The Untested Rape Kit Backlog Epidemic Plaguing America
I make a living as a writer. This involves me sitting in front of a laptop at a desk in my own home— usually wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts— while conducting research on interesting topics and finding fresh ways to convey information on those topics through the written word. As I toil over finding the perfect words to grab and hold your attention with each key stroke, I never lose sight of the fact that I have it easy. I am one of the fortunate few with the ability to earn a living wage from the safety of my own home while many others risk life and limb on a daily basis to keep a roof over their head. Though my chosen profession runs the risk of me developing a wicked case of carpal tunnel syndrome, it pales in comparison to risks of those taken by people who work in law enforcement.
Tasked with the duty of protecting and serving their communities, law enforcement agents put their lives on the line every time they put on a uniform. In order to maintain the safety of themselves and those around them, they are constantly adjusting their focus to maximize their effectiveness in the name of protecting and serving. Just as many of us experience in our own professional and personal lives, shifting priorities can bring some things to the forefront of our attention and send other things to the bottom of the pile. In the case of many law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, testing and delivering results of sexual assault forensics exam materials— better known as rape kits— have fallen by the wayside. This has consequentially created a huge backlog and given way to numerous missed opportunities to put offenders behind bars. With untested rape kit backlogs reaching as far as back as the 1970’s in some states, there has to be a way to reconcile this issue— and the answer lies within the system created by lawmakers in Ohio.
According to RAINN.org, someone experiences sexual assault every 98 seconds in America. Once a crime of this nature is reported to authorities, victims are offered the use of a rape kit, which includes materials such as combs, blood sample devices, and containers meant for collecting DNA evidence to help identify any associated sexual perpetrators. Though forensic exams are usually conducted within 72 hours of the crime, many kits are filed away in police station storage units to await testing, which can take years— or even decades— to reach labs for completion. This erroneous system of forgotten evidence has created a backlog of more than 400,00 untested kits throughout the United States. This has created many unresolved issues for victims and given sexual predators endless time to commit more crimes of the same nature while avoiding conviction.
In 2017, the federal government released guidelines that addressed how law enforcement and medical professionals should handle the aftermath of sexual assault crimes more effectively, but it neglected to include information on how to reduce the mountainous backlog of kits that were untested in places like New York City (17,000 untested) and Los Angeles (11,000). However, some states decided to finally address their backlogs after getting pressure from activists and legislators alike. One state that really took this issue to heart was Ohio. After learning of the nearly 14,000 untested rape kits that dated back as far as 1971, the state’s Attorney General, Mike DeWine, got the ball rolling on an initiative in 2011 to reduce the backlog to zero. Upon setting up a task force comprised of forensic scientists, local law enforcement agencies and politicians, DeWine’s team worked diligently between to test every single one of those kits. As of February 2018, DeWine announced the backlog had been cleared and they were able to identify 300 serial rapists and link them to over 1,100 crimes.
What can other states take away from Ohio’s sexual assault kit initiative? A couple key things— mainly that sexual assault is a serious problem that needs to be addressed immediately and with unwavering attention. It’s of utmost importance to ensure that all law enforcement agencies, crime labs, politicians, and other involved agencies are on the same page, so they can build and maintain a system that runs smoothly for communications and processing at every step of the way. This has helped Ohio maintain, on average, a 25-day turn around for kit testing, which is considerably lower than other states, such as Washington, which can take up to four months to produce results for active investigations and up to 18 months for inactive investigations. Perhaps one of the most intriguing takeaways from Ohio is the money that can be saved by conducting thorough testing, as the state saved roughly $38.7 million through kit testing between 2011 and 2016 and figured to prevent at least one new sexual assault incident for every 4 convictions stemming from kit testing. It’s clear that many states have a long way to go with clearing their kit backlogs— not to mention the entirely other issue of figuring out what to do with the information once they obtain kit results— but following in the steps of Ohio will set them in the right direction.
