Every 107 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted.[1] Yet, since only 32% of rapes are reported, only 2 out of every 100 rapists will ever serve a day in prison.[2] Acts of sexual violence are grave violations of an individual’s dignity and their psychological and physical well-being. Through multiple articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all people are entitled to protection from these forms of maltreatment.[3] The negative psychological effects on victims are further intensified if their dealings with the criminal justice system lead to inadequate outcomes. Unfortunately, this is too frequently the case. Victims often cite that detectives who handle their investigations insinuate that they brought the attack upon themselves. In many cases, the assailant is never identified. Other victims decide not to press charges or participate through the entirety of the trial since these proceedings can take over a year and they want to put the incident behind them.
Victims of sexual violence deserve to have their cases taken seriously in the eyes of the criminal justice system. This includes having investigations and legal proceedings conducted in a timely fashion. According to a study done by the RAND Corporation, rape is the second most costly crime to society, after homicide.[4] Including the direct costs from law enforcement, such as police officer wages, and other forms of federal funds that are used to care for victims, each rape case costs society about $246,636 (in 2015 dollars).[5] Therefore, by not handling rape cases in a time efficient manner, public funds are being wasted. By altering the procedures used to investigate these crimes, taxpayer dollars could be used more effectively.
One way to expedite the investigation process for these cases is to test rape kits, evidence collected from the person of a sexual assault victim during a forensic medical exam. These kits include DNA samples left by the attacker from sources such as blood, saliva, and semen, as well as photos of the victim’s injuries and the clothes they were wearing at the time of the incident. Testing the evidence from these kits increases the odds that the attacker can be identified and/or that the legal system will have enough proof for an arrest or conviction.
Many localities however have thousands of these kits sitting untested in police storage facilities and crime labs. For example, in 2009, Detroit found that they had 11,341 rape kits that were never processed. After testing only the first 2,000, they found 760 DNA hits, identified 188 potential serial rapists, and convicted 14 assailants.[6] By eliminating backlogged rape kits, cities will see an increase in the arrest and conviction rates for sex crimes, which will lead to an overall increase in public safety. Processing cases within a shorter time span will ideally lead to less sex crimes going unreported since victims will have a greater sense of the police taking these incidents more seriously.
It is the job and social responsibility of law enforcement agencies seek justice for victims of sexual violence. Implementing policies that increase the likelihood that victims will have the opportunity to see their assailant punished benefits not only them, but society as a whole. Testing every rape kit is one way that we can accomplish this task.
[1] Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network [RAINN], “How often does sexual assault occur?,” accessed April 26, 2015. https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/frequency-of-sexual-assault.
[2] RAINN, “Reporting Rates,” accessed April 27, 2015. https://www.rainn.org/get-information/statistics/reporting-rates
[3] United Nations General Assembly, “The Universal Declaration of Humans Rights,” 1948. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/.
[4] RAND Corporation, “Cost of Crime Calculator,” accessed March 18, 2015. ww.rand.org/jie/centers/quality-policing/cost-of-crime.html.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Joyful Heart Foundation, “Local Government Responses: Detroit,” Endthebacklog, Accessed April 24, 2015. http://www.endthebacklog.org/ending-backlog-government-responses-local/detroit
This post was written by a student enrolled in the Capstone Seminar course in the undergraduate program in public policy at Hunter College. Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the student.
