The Grayson County Crisis Center in Sherman is now offering forensic exams for rape victims.
According to Rachel Morgan, executive director of the Crisis center hundreds of adult and child victims of sexual assault Over the past several years, have had to travel out of Grayson County to receive essential medical and forensic sexual assault examinations. This, she says, has caused victims to spend as many as 8 to 12 hours getting to and through exams outside the county. Often, Morgan says, these victims simply do not bother reporting the crime because the process is such a hardship.
Rape, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, is the most underreported crime in the United States. The agency estimates that as many as 90 percent of sexual assaults are not reported in some areas of the country. Rural victims far from help centers are among the most likely to suffer in silence.
Law enforcement as well, is also frustrated by lack of resources and crisis programs near victims. Morgan says,
For sexual assault victims in Northeast Texas, the nearest crisis centers have typically been in Plano, McKinney, or Dallas. The commencement of forensic sexual assault exams in Grayson county is designed to make it easier to come forward. With the new exam program, Morgan says, victims can get the help they need just down the street.