Columbia Missourian: Jen Shen’s piece on testing rape kits
Jen wrote a guest commentary in the Columbia Missourian titled “Test every rape kit? Not so fast” about the push to test every untested rape kit that sit in police evidence rooms around the country.
Shen discusses how sexual assault kit analysis has more legal and moral complexities than are apparent at first glance.
“When we test samples from a kit, it is possible the samples may contain a mixture of DNA, from both the attacker and from a consensual partner — or partners. In such cases, lab technicians are required to test “reference samples” to rule out the innocent. This means the victim must supply identifying information about those consensual partners, so samples from them can be collected. The victim is essentially being required to hand over to police investigators data about every recent intimate encounter he or she has had, how many, and with whom.”
Jennifer Shen
To read the full article, visit the Columbia Missourian.
Jen Shen quoted in Daily Journal story on at-home rape kits
Jen was quoted in a story in The Daily Journal covering Monterey County’s use of self-administered sexual assault evidence collection kits during the coronavirus quarantine:
Former San Diego Police Department crime laboratory director Jennifer Shen said sexual assault reporting is a major issue deserving of national attention and law enforcement should always be looking for new ways to ensure victims get the care they need and that reports lead to investigations and ultimately a trial. However she does not think remote rape kits are the answer.
“I don’t know that the general public is aware of how complicated and complex these kits are,” Shen said in a phone interview last week. “There are a lot of working groups in California that met for months and months and months that put together a sexual assault kit that does everything that needs to be done when showing that we’re collecting the best evidence possible. That includes blood vials for collecting blood, urine for conducting drug testing and then a variety of swabs for all over the body, public hair samples, fingernail clippings. All of these things are involved in a sexual assault kit. It is not reasonable to think that the victim, who has been traumatized, can take a kit like this and then collect all the evidence needed. ”
Read the full story at DailyJournal.com (subscription required)