Thousands of women are being ‘misled’ by a firm selling self-swab rape kits as a ‘deterrent’ which could lead to attackers walking free, police have warned.
A company falsely claiming to be funded by the police, government and universities has become a social media sensation after launching rape kits for £20, telling victims they can get justice by self-swabbing for the presence of their attacker’s DNA.
More than 8,000 kits have been given to university students by the firm Enough, which claims they are an active ‘deterrent’ to rapists.
The firm, selling the kits on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, posed last month outside Downing Street announcing they had delivered 100 kits to the Government.
Enough plans to sell the kits in pharmacies, schools, workplaces and on Amazon, falsely claiming that police are already using them as evidence in prosecutions.
But police, prosecutors and MPs say victims are being ‘sold a lie’, warning the swabs offer no proof of rape, the chances of them being admissible in court are ‘infinitesimally low’ and the firm’s ‘dangerous’ misleading claims could lead to predators walking free.
The warning comes after the first abuse case involving a self-swab kit was dropped by police, leaving a child victim traumatised.
Now the National Police Chiefs Council, Crown Prosecution Service, MPs, forensic bodies and more than 30 rape and victims charities are warning that victims are being put at risk.
Katie White, the Cofounder of Enough, which plans to sell the self-swab rape kits in pharmacies, schools, workplaces and on Amazon, falsely claiming that police are already using them as evidence in prosecutions
A photograph of the contents of an Enough self-swab kit. Critics say a DNA swab done at home is no proof of rape or even sexual intercourse
The Government’s Independent Adviser on Criminal Justice Responses to Sexual Violence, Professor Katrin Hohl has backed calls by rape charities and MPs for a ban on the sale of self-swab kits after similar versions were outlawed in several US states.
Enough claim that its swab, which resembles a cotton wool bud, can be stored for 20 years giving women ‘a sense of control and power’ as they have the option to go police later with their attacker’s DNA.
But critics say a DNA swab done at home is no proof of rape or even sexual intercourse.
The kits are supplied without gloves and victims are instructed to send samples of semen or saliva in the post to Enough, risking contamination and damage in transit as it will not be frozen until arriving at a lab days later.
The lab used to store the sample is accredited to store paternity tests, not criminal evidence.
Enough claims ‘leading KCs’ say the evidence is admissible in court, but it has refused to provide the names of those lawyers.
Yesterday the national police lead on rape, Chief Constable Sarah Crew said the chance of the kit being admissible in a criminal prosecution was ‘very, very infinitesimally low to no chance’, adding that she was deeply worried about the potential harm to victims.
‘I can see no evidence for these claims, I think they are misleading,’ she said.
‘I worry about how the evidence is collected and contamination, I worry about how chain of custody (of the sample) works, I worry about loss of other corroborating evidence due to the time delay this causes.
‘That can all result in arguments about admissibility and then victims lose the opportunity of securing justice and perpetrators get away with it.’
Avon and Somerset Police Chief Constable Sarah Crew said the chance of the kit being admissible in a criminal prosecution was ‘very, very infinitesimally low to no chance’, adding that she was deeply worried about the potential harm to victims
She added: ‘Potentially it’s dangerous because I don’t think it’s of any help to that victim in terms of their coping and recovery, the psychological and physical impact of what they’ve just gone through, but also if they want to secure justice, this is not holding offenders to account.
‘It’s not deterring them in any way.
‘What these self-swabbing kids don’t do is they don’t help us, even from an intelligence perspective, identify who dangerous perpetrators are in our communities might be.
‘So, from my way of looking at things, it’s the opposite of deterrence. It’s actually giving perpetrators license to carry on.
‘Ultimately you end up with victims who maybe be further traumatised, you end up with suspects who are not held to account and then communities are less safe.’
The Avon and Somerset Police chief is one of many critics including the Victims Commissioner Claire Waxman, Professor Hohl, rape charities, the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine, universities and campaigners to have received threatening letters from the firm after raising concerns.
Enough’s co-founder, millionaire tech entrepreneur Tom Allchurch, was previously involved in a US self-swab firm called MeToo Kits, later rebranded as Leda Health, which was led by a woman who described sexual assault as a ‘multi-billion-dollar industry.’
The start-up raised $9million in investment but was later banned in several US states
Professor Hohl said she would support a similar ban in the UK: ‘I would support a ban on the products being marketed or portrayed as ending rape in this world.
‘I don’t see how if this kit is in someone’s room, it would turn someone who is dangerous into someone who is not dangerous- the idea that this kit could change someone’s mind.
‘I think it would be very unlikely that it would ever be admissible in court.’
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England and Wales said: ‘I am very worried about the damage these kits could do to a group of people that are already in a state of trauma.
‘People are being given false hope and if they try to pursue a case in the future that evidence would not be viable
Shadow Security and Safeguarding Minister Alicia Kearns (pictured) has called for the products to be banned
‘There is no evidence of deterrence, it is a meaningless claim.’
She added: ‘DNA is rarely the issue in rape cases, it is consent.
‘These kits don’t even tell you where this DNA is from.
‘A defence lawyer could just say this person has been framed.
‘It raises concerns about getting justice and catching serial perpetrators because if this DNA is not on a police database, it undermines the criminal justice system.’
Shadow Security and Safeguarding Minister Alicia Kearns MP said: ‘It is both vile and disgraceful that this firm is profiting off rape victims by selling them a lie– and a kit – that won’t keep them safe let alone get them justice.
‘Enough hide behind misleading claims and false messages of empowerment whilst they weaponise trial delays and seek to profit from women’s fears and rape victims’ trauma.
‘They claim to be a voice for victims whilst they viciously attack and smear campaigners that are actually fighting to make the world a safer place for women.
‘Behaving like legal sharks, engaging in legal intimidation threatening charities providing vital support to victims of abuse and sexual assault and even female students trying to protect their peers.
‘A self-swab rape kit is not a form of deterrence, protection or justice. It’s exploitation of people at their most vulnerable.
‘For the safety of victims, the sale of self-swab rape kits must be banned.’
Siobhan Blake, National Crown Prosecution Service Lead for Rape and Serious Sexual Offences, said: ‘It is important to make clear that self-swabbing kits may have issues with admissibility, including questions about the integrity of any forensic materials collected using this method.’
Enough co-founders Katie White and Tom Allchurch cited the firm’s poll of students in Bristol where 70 per cent said ‘Enough prevented rape on campus’.
They added: ‘Enough is a registered CIC non-profit social movement to prevent rape, funded by individuals and organisations, including the national lottery.
‘Enough is a revolutionary social movement, a strong public health campaign, creating social deterrence in the same way that our government did for smoking and drink driving. Enough is misunderstood when it is reduced to a DNA kit.
‘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.
‘It is disappointing that some in the sector are trying to block new ideas without understanding their impact.’
