White House responds to 91影视 investigation on rape kit backlog
- The White House responded to a 91影视 investigation that documented ongoing failures to test thousands of rape kits.
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden has made protecting women from violence a priority throughout his career.
- 91影视's investigation found that in the nearly 10 years since the Justice Department's National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, little progress has been made toward testing the backlog of thousands of sexual assault kits across the country.
WASHINGTON 鈥 The White House responded Thursday to a 91影视 investigation that documented ongoing failures within the federal effort to address backlogged rape kits, emphasizing that President Joe Biden has made protecting women from violence a priority throughout his career.
鈥淲hen it comes to the issue of domestic violence, when it comes to an issue in protecting women, this is something that the president has been on the forefront of as a senator, as a vice president and certainly as president,鈥 White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre said she was unaware of the 91影视 investigation and had not yet spoken with the president about its findings.
Biden shepherded the landmark Violence Against Women Act through Congress as a senator in the 1990s. The law aimed to change the way law enforcement officers and the criminal justice system handled domestic violence and sexual assault to protect victims.
As then-vice president, Biden in 2015 announced the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. Since then, 90 local and state agencies have been allocated about $350 million dollars in Justice Department grants intended to help test backlogged kits, solve more cases and give answers to rape survivors.
鈥淲hen we solve these cases, we get rapists off the streets,鈥 Biden said at the time. 鈥淔or most survivors, seeing their rapists brought to justice, and knowing that they will not return, brings peace of mind and a sense of closure. The grants we鈥檙e announcing today to reduce the national rape kit backlog will bring that sense of closure and safety to victims while improving community safety.鈥澛
But 91影视鈥檚 investigation found that in the nearly 10 years since that initiative launched, uneven progress has been made. The Justice Department said the program has led to 100,000 kits being tested and 1,500 convictions so far.
A 91影视 analysis found nearly half of those have come from two agencies, while many other agencies have seen few results.