30 years ago, a Penn student’s murder underscored the failings of police rape investigations. More work is still needed.

Nearly 30 years ago, University of Pennsylvania graduate student Shannon Schieber was murdered by the man who came to be known as the “Center City Rapist.” We remain outraged by the grossly inadequate response at the time by the Philadelphia Police Department’s Special Victims Unit.

Now, years after the scandal of Schieber’s death in 1998, policing has changed for the better here and elsewhere, but profound problems persist across the nation.

After the murder, The Inquirer published a series of investigative reports alleging that the Special Victims Unit was not adequately investigating sex crimes. Detectives systemically concealed that failure by improperly classifying rape reports in a noncriminal category — for instance, hiding the serial attacks by Schieber’s killer.

In all, the city finally acknowledged that the unit failed to investigate almost a third of its caseload over two decades. It became clear that the police department was infected with bias against rape victims.

As the news broke, our organization, the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia, mounted a campaign to compel the department to rectify past failures, improve investigations, and hold police accountable.

We researched how the department had handled rape cases over time. We learned of the deeply entrenched biases against rape victims, which persist today in both explicit and implicit forms and extend into bias against LGBTQ people. We dug into crime data and policing practices.

We discovered how the deceitful misclassification of sex crimes in noncriminal categories enabled investigators to dump cases while keeping clearance numbers high to make it appear they were doing a good job.

» READ MORE: Nearly three decades later, a fresh look at the bitter lessons of a high-profile Center City murder case | Opinion

Worse, we discovered this deception was an open secret; studies detailing it were published decades before our project began. We saw how systemic bias corrupts crime data, which leads to fewer resources to address the real number of sexual assaults. Our research also led us to discover how numerous states, towns, and cities also grossly undercount rape.

Over the years, investigative journalists have repeatedly exposed how police refuse to accept sex crimes for investigation, fail to adequately investigate complaints they do accept, and improperly treat victims as suspects, and classify their complaints as false and “unfounded” at high rates while arresting alleged perpetrators at very low rates. Research has confirmed the sexist and racist attitudes at all levels of the legal system that result in disbelief and blaming of victims.

Common biases against rape victims include persistent myths about what constitutes “real rape” (forcefully, by a stranger in a vacant lot at night, resulting in physical injuries), “real victims” (“good,” young, attractive white women), and “real rapists” (Black men, poor men, uneducated men).

As the Women’s Law Project fought for change, the police commissioner at the time, the late John Timoney, ordered sweeping reforms, including eliminating the official practice of not informing the public of serial rapists. In an unprecedented move, Timoney invited us to organize an advocate review of sex crime files to regain the public’s trust. The city then moved the Special Victims Unit to a new $2.2 million facility.

Working with other advocates — WOAR (Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Assault), Support Center for Child Advocates, and the Children’s Alliance — the Women’s Law Project has led this review, now nationally known as “the Philadelphia Model,” every year since 2000. Throughout, subsequent police commissioners and commanders of the Special Victims Unit have recognized the value of this oversight. Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel has reaffirmed his support and invited us to participate in ongoing discussions to improve police response and victim experience.

By now, we have reviewed thousands of cases. Our eyes have been opened. We learned how hard it is to investigate sex crimes — and how emotionally draining it can be, too. We only read paper files; we do not personally interview people who have been horribly violated, or those suspected of committing such heinous acts. The police do, however. It is not an easy job.

Common biases against rape victims include persistent myths about what constitutes “real rape.”

We have become national leaders on how to improve sex crime policing. We have testified before the U.S. Senate, led a successful campaign to modernize the FBI’s definition of rape, helped draft the first-ever U.S. Justice Department guidance addressing gender bias in policing, and consulted on improving police sex crimes squads in nine other departments.

In our local and national work, we have seen highly professional investigations, but also lousy ones. We have seen police efforts to improve investigations, but we have also seen how a lack of staff and money can impede complete investigations. Investigators often lack enough training, particularly on how to conduct trauma-informed investigations. (Trauma-informed investigations take into account such issues as how memories are retrieved and behaviors a victim may exhibit during or after an assault.)

While we must and will continue to advocate for accountability for inadequate investigations, we have yet to see a police department with enough officers, computers, rape kit analyses, training, and funding to consistently investigate sex crimes in a timely and effective manner. Most troubling of all, national research shows few arrests, fewer prosecutions, and even fewer successful prosecutions on rape charges.

Since President Donald Trump has taken office, he has moved to roll back the progress that has been made. His Justice Department has issued new funding rules that weaken the work of the crucial U.S. Office on Violence Against Women. Advocates worry that he will soon shut down an in-depth investigation into the Special Victims Unit in New York City — a step he has already taken to end nine other federal probes of police around the nation.

The vast majority of rape victims don’t report the crime, many because of fear of being disbelieved or blamed by police. It is a reasonable fear; no one should feel forced to report if they do not feel safe or supported. However, victims who do choose to report deserve a thorough, unbiased, trauma-informed investigation.

As recently highlighted by Schieber’s father, Sylvester Schieber, and retired Philadelphia homicide detective Chuck Boyle, her rape and murder remind us all about what happens when there is no oversight and transparency in sex crime investigations. The Women’s Law Project is dedicated to continuing our advocacy and distinctive collaboration with police to improve response to sex crimes in Philadelphia.

Carol Tracy led the Women’s Law Project for 32 years until her retirement in 2022. Terry Fromson is of counsel for the project. Lila Slovak directs its Philadelphia office.