Main content

Unbelievable: The forgotten rape data

How some police jurisdictions in the United States are processing evidence from shelved rape cases and using the data to catch criminals now.

In the United States, some police jurisdictions didn鈥檛 send off DNA evidence from people who were raped for testing in a crime lab and for uploading into a national criminal database. Instead, the sets of evidence, known as rape kits, were sat on shelves and in warehouses.

It鈥檚 estimated that hundreds of thousands need processing. In this edition, Ruth Alexander explores how some jurisdictions are testing the kits now and using the data to catch criminals.

Producer: Darin Graham
Presenter: Ruth Alexander

(Untested sexual assault kits on warehouse shelves. Image: courtesy Joyful Heart Foundation)

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Tue 5 Nov 2019 03:50GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 2 Nov 2019 18:50GMT
  • Sat 2 Nov 2019 19:50GMT
  • Mon 4 Nov 2019 13:50GMT
  • Tue 5 Nov 2019 02:50GMT
  • Tue 5 Nov 2019 03:50GMT

Download this programme

Download this programme

Subscribe to this programme or download individual episodes.