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Unbelievable: The forgotten rape data

02/11/2019 GMT

BBC World Service - More or Less, Unbelievable: The forgotten rape data

How shelved data from rape cases in America is helping the police catch criminals now.

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’t 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’s 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)

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