USA TODAY investigation reveals nationwide backlog of rape kits

Last month, on September 10th, Vice President Joe Biden and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced that $79 million in funding will be directed towards testing sexual assault kits currently being held by police departments across the country.  The funding from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Justice Department will be given to more than 40 law enforcement jurisdictions to pay for crime-lab processing of 70,000 untested sexual assault evidence kits.

“It’s estimated there are hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits sitting in police storage facilities nationwide.  What stands in the way of testing them is money and the will to get the job done,” Vance said during the September press conference announcing the funding initiative.  Testing kits for DNA evidence has proved to be a valuable component in identifying perpetrators of sexual assault crimes.  However, nationwide there are thousands of untested rape kits that sit in law enforcement evidence rooms.  Typically, it costs approximately $1,000 to test a rape kit.  43 police jurisdictions in 27 states will be receiving the joint funding.  At least 50 major police agencies have never conducted an inventory of untested rape kits in their evidence rooms.  Most states have never conducted an inventory of untested rape kits.
In a recent investigative report regarding the nation’s backlog of rape kits USA TODAY obtained records identifying more than 70,000 sexual assault kits booked into evidence that have never been tested.  The review of police records by USA TODAY indicates that rape kit testing is often inconsistent among the nation’s police departments.  “Time and time again, we have seen that law enforcement frequently disbelieves victims when they’re seeking help from law enforcement, said Sarah Haacke Byrd, in the USA TODAY report. Haacke Byrd, who is the managing director of the Joyful Heart Foundation, said mandatory testing of rape kits “takes discretion out of the hands of law enforcement.”
In 2013, the U.S. Congress enacted a law that would require the Justice Department to establish no later than September 2014, national protocols “for the accurate, timely, and effective collection and processing of DNA evidence, including protocols and practices specific to sexual assault cases.”  The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry Act, or SAFER Act, requires at least ¾ of the funding for sexual assault kits should be used for testing or taking inventory of the evidence.  The law also proposed setting up grants to help local police departments pay for inventories and testing of rape kits.  Thus far no grants or protocols have been specifically established.
In a recent letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., implored the Justice Department to take action to address the problem of untested rape kits.  “This is simply unacceptable and the Department must more strongly fulfill the key role Congress has directed it too take in helping local law enforcement address the backlog,” Baldwin wrote.
“The fact is that often rape kits are unsubmitted for testing because of a blame-the-victim mentality or because investigators mistrust the survivor’s story.  This outdated way of thinking must change,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
Victims of rape and sexual assault deserve justice.  The USA TODAY investigation shows that important work remains to bolster funding for the untested rape kit backlog in the United States.  Victims are women and men of all ages.  As a nation we should not forget the importance of prosecuting perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
Additional resources regarding untested rape kits can be found at:
Joyful Heart Foundation – http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/about-us/our-story
Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network – https://rainn.org/
National Center for Victims of Crime – https://victimsofcrime.org/about-us
USA TODAY – http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/09/10/rape-kits-biden-sexual-assault-kits/72005372/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recovery Month supports addiction treatment programs and services

F or twenty-three years Americans have celebrated the month of September as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.   The purpose of Recovery month is to educate Americans about mental health services and addiction treatment programs that can help people struggling with substance abuse.   Recovery month also raises awareness about specific challenges that people in recovery face.   Although drug and alcohol addictions are complex problems with the correct treatment and support people who struggle with these addictions can recover. In a Presidential Proclamation On August 31, 2012, President Barack Obama declared September 2012 as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.   In his proclamation Obama said: “Over the past 3 years, we have worked to strengthen substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and to support Americans in recovery… Drug and alcohol abuse continue to take a tragic toll on millions of lives across our country. ...
Read more

The Life and Art of Allan Rohan Crite

Image
The Boston Public Library was one of three locations in the city of Boston to display the art work of longtime Bostonian and artist Allan Rohan Crite. Beginning in the fall of 2007 until February 3, 2008, the BPL, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists exhibited collected works of art from Crite’s storied career in The Life and Art of Allan Rohan Crite: 1910-2007 . Funded in part by the Boston Public Library Foundation, the exhibit offered onlookers a view into Crite’s lengthy artistic career. When I visited the exhibit on January 19, 2008, over fifty collages, drawings, paintings, and sketches adorned the Wiggins Gallery in the McKim Building of The Boston Public Library. Crite was born on March 20, 1910, in Plainfield, New Jersey. In that same year, his family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Crite would later make Boston his home as an adult. Over the course of his distinguished career he promoted visual art as a lecturer, p...
Read more

Political legislation brings attention to US Dental Care Crisis

A ccording to a report created by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) there is a national crisis in American dental care.   On June 7, 2012 Cummings and Sanders – the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, introduced legislation to address the inefficiencies in the American dental care system.   Approximately 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance.   ¼ of American adults 65 and older have lost all of their teeth.   More than 75% of American adults over 30 have gum disease.   Additionally, about 17 million low-income children do not go to the dentist every year. On June 26, 2012, PBS aired a documentary about the U.S. dental care system on the investigative news program FRONTLINE .   The 50 minute documentary, Dollars and Dentists , analyzes current economic trends and patient access in the dental care industry.   The documentary is a joint investigative pie...
Read more