The state Department of Justice announced it would begin testing a backlog of more than 6,000 rape kits. The news comes after U.S Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and others called into question the issue of Wisconsin’s sexual assault kit backlog.
Baldwin released a letter to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch Wednesday asking the U.S. Department of Justice to take “immediate steps.” The letter was in response to a recent USA Today investigation that revealed more than 70,000 sexual assault kits are untested, and 6,000 of those kits were found in Wisconsin.
Despite the Wisconsin DOJ receiving $4 million in funding in September 2015, little headway has been made.The state still lacks a hotline for rape victims and has thousands of kits scattered throughout the state.
The delay is due to the Wisconsin Department of Justice taking months to create a survey of
The untested kits have caused widespread outrage across the country. Rape kits provide forensic evidence of sexual assaults that could lead to identifying rapists.
Baldwin said she will continue to fight for these victims, saying in the letter the backlogging in Wisconsin is “unacceptable” and that she demands “a strong commitment from Attorney General Schimel to get the job done.”
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel responded to Baldwin, explaining Wisconsin just recently received approval to test the remaining kits.
Schimel said that in the next couple weeks, DNA scientists will be testing the kits while the department works to collect any untested kits in the possession of law enforcement.
An additional $1.1 million has been granted by the U.S. Department of Justice to further improve the backlog in Wisconsin.
