After Meghan Wright was sexually assaulted in 2006, she went to Murray Calloway County Hospital to get checked out. A certified sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) treated her, and gathered forensic evidence for a rape kit.
"It's not just that nobody else could take that evidence," Wright said. "You want somebody that knows what they're doing and feels comfortable doing it, because that exudes confidence enough that, even the littlest bit, you might be more at ease."
Only one-third of Kentucky counties are served by a hospital with a SANE nurse, a KyCIR investigation found. Some hospitals without SANE nurses direct patients to other hospitals for the forensic sexual assault exam, in violation of the law.
Wright said she wouldn't have been able to get up and go to a second location after her traumatic assault.
“I don’t know that survivors should be asked to have the courage to make that decision twice in one day,” she said. “It’s not fair.”
Listen in the sound player above to Wright describing the experience of her forensic exam. Warning: the audio story contains descriptions of sexual assault.
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