Clear the Backlog of Thousands of Untested Rape Kits

Tens of thousands of rape kits are sitting on police shelves nationwide and going untested year after year. In many cases, the only way for a victim of sexual assault to press charges is to have the DNA evidence collected at a hospital and stored in a rape kit. It is extremely difficult for victims of rape to submit to the lengthy and invasive examination, but they do it because they believe that the evidence they provide will be used by police to track down rapists.

However, an outrageous number of rape kits with incriminating evidence are sitting in police storage all over the country and going untested for years. A recent investigation by Human Rights Watch found more than 12,000 untested rape kits on police department shelves in Los Angeles County. As Sarah Tofte, an investigator with Human Rights Watch, says this is "an incredible denial of justice for victims who had submitted to the collection of a rape kit in the hope that this evidence might help bring their perpetrator to justice."

Allowing rape kits to go untested allows rapists to go free. Addressing the backlog of rape tests has been proven to lead to the arrest of sexual offenders. New York City, for example, once faced a backlog of 17,000 untested rape kits. After analyzing the DNA that had been collected in the kits, police were able to provide the necessary evidence to prosecute 140 rapists.

The Los Angeles Police Department estimates that it will take at least four years to clear its backlog of 12,000 rape kits. By then, hundreds of rapists who could be convicted with existing evidence will have committed additional acts of sexual violence. Due to the outrageous number of untested rape kits and the importance of analyzing the evidence that they contain, it is necessary for us to take immediate action to ensure that every rape test is examined. 

It costs approximately $1,000 for a rape kit to be tested, and many cities simply do not have the required funding to pay for these kits to be tested. Other cities have the money, but do not spend it all due to insufficient laboratory capacity and administrative mishandling.  

We need to immediately enact federal legislation that provides the necessary funding for the testing of all rape kits, requires greater oversight of the funds allocated for the testing of rape kits, and ensures that no rape kit goes untested for more than six months. 

Tens of thousands of rape kits are sitting on police shelves nationwide and going untested year after year. In many cases, the only way for a victim of sexual assault to press charges is to have the DNA evidence collected at a hospital and stored in a rape kit. It is extremely difficult for victims of rape to submit to the lengthy and invasive examination, but they do it because they believe that the evidence they provide will be used by police to track down rapists.

However, an outrageous number of rape kits with incriminating evidence are sitting in police storage all over the country and going untested for years. A recent investigation by Human Rights Watch found more than 12,000 untested rape kits on police department shelves in Los Angeles County. As Sarah Tofte, an investigator with Human Rights Watch, says this is "an incredible denial of justice for victims who had submitted to the collection of a rape kit in the hope that this evidence might help bring their perpetrator to justice."

Allowing rape kits to go untested allows rapists to go free. Addressing the backlog of rape tests has been proven to lead to the arrest of sexual offenders. New York City, for example, once faced a backlog of 17,000 untested rape kits. After analyzing the DNA that had been collected in the kits, police were able to provide the necessary evidence to prosecute 140 rapists.

The Los Angeles Police Department estimates that it will take at least four years to clear its backlog of 12,000 rape kits. By then, hundreds of rapists who could be convicted with existing evidence will have committed additional acts of sexual violence. Due to the outrageous number of untested rape kits and the importance of analyzing the evidence that they contain, it is necessary for us to take immediate action to ensure that every rape test is examined. 

It costs approximately $1,000 for a rape kit to be tested, and many cities simply do not have the required funding to pay for these kits to be tested. Other cities have the money, but do not spend it all due to insufficient laboratory capacity and administrative mishandling.  

We need to immediately enact federal legislation that provides the necessary funding for the testing of all rape kits, requires greater oversight of the funds allocated for the testing of rape kits, and ensures that no rape kit goes untested for more than six months.