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/

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