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United States: Senate should act on rape investigations
The Senate Judiciary Committee hearing tomorrow on the backlog of untested DNA evidence in rape cases across the nation should move the United States closer to addressing the issue, Human Rights Watch said. Thousands of sets of evidence, called "rape kits," sit untested in police and crime lab storage facilities, Human Rights Watch said.
The hearing, chaired by Senator Patrick Leahy, follows recent news reports highlighting the national scope of the rape kit backlog, including approximately 12,500 untested kits in Los Angeles; 10,000 in Detroit; 6,000 in San Diego; and 4,000 in Houston.
"This hearing should serve as a wake-up call that rape victims need federal action to help them find justice," said Sarah Tofte, researcher with the US program at Human Rights Watch. "Victims across the country wait in vain for justice while the evidence in their cases sits untested."