MIchelle Bowdler discusses her book, Is Rape a Crime? A Memoir, an Investigation, and a Manifesto and her experience moving from victim to survivor to activist. She provides a powerful critique of how police continue to fail to investigate and mistreat victims of sexual assault.
Show Notes
Jung, Carolyn. 1984. “Sexual Assault Unit Introduced to Help Curb Rape in Boston.” Boston Globe, June 28.
Estes, Andrea. 2007. “Crime Lab Neglected 16,000 Cases: Evidence Was Never Analyzed, Probe Finds.” Boston Globe. July 15. http://archive.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/15/crime_lab_neglected_16000_cases/.
Abraham, Yvonne. 2015. “After a Night of Terror and Anguish She Finds Meaning.” Boston Globe. March 22. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/03/21/after-night-terror-and-years-anguish-she-finds-meaning/PBdZmtjFqxtqlaRNDUmmSP/story.html
Diamond, Diane. 2008. “The Rapist in the Freezer.” Huffington Post, December 18, updated December 18, 2008. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-rapist-in-the-freezer_b_144087
Bowdler, Michelle. “Eventually, You Tell Your Kids.” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e148d21f8d21343b3be192e/t/5e20c3d64c57ec0e60fcd03b/1579205595545/Eventually%2C+You+Tell+Your+Kids%2C+an+Essay+by+Michelle+Bowdler+-+Left+Hooks.png
Epstein Survivors’ Press Conference to support Epstein Transparency Act. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1CSnUjOJQ
On My Honor
The Secret History of the Boy Scouts of America
by Kim Christensen
Leave No Trace
A Hidden History of the Boy Scouts
Willoughby, Mariano. 2025. “After 17 years, DNA Tied a Man to Her Rape. Under Massachusetts Law, It Was Too Late.” WBUR. September 11.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/09/11/massachusetts-statute-of-limitations-dna-rape
Beckwith, Sarah. 2025. “Returning to the Scene of My Brutal Rape.” New Yorker. May 26. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/02/returning-to-the-scene-of-my-brutal-rape
Farquhar, Simon. 2017. A Dangerous Place: The Story of the Railway Murders. https://thehistorypress.co.uk/contributor/simon-farquhar/
Epstein, Joel and Stacia Langenbahn. 1994. “The Criminal Justice and Community Response to Rape.” National Institute of Justice, May. https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/148064NCJRS.pdf
Gidycz, C. A. (2011). Sexual Revictimization Revisited: A Commentary. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(2), 355-361. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684311404111 (Original work published 2011)
Tulane Climate Survey
https://climatesurvey.tulane.edu/
Harvard Women Law Faculty Oppose Title IX Guidelines
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/9/1/law-faculty-title-ix/
The Hunting Ground
An exposé of rape crimes on U.S. college campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. The Hunting Ground reported the numbers of students held responsible for sexual harms.
Rape of woman athlete by football player.
Jameis Winston, Heisman Trophy Winner. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/25/464332250/fsu-pays-950-000-to-woman-who-accused-jameis-winston-of-sexual-assault
Trauma and Recovery
Judith L. Herman. MD
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/judith-lewis-herman-md/trauma-and-recovery/9781541602953/
Truth and Repair
Judith L. Herman, MD
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/judith-lewis-herman-md/truth-and-repair/9781541600546/
A Dangerous Place
The Story of the Railway Murders
Simon Farquhar
Not That Bad
Roxanne Gay. 2018.
https://roxanegay.com/books/not-that-bad/
Pennsylvanian Congresswoman Madaleine Dean introduced in 2023 The Student Loan Deferment for Sex-Based Harassment Survivors Act to defer student loans for survivors of sexual assault. https://dean.house.gov/2023/9/dean-fetterman-reintroduce-bill-to-defer-student-loans-for-survivors-of-sexual-harassment-stalking-and-assault
Campbell, Rebecca and Giannina Fehler-Cabral. 2018. “Why Police “Couldn’t or Wouldn’t” Submit Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs) for Forensic DNA Testing: A Focal Concerns Theory Analysis of Untested Rape Kits. Law & Society Review, 52:73-105.
2009 Human Rights Watch Report on Untested Rape Kits in LA. https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/03/31/testing-justice/rape-kit-backlog-los-angeles-city-and-county
Iowa Statute of Limitations Laws.
Believing
Anita Hill
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671557/believing-by-anita-hill/
Joyful Heart Foundation’s campaign to end the backlog.
