Shelving Justice: Understanding the Problem of Untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs)

• In Event: Division of Victimology Organized Panel: Advances in Victimology: Sexual Assault Research and Reforms

Abstract

In August 2009, approximately 11,000 untested sexual assault kits (SAKs) (also termed “rape kits”) were discovered in a Detroit police department storage facility. The Detroit Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) Action Research Project (ARP) was formed to study the underlying reasons why police were not submitting rape kits for testing, and to develop evidence-based testing plans. This multidisciplinary team included researchers, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, forensic scientists, rape victim advocates, mental health professionals, and state policy makers. In this presentation, the results of a thirty-year historical analysis to understand why Detroit had so many untested SAKs will be discussed. Informed by ecological systems theory and based on data from stakeholder interviews, ethnographic observations, archival records, and a review of 1,268 police reports, results suggest that chronic scarcity created a psychological mindset that not all victims could be helped or should be helped. This research led to policy changes at the local, state, and national level regarding rape kit testing.

Author

• Rebecca Campbell, Michigan State University