Critics Question Palin's Record on "Epidemic" Rape, Domestic Violence in Alaska

In an interview Wed. arranged by the McCain-Palin campaign, former Palin aide Meg Stapleton defended her old boss' record. "One of the governor's number one priorities since taking office has always been to tackle domestic violence in the state of Alaska," said Stapleton.

Several victims' advocates noted that Palin did agree to a two percent increase in funding for victim assistance this year. But a March study by a state task force found that level of funding only covered the cost of helping women and children hurt by the epidemic of sexual violence. It was not enough to try to prevent assaults from happening – or to ensure "accountability of offenders," as the panel phrased it.

In a press release Thurs., the director of an Anchorage women's shelter defended Palin's leadership on the issue. In addition to approving the funding increase, Gov. Palin boosted anti-violence efforts by "publicly speaking out against domestic violence," noted Judy Cordell, director of Abused Women's Aid in Crisis (AWAIC). The state legislature also passed a tough anti-strangulation law while Palin has been in office, Cordell said.

Some members of Palin's administration were focused on the issue of sexual violence. Officials in the Department of Public Safety were devising an ambitious, multi-million-dollar initiative to seriously tackle sex crimes in the state, but Palin's office put the plan on hold in July.

Days later, Palin fired its chief proponent, Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, after he declined to dismiss a state trooper Palin accused of threatening her own family members. Palin has said she fired Monegan because she wanted to move his department in a "new direction," and he was not being "a team player on budgeting issues." The dismissal is now at the center of a hotly-contested investigation by the state legislature.

The status of the plan, which would have "fast-tracked" sex crime cases via a dedicated group that included specially-trained investigators, judges and prosecutors, is unknown. "I'd ask the governor," said one official with knowledge of the plan. Numerous inquiries to Palin's campaign spokeswoman went unreturned.