The Secret History of the Rape Kit
A True Crime Story
by Pagan Kennedy
Vintage Books/Penguin Random House
publish date 14-Jan-2025
Jump to: Find Help | Book Review | Note to Readers from the Book’s Editor
This review is courtesy of NetGalley.
Publisher’s Summary:
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
“The Secret History of the Rape Kit is stunning: part thriller, part feminist reclamation, part personal journey, fully a page-turner. How did we not know about Marty Goddard?”—Peggy Orenstein author of Girls & Sex and Boys & Sex
In 1972, Martha “Marty” Goddard volunteered at a crisis hotline, counseling girls who 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 work.
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 assault and her own desire for justice.
Help is Available:
Before my review, I’d like to give a list of resources for survivors of various types of abuse and violence. These aren’t necessarily Helplines, but websites or numbers that have better information than I can possibly present. I’d also like to add my friend’s book to your reading list if you are looking for something short, non-fiction, memoir style about a mother who admits her mistakes and positive action when CSA presented in her own family: Tracey Heisler’s The Shadow in Our Lives. Tracey’s book has these resources and many more listed, so thank you as always for your hard work, Tracey. I’ve included some that Pagan Kennedy used as resources and references for this book as well as ones I’ve found that may be helpful.
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-4673 (HOPE)
National Center for Victims of Crime victimsofcrime.org
Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy tfcbt.org
The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community ujimacommunity.org
Strong Hearts Native Helpline 1-844-7NATIVE (762-8483) or chat strongheartshelpline.org
Review:
Enough cannot be said for Pagan Kennedy bringing this lost history of Martha “Marty” Goddard’s impact to light first in The New York Times Sunday Review in 2020 and now in a full version trade paperback. As per usual with the patriarchy in science, inventions, and history, the rape kit was named after a man with medical credentials who had little to do with the creation—the Vitullo Evidence Collection Kit was Goddard’s invention. Kennedy also shares the notable contributions of PRESERVEkit created by Jane Mason and Madison Campbell’s MeToo Kit.
Kennedy’s narrative follows her diligent trail as she tried to track down Marty Goddard in order to write the first article and subsequently this book. Kennedy admits that finding Goddard became an obsession. She eschewed other work opportunities (and these were years when journalists and writers in general were taken for granted and being laid off or forced to strike).
There’s a note from the book’s editor (below) and a note from the author with some explanations about the subject matter and the terminology used. In our early years of the 21st century, someone who has been sexually assaulted (and lived) is more often called a survivor; in the legal system, however, the word is victim which connotes an objectification rather than being seen as a human. It is historically accurate for victim to be the correct term. It also allows for a broader meaning since it can refer to someone who survived or did not. Kennedy chose a 21st century approach in her use of woman/women to include transwomen.
Chapter 1 slaps the reader wide awake as Kennedy reveals her own history as someone who was assaulted as a child by another, but older, child. She gets into graphic detail about this later in the book which nails down how truly oppressed girls and women have been. Her father was abusive and her mother was silent, more interested in presenting a “good public image” whenever other people were around. However, Kennedy had to see her assailant throughout her life because he was the son of her parents’ friends. She changed his name which may leave some readers feeling jilted since this boy later became a Washington insider with influence.
To her credit, Kennedy often comes around to discussing the 2018 hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh when Dr. Christine Blasey Ford bravely exposed her story of sexual assault by a man about to be given one of the highest positions of power. Kennedy saw herself in that story and shared their common denominators: both were privileged; they were in similar social circles; they were past students of private schools. It emphasizes that while no one is truly safe from this kind of crime, white women of privilege have their stories in the press when others don’t. Marty Goddard recognized that decades ago in her work as an activist in Chicago where the police force was notoriously corrupt and racist.
Stories like Kennedy’s personal story and Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony shouldn’t be needed to show the monumental neglect of law enforcement, the legal system, and family responsibility. Marty Goddard’s history-making role took place in the 1970s-80s (when serial killers were sensationalized and given monikers by the press). Meanwhile, women were told to take self defense classes, never walk alone, don’t leave your drink unattended, and of course, dress modestly lest you be asking for it. Those bits of advice are truly misogynistic, ableist, classist, and wildly distressing to put the onus on the population that was victimized rather than telling men, “Don’t rape.”
Before Kennedy began her quest for Marty Goddard, she knew about DNA evidence collected for sexual assault. It didn’t cross her mind much until the Kavanaugh confirmation spectacle. In 2018, the true crime world was rocked by the long awaited identification of Joseph DeAngelo (first called the East Area Rapist then the Golden State Killer among multiple other mantles). Like Goddard, most of the work unraveling the connections leading to DeAngelo are credited to men in the FBI, consultants, and other law enforcement when it was the work of investigative writer, Michelle McNamara who actually blew the case open.
Pagan Kennedy describes how obsessive and compulsive she became in finding Goddard so that the credit of the rape kit invention could finally be given to the rightful owner. Kennedy’s life must have been quite similar to McNamara’s (as described by her husband after her death).
And, like Marty Goddard, it took men in power who were willing to listen to the plight of women in order to move the needle. Marty—to be blunt—worked herself to death. She became an alcoholic and after her time changing the country, she withered into a husk of a human. Kennedy’s descriptions of Goddard came from members of the family who knew her best because the sad truth was that Kennedy’s Moby Dick had already died.
It had to have felt impossible for an activist who was terrified of public speaking to travel around the country trying to train medical professionals and law enforcement officers who were reluctant to hear what Goddard had to say. As Kennedy describes the anxiety and panic Marty went through, it truly is nothing short of miraculous that men like Ray Wieboldt, Jr. (heir to a Chicago department store fortune) listened to her. Marty made such an impression that Wieboldt hired her as an executive at his family’s foundation. She suddenly had money, but died in poverty.
Marty Goddard’s invention of the rape kit was also taken seriously by a business/brand that anyone guessing who gave her support would probably never figure out. It was Playboy. Yes, that Playboy, as in Hugh Hefner. This is support is explained in Chapter 5. Aside from making pin-up cheesecake glamourous and above ground, there was The Playboy Foundation—a non-profit created to fight censorship which grew to become a reputable charity for social changes, AIDS/HIV causes, and reproductive health and rights. The Playboy Foundation provided the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project lead by Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the time. The Playboy Foundation gave Marty Goddard’s organization $10,000 in grant money to get the rape kit created. Playboy artists volunteered their skills and did all the graphic design and packaging for the kit. This is an incredible enlightening chapter in Kennedy’s quest to find Goddard and give her the credit she was owed.
While Marty hustled from one police department to another, she asked the questions that drove change. She found how many failures there were in the whole system. There hadn’t been relationships between the police and medical staff. The nurses weren’t forensic technicians therefore, Goddard’s advice insisted that medical professionals have specialized training in how to collect evidence. Her point was that these victims deserved dignity and they were owed the ability to have evidence to back up their stories should they choose to come forward and file charges against abusers.
As to not overlook another person who aided in the “Vitullo” rape kit development, Pagan Kennedy identified that Marty Goddard’s rape kit had another collaborator, an African-American police officer on the Rape Task Force, Rudy Nimocks. He was in the minority as a black man in the racist system of the Chicago police department. Nimocks was the “inside man” who was able to advise Goddard in how to approach anyone in the criminal justice system. He was the one who convinced her that she needed to get someone from the crime lab to be on board. Nimocks is the person who suggested she reach out to Sergeant Louis Vitullo, a powerful person who became famous for his work on the Richard Speck case.
Vitullo’s initial response to Goddard’s presentation was that he screamed at her, according to Cynthia Gehrie, a subject interviewed by Pagan Kennedy personally. Gehrie was often the woman to do the speaking engagements due to Goddard’s debilitating stage fright. This story was backed up by others in Kennedy’s research.
After dismissing Goddard ungraciously, Vitullo built a rape evidence collection kit just as described in Goddard’s papers she gave him. The caveat was that he get full credit for this invention. Since Marty Goddard was not someone chasing the spotlight in the first place, all she wanted was the change to happen, she agreed.
Summary:
Kennedy’s book on Marty Goddard, the rape kits (original and modern), and systemic patriarchy blocking justice is thoroughly researched and cited with 18% of the pages devoted to references. Her goal to track down her key subject may not have worked out as she hoped, but she found people who loved Marty Goddard and come across as grateful for Kennedy’s article and book about the truth erased by history books.
Chapter 11 is the only place where I questioned Kennedy’s bias as she tore down the FBI’s Behavorial Analysis Unit and the psychology of serial offenders. At its launch, this unit was called the Behavioral Science Unit and, with the hard work of another woman often erased in history—Dr. Ann Wolpert Burgess—Kennedy refers to the metrics developed to create psychological profiles of victims and offenders, as unreliable junk science.
Another important factor Kennedy discussed is how various movements, activists, and changes that addressed the backlog of rape kits that hadn’t been processed. The number unprocessed when this backlog hit headlines was, according to Kennedy, 400,000 untested kits. While she states that no one can confirm updated statistics on this, the estimate is down to around 50,000.
Also, because of Pagan Kennedy digging into this painful subject and interviewing those connected to Marty Goddard, one original “Vitullo” Evidence Collection Kit was found in a box in storage. Kennedy felt this kit belonged in a museum. The question arose, which museum? The ownership was transferred from Mary Sladek Dreiser to a joint acquisition by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. The acquisition had its own internal battle perhaps because someone would find the need for such a kit objectionable or because The Smithsonian had its own human resources problem with rape, stalking, and other misconduct. The kit is featured in the online exhibit. The museums are still debating on how to sensitively name and describe the objects.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Note to Readers from Editor Vanessa Haughton:
Dear Reader,
In the early 2000s, cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit came under fire for the astonishing backlog of rape kit evidence. In order to collect DNA, people who submit to the in-depth exams and questions have to do so within 72 hours, bravely allowing a professional to collect evidence when they are freshly reeling from sexual assault. The notoriety of this systemic failure to preserve and use the kits led Pagan Kennedy to ask, “How many rapists were walking free because this evidence had gone ignored?” And then, “How could a tool as powerful as the rape kit come into existence in the first place?”
The Secret History of the Rape Kit uncovers the ingenuity and persistence of the kit’s true inventor, Marty Goddard. At a time when—even more egregiously than it is now—sexual assault reporting involved humiliation after humiliation, with cops deciding a woman’s purity, Ms. Goddard believed these women and envisioned a way to gather and protect evidence within a hostile system. She had to fight her way forward within the police department, find funding, build a grassroots team to assemble the kits, educate nurses and doctors, cede the credit to a man, and eventually disappear, in order for the forensic tool to be taken seriously. In the process, Ms. Goddard’s invention became not only a technological revolution but a political one.
Thank you,
Vanessa Haughton
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.