#TestTheKits: Calls for US police to process rape evidence
New report on abandoned “rape kits” prompts outrage and demands for action.
Following revelations that police departments across the United States have failed to test thousands of batches of evidence collected in suspected rape cases, many are sharing their disbelief and calling for justice.
A investigative report published in USA Today on Thursday revealed at least 70,000 collections of evidence, called “rape kits”, were left untested in more than 1000 police departments. There are more than 18,000 police departments in the US, and the report suggests that the actual number of untested kits across the US could be in the hundreds of thousands.
Many reacted with #TestTheKits to share the number of untested kits in their regions and express disappointment with local police forces.