For decades, tens of thousands of rape kits sat untested in police department storage rooms in what was to become known as ‘the rape kit backlog.’ But as scrutiny around the ignored and untested kits has grown, a newer problem has emerged, one that is almost impossible to quantify.
Similar to the backlog story, local media have been responsible for shedding light on another facet of the criminal justice system’s failure to process evidence related to rape: police departments have routinely destroyed rape kits, reports Jessica Gleck in The Guardian— in some cases, when they deemed rape allegations unfounded, or the alleged victims didn’t cooperate. In other cases, rape kits from victims who don’t file a police report are collected in case these victims decide to report later.
