Rape Kits

Sexual assault forensic exams, or rape kits, can be used to collect evidence from one’s body, clothes and personal belongings. While they can be powerful tools in delivering justice to survivors, the rape kit backlog—hundreds of thousands of rape kits that sit untested in storage facilities—all too often prevents this from happening. The rape kit backlog is a clear representation of the criminal justice system’s failure to address sexual violence.

NEWSFLASH: Biden Announces Millions to End Rape Kit Backlog

PUBLISHED 3/17/2015 by

Vice President Joe Biden joined Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland Monday to announce that $41 million in funding from the federal budget will be used to test backlogged rape kits sitting in storage around the country. There are approximately 400,000 untested rape kits gathering dust in U.S. crime labs. (That’s considered a conservative estimate since police […]

Detroit Fundraises to Test Rape Kits

PUBLISHED 1/15/2015 by

In an unprecedented initiative, the cash-strapped city of Detroit has partnered with two nonprofits to raise $10 million for testing its huge backlog of rape kits and conducting further investigations of rape cases. Five years ago, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office discovered 11,000 untested kits in a Detroit police storage unit, a few of which […]

California Moves to End Rape Kit Backlog

PUBLISHED 12/1/2014 by

TRIGGER WARNING: DISCUSSION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT When someone is raped and wants the perpetrator caught and prosecuted, it’s essential that the victim provide forensic evidence of the assault to law enforcement. A “rape kit” is the collection of biological evidence that can lead to an identification of the perpetrator’s DNA. But tragically, rape kits are […]

NEWSFLASH: New York Commits $35 Million to Eliminating the Rape Kit Backlog

PUBLISHED 11/14/2014 by

Earlier this week, New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced he will be allocating $35 million toward the elimination of untested rape kits across the country. In a press conference on Wednesday, Vance said the money will go towards testing rape kits and solving unsolved sex crimes—all to provide closure to survivors. When a rape kit […]

Congress Moves Forward on Rape-Kit Funding

PUBLISHED 6/5/2014 by

The U.S. Senate subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies showed its support this week for combating the backlog of untested rape kits by including $41 million in its 2015 fiscal year spending bill as part of a community-based sexual assault response reform initiative. This announcement comes on the heels of an earlier House […]

100 Serial Rapists Have Been ID’d in Detroit

PUBLISHED 3/19/2014 by

Five years ago, 11,000 untested rape kits were discovered in a police storage facility in Detroit. So far, just 1,600 kits have been tested, but that small number has yielded startling results: 100 serial rapists have been identified, and the DNA of 10 since-convicted rapists has been found. So what do these findings mean? Of […]

DNA Evidence CAN Stop Serial Rapists

PUBLISHED 8/4/2011 by

It was an ordinary day in October, 2002. Julie Weil and her infant son were picking up Julie’s daughter, three-year-old Emily, from her Florida preschool at  noon. As Julie buckled her daughter into her car seat, she felt a sudden blow to the head. That day, Julie was raped four times in front of her […]