NEWSFLASH: Biden Announces Millions to End Rape Kit Backlog
Vice President Joe Biden joined Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland Monday to announce that $41 million in funding from the federal budget will be used to test backlogged rape kits sitting in storage around the country.
There are approximately 400,000 untested rape kits gathering dust in U.S. crime labs. (That’s considered a conservative estimate since police departments are not required to report these numbers). While these kits sit in storage facilities, the rapists they could have put behind bars continue to roam the streets, and sometimes go on to commits other acts of sexual violence.
Though certain cities like Detroit, Houston and New York City have taken leadership on the rape-kit backlog by allocating funding and resources to make sure they are tested, activists have been urging the federal government to step in and make a more significant contribution.
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