The Secret History of the Rape Kit

A True Crime Story

De: Pagan Kennedy

Narrado por: Claire Danes

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.

©2023 Pagan Kennedy (P)2023 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Pagan Kennedy’s 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 Kennedy’s 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

“The Secret History of the Rape Kit” is a relatively slender book, but it packs a punch. It’s an important investigation of a complex inventor, her flawed but revolutionary technology, and how it has never been allowed to live up to her hopes for it.”—The Washington Post

“In The Secret History of the Rape Kit, Pagan Kennedy deftly weaves genres to create an absolutely compelling book that melds true crime, memoir, biography, social history and a personal, impassioned quest. I raced through it, gripped from start to finish.”—Kate Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The Radium Girls and The Woman They Could Not Silence

A Crucial Book

Few could write a book as difficult with the elan of Kennedy. Please read this incredible work.

Love hidden history

This book is amazing, history that is hidden and stuff that still happens with women in society

Fascinating

Of course, in order to get Important People to give credence to a rape kit (needed by women), it must be believed to be created by a Man, even if it was really created by a woman. The question the book answers is “why” someone would create a rape kit and why that someone would obviously be female. The lifestory of the creator of the rape kit elicits an understanding that only members of this special club could know. The book ends with current technological advances and political roadblocks concerning rape kits, and it’s not where we would expect to be in this day and age.

The Hidden Story of the Rape Kit and It’s Creator is Finally Told

I really liked this book for many reasons. The story of Marty Goddard was compelling and dramatic. The author successfully shows how Marty created the rape kit and despite unimaginable hurdles succeeded in getting law enforcement to adopt it.

Pagan Kennedy also tells a broader and complex story of how violence against women had received little attention even up to today.

And finally, the narrator, Claire Danes, does a impressive job telling this wonderfully researched story.

Sad truth and it’s needs attention

I was shocked to learn about the history and more importantly the pain that not just Marty and others in this recount have suffered but how a system ignores sexual battery, rape and violence against women. And understanding it’s systematic is what makes it more heartbreaking. A must read!

Remarkable history

This was a fascinating story about the creation of the rape kit, including the history it was steeped in, and the driven, complicated woman who made it happen. Fascinating, heartbreaking, inspiring, eye-opening, maddening, important story. The narrator was perfect in that she kept it serious but not lifeless. Highly recommend.

Fascinating

This narrative is factual and done with grear respect. I will read again, i hope you enjoy it as much as i did the first time thru. Bottom line > it all depends because we are unique and individual

What an incredible story

This is a brilliant book (insightful, suspenseful, eye-opening) and Clare Danes was a marvelous reader.

Long Overdue …

… to have this story told. Well done. So sad that Marty’s later years appear to have been scarred by alcoholism.

Best true crime story I’ve heard in a while

After reading the story of golden state killer this was a perfect follow up had me hooked the whole way through amazing journalism and research