After a stellar run as a correspondent on The Daily Show, Samantha Bee has taken her incisive and magnificently ruthless approach to today’s issues to Full Frontal With Samantha Bee, proving over the last few weeks that she can go hard against injustice and Trump supporters alike.
This week, Bee took on the ugly truth about rape kits: hundreds thousands are going untested across the country, collecting dust in evidence rooms instead of being used to catch perpetrators. Additionally, many of the kits are being destroyed before the statute of limitations on sexual assault is expired, making it nearly impossible to bring the abusers to any kind of justice.
Bee points to two particularly egregious instances of the perpetuation of rape culture by government officials, starting with Georgia Republican State Senator Renee Unterman, who blocked legislation (despite it passing unanimously in the house) that would require the processing of the untested kits waiting in evidence rooms. Unterman claimed that a recent $2 million federal grant would resolve the issue, and that “there’s no reason to write a law because it makes you feel good.” That kind of callousness is just terrible, and one wonders how Unterman would handle the situation if she had to face the women who are waiting for justice while their rape kits continue to go untested.
If that kind of thinking doesn’t enrage you, Idaho sheriff Craig Rowland is sure to add fuel to the fire. Rowland seems to be in the camp that believes most reported rapes are just situations where “things went too far and someone got scared,” which Bee points out is rape. Bee lays it out in the plainest terms possible: “Most rapists are not college boys who were confused about consent that one time. They’re serial rapists, and testing old rape kits is how you catch them.”
This whole issue is one that is often swept under the rug, so it is admirable that Bee and the rest of the Full Frontal team are doing their part to stand with women who have been deeply wronged.
Full Frontal With Samantha Bee is on Monday nights at 10:30 EST on TBS, and you should probably be watching.