The U.S. government estimates that hundreds of thousands of untested rape kits languish in police and crime lab storage facilities. The EndTheBacklog project illustrates that there’s “more we do NOT know about the backlog than we do know.”
Nonprofit Joyful Heart has created The Accountability Project to gather hard data on the extent of the problem, and to call out the state governments and federal agencies that still don’t require police departments to count or track the kits in their possession:
We believe each kit represents a survivor who underwent the four-to-six-hour rape kit collection process and reported the rape to the police. Each kit represents a survivor who deserves to have that kit tested, and who deserves justice. And yet, hundreds of thousands of times, a decision is made not to process the evidence. In fact, many of these survivors never receive any follow-up information after filing the initial police report.
• End The Backlog (endthebacklog.org)
• Joyful Heart Foundation (joyfulheartfoundation.org)