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Sexual Assault

Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiatives and Non-investigative Kits

In case you missed the release of this a couple weeks ago, the Office on Violence Against Women published a white paper, Sexual Assault Kit Testing and Non-investigative Kits (PDF). Per their description: “This report presents reasons why the Office on Violence Against Women cautions against submitting sexual assault kits to forensic laboratories if the person from whom the kit was collected has not chosen to report a sexual assault to law enforcement and has not otherwise consented to its submission.” Many communities are debating the issue of how to handle untested kits right now, so it’s worth your time to both read and share with members of your SART for an upcoming meeting. It’s well articulated and well-referenced, and best of all, it’s relatively brief.