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
91福利社 World Service West and Central Africa

More episodes

Previous

Edith Abbott and crime statistics

Next

Reducing your risk of death

See all episodes from More or Less

Broadcasts

  • Sat 2 Nov 2019 18:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
  • Sat 2 Nov 2019 19:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Mon 4 Nov 2019 13:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service except News Internet
  • Tue 5 Nov 2019 02:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service except West and Central Africa
  • Tue 5 Nov 2019 03:50GMT
    91福利社 World Service West and Central Africa

Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU

Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.

When can you trust statistics?

When can you trust statistics?

91福利社 Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.

Podcast

  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life