KUT » The Provability Gap

An in-depth news series about the handling and mishandling of sexual assault cases in Austin and Central Texas.

Episodes

Series Trailer

August 15, 2019 • 1 min

This new series explores how sexual assaults are investigated and prosecuted in Central Texas and why many of these crimes go unpunished. KUT’s Nadia Hamdan has frank conversations with victims, survivors, detectives, prosecutors, lawyers and others as she explores the reasons for the provability gap in sexual assault cases.

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The Provability Gap, Part 1: The Victim

August 19, 2019 • 13 min

Hundreds of rape victims report to Austin police each year. But most of them never make it past the interrogation room – let alone to a courtroom. In the age of #MeToo, a growing number of people in the community are questioning why so many of these crimes go unpunished, and they’re pressuring local leaders […]

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The Provability Gap, Part 2: The Police

August 20, 2019 • 18 min

Hundreds of adult sexual assaults are reported to the Austin Police Department each year, but only a tiny fraction of these cases will make it before a jury. The question is: why? It’s something we’re exploring in our series, The Provability Gap. In the second part of the series, KUT’s Nadia Hamdan looks at some […]

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The Provability Gap, Part 3: The Prosecutor

August 21, 2019 • 14 min

Even though it can sometimes take more than a year for a sexual assault case to make it through the system, many in the community, including the district attorney, believe the number of cases making it to trial is far too small.

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The Provability Gap, Part 4: The Public

August 22, 2019 • 15 min

Should all the responsibility for the poor track record of getting justice for rape survivors fall on police and prosecutors? Or should city leaders … and the community at large, also carry some of the blame?

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