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Rape Kit Informative Essay

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Thesis Every 98 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in America, and only 6 out of every 1000 perpetrators will end up in prison. (Statistics) There are several steps taken to make sure that justice is served. Law enforcement personnel can gather information from the crime scene, any witnesses or the victim. DNA evidence from a crime like sexual assault can be collected from the crime scene, but it can also be collected from your body, clothes, and other personal belongings. You may choose to have a sexual assault forensic exam, sometimes known as a “rape kit,” to preserve possible DNA evidence and receive important medical care. (What Is a Rape Kit?) Unfortunately, thousands of the kits go untested for years, and many assailants do not get arrested.
Rape Kits After an attack, the victim is advised to immediately seek out medical care. The victim is given the option get a rape kit performed, and the procedure takes a few hours to complete, but the actual time will vary based on several different factors. (What Is a Rape Kit?) A rape kit is essentially a container that includes a checklist, materials, and instructions, along with envelopes and containers to package any specimens collected during the exam. (What Is a Rape Kit?) It is recommended …show more content…

Because there are not any guidelines for processing kits, it is the acting law enforcer’s decision to submit the kits to a lab which is one case of the backlogs. The blame cannot be placed only on the officers, because all levels of the government are failing to decrease the amount of untested kits nationwide. Most of the kits they have stored go unaccounted for because they have a lack of funding. On average, it costs between $1,000 and $1,500 to test one rape kit. Many kits never make it to a crime lab in the first place and instead spend years—even decades—sitting untested in police storage facilities. (Why the Backlog

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