Police chiefs are set to condemn self-swab rape kits – warning they put victims at ‘significant risk’ and jeopardise cases.
Survivors are being ‘misled’ by claims they can get justice by self-swabbing for their attacker’s DNA, the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection (NCVAWG) will say today.
It comes after the Daily Mail revealed a firm was selling kits for £20 to over 8,000 students and promising them they are a ‘deterrent’ to rapists.
But police, prosecutors and MPs have warned predators could walk free because intimate swabs taken by victims at home offer no proof of rape and there is a ‘high risk’ they will be ‘unusable’ in cases.
The firm producing the kits, Enough, claims DNA samples can be stored for 20 years so women have the option to go to police later with the evidence.
Yet today NCVAWG will say: ‘The notion that self-swabbing strengthens a case is misleading and risks creating false expectations.’
In a joint statement with police chiefs, the centre will warn ‘such kits present significant risk to victims, undermine safeguarding, and jeopardise the integrity of evidence’.
The kits are supplied without gloves and victims are instructed to send samples of semen or saliva in the post, risking contamination and damage in transit.
How should we balance empowering victims with ensuring justice isn’t jeopardized?
Comment now
And chief constables fear police will lose opportunities ‘to identify and disrupt perpetrators’ if victims decide to do a swab at home.
The first abuse case involving a self-swab kit was recently dropped by police, leaving a child victim traumatised.
Chief Constable Sarah Crew said: ‘Asking victims to collect intimate evidence alone, at a moment of crisis, places an unfair burden on them and risks both their wellbeing and the integrity of any investigation. These kits can create false expectations, lead to re-traumatisation and reduce trust in services.’
Tory safeguarding spokesman Alicia Kearns yesterday added: ‘These kits are a commercial product dressed up as compassion.’
Enough previously said: ‘Our approach fills two gaping holes in the system – an option for survivors who aren’t currently reporting, and a threat for perpetrators who face no consequence today.’
