EDITORIAL: Victims of sexual violence have varied reasons for not reporting the attacks, including a fear of victim blaming. Having police save DNA for possible use against them in a separate criminal case will only cause more assaults to go unreported.
District Attorney Chesa Boudin, pictured here in 2020, blasted the SFPD for using DNA from a rape kit in an effort to link an alleged sexual assault victim to a property crime. . on Monday accused the SFPD crime lab of violating the trust – and possibly the rights – of an alleged sexual assault victim by using a DNA sample from a rape kit in an effort to link her to a recent burglary.
Scott committed to ending the practice, saying “we must never create disincentives for crime victims to cooperate with police.” “We know that, historically, in San Francisco and across the state of California thousands of rape kits have gone untested altogether,” said Boudin, who later on Tuesday dismissed charges against the woman. “Now we learn that those kits that were tested have the DNA – not of the suspect or the perpetrator – but of the victim … the woman who came forward to courageously cooperate with law enforcement, to submit their body to an invasive procedure in one of their most vulnerable moments.
Studies have consistently shown that most rapes and sexual assaults go unreported. “Forty percent of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to police in 2017, but only about 25% were reported to police in 2018,” according to theVictims of sexual violence have varied reasons for deciding not to report the attacks, including a fear of re-living the trauma or being blamed for the situation.
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