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SALT LAKE CITY — Her night out was supposed to be a celebration of her sister’s birthday.
Instead, Jessica Ripley ended up sexually assaulted and battered, undergoing a CT scan because an emergency room physician feared her skull was fractured, she said. Afterward, she endured ongoing tests for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
Nearly three years after the attack, the perpetrator has not been caught, which Ripley says she believes stems back to her initial contact with police.
“The police officer sent to serve and protect me would not believe me,” she said at a news conference Monday at the Utah Capitol.
Standing in front of T-shirts depicting the messages of victims of sexual assault and domestic violence that were hung on a makeshift clothesline, Ripley, a state lawmaker, law enforcement officials, and domestic violence and sexual assault advocates called for a new approach to handling sexual assault cases.
The Clothesline Project is a joint effort of the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the Salt Lake Area Domestic Violence Coalition.
Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, has introduced a resolution she hopes will change the manner in which police, advocates and even family members interact with victims of sexual violence
HCR1 would designate the first Wednesday of April as “Start Believing Day.” The resolution expresses support for victims of sexual assault, as well as the national Start By Believing campaign.
The resolution states that 1 in 3 Utah women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime, “a rate that is higher than the national average for sexual assault crimes.”
Utah would be the second state to pass such legislation, Romero said, following Arizona.
West Valley Police Chief Lee Russo said his department has adopted this philosophy and practice.
“The one victimization you heard of this morning isn’t an isolation. In West Valley City, we will believe. I’m asking you to believe with us,” he said.
Russo urged the public to visit the website startbybelieving.org to learn more about the approach and what he hopes is a sea change in practice.
Had the investigation into the sexual assault Ripley experienced started with the officer believing her account of events, she believes the rapist would have been held to account.
Instead, the officer's handling of the initial interview caused Ripley to start to question herself.
“I believe if I had been believed from the start, things would have been different,” Ripley said.
