired to make the website after noticing Minnesota law enforcement agencies used a similar model. She ran the idea by GPD Captain Lynne Benck, commander of the criminal investigations bureau. Together, they wrote the website’s content while the IT department developed the website.
“We don’t know what the results will be,” Kalt said, “but at the very least, it will link people to the right services that will at least be available to support them.”
The website presents 12 options for users to click on, including “Make an anonymous report” and “Where can I go for help?” The report section prompts questions about the incident, such as where it happened or who the suspect was.
Users can offer as much or as little information as they choose, but more detailed reports will help police follow trends, Benck said. Authorities can also develop clearer statistics about rape in Gainesville, especially because many incidents are historically believed to go unreported.
“We actually hope to get a better picture of what our victim demographics look like and what our suspect demographics look like,” she said. “We can potentially at least see areas of town where we should be concentrating efforts.”
As with most anonymous reporting systems, there is a concern people will file false reports, Benck added. However, “that’s trivial compared to all the good that it will do.”
Already, Benck said, a victim’s advocate asked her when the website would launch because a victim expressed interest in using it. Benck and Kalt said they hope many more victims will see the website as an outlet and take advantage of the resources.
“If they can get it out and start realizing they can trust people with their story,” Benck said, “the chances that they’re going to heal and live a productive life will greatly increase.”
A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/15/2013 under the headline "Website for reporting local rapes launches"
