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How Do You Stop Serial Rapists? Test the Hundreds of Thousands of Backlogged Rape Kits
Photo credit: Lonnie Timmons III, Plain Dealer file

The federal Department of Justice and New York City officials recently announced grants totaling nearly $80 million to help clear the massive backlog of rape kits languishing, untested, in police evidence rooms across the country. The funding will enable the processing of more than 70,000 untested kits in more than 40 law enforcement jurisdictions, making a dent in the several hundred-thousand deep backlog that exists nationwide. In so doing, perhaps the percentage of rapists who ultimately serve time will be boosted as well. The percentage right now? Two. Meanwhile, jurisdictions that have cleared their backlogs have put hundreds of serial rapists behind bars.

The Grueling Process of Rape Kit Evidence Collection

In the immediate aftermath of a rape – ideally within hours, and in all cases within 72 hours – women are given the option of preserving DNA evidence of the assault. The evidence from this sexual assault forensic exam goes into a “rape kit,” which, in theory, will be processed and used in the prosecution of the assailant.  

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