Back in 2009, over 11,000 kits were found abandoned in a Detroit Police storage facility. After processing just 1,600 of them so far, Detroit has identified about 100 serial rapists and ten convicted rapists. Those perpetrators have moved on from Michigan to commit similar crimes in 23 other states.
Of course, Detroit is not alone. Nationwide, there’s an estimated 400,000 untested rape kits. One of our favorite actress/activists Law and Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay (read her Feministing Five interview here) has been raising awareness about this issue for awhile now. Her organization, The Joyful Heart Foundation, has launched a project called End The Backlog to pressure cities and states to prioritize testing their kits. (She’s also producing a documentary about the problem.) And thankfully, 17 states have proposed new legislation to address their backlogs.
There’s a ton of reasons that the rape kit backlog is national shame. For one thing, as Hargitay notes, “One would assume that if someone endures a four- to six-hour invasive examination, that that evidence would be handled with care.” And while police departments say testing evidence is expensive and they just don’t have the resources, they’re making choices about which cases they believe are worth moving forward. Sarah Tofte, the director of policy and advocacy for Joyful Heart, explained to ThinkProgress, “They’re making subjective judgments about whether they’re likely to get a conviction, what this rape looks like, whether the victim is credible, and what the victim’s worth to society is…Ultimately, it’s about, does this victim deserve justice?”
via 100 serial rapists identified after Detroit finally processes untested rape kits.


You must be logged in to post a comment.