As you read this, the annual collegiate “ red zone,” the period between the first day of school and Thanksgiving break, is well underway. This is when a majority of sexual assaults on campus take place, with first-year students among the most vulnerable to assault. In an attempt to mitigate this problem, a Brooklyn-based company has launched the “ MeToo Kit,” a do-it-yourself evidence collection kit to keep in your dorm in case you are raped.
In recent years, we’ve seen numerous misguided (though well-intentioned) efforts to prevent rape, including underwear that can’t be removed unless you know the combination to the button-sized waist-band lock, and SipChips to tell if your cocktail has been roofied. But we’ve never seen anything quite like the MeToo Kit, which rejects the idea of prevention altogether and asks us to accept the inevitability of sexual assault.
As the company explains on its FAQ page, “you do not buy a fire alarm for the 364 days you do not have a fire, you buy it for the one day you do.” As of this writing, MeToo Kits are not available for individual purchase. The company says its “current strategy is B2B sales” with a focus on getting colleges to purchase them in bulk in order to give them away to students.
The benefit of the DIY evidence collection kit, according to the MeToo Kit company, is that it “empowers survivors to accurately collect evidence in a setting and timing of their choice.” There is no doubt that a medical exam to collect evidence in the aftermath of a sexual assault can be traumatic. But the solution to this problem isn’t an at-home evidence collection kit. It’s wider access to professional exams conducted by skilled clinicians.
After a sexual assault, survivors need supportive care, treatment of physical injuries, and prescriptions to medication that reduces the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. They also need any forensic evidence that is collected to meet the standards required in a law enforcement investigation and potential prosecution.
When done correctly, forensic medical exams following a sexual assault take between three and eight hours. The medical examiner methodically documents what happened by asking questions and listening, and then collecting relevant evidence. For example, if a survivor discloses that they were bitten during the assault, the nurse will swab the site of the bite for DNA and look for and document skin abrasions. If a survivor discloses that the assault took place outside on a field, the medical examiner will look for grass stains on their clothing and skin. Evidence collected in this way by a third party initiates a formal chain of custody that is required for admissibility in law enforcement investigations and criminal prosecutions.
In addition to the medical provider, a proper forensic-medical exam will include a medical advocate from a rape crisis center. That person will stay with the survivor throughout the exam, providing information about the choices the survivor has for treatment and the potential pursuit of a criminal investigation so the survivor can make the best decision for their situation. The advocate will also make critically important referrals to other services that that will support survivors on their path to healing.
It's unlikely that materials collected by a survivor in their home would ever be admissible as evidence. Just days after the MeToo Kit launched, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a cease and desist order to the Brooklyn-based company for falsely implying in its marketing materials that evidence collected with the MeToo Kit could be used in a prosecution.
Far more problematic, though, is that the MeToo Kit encourages survivors to isolate themselves. The gold standard of care after a sexual assault is medical treatment that is coordinated with evidence collection and access to additional resources needed long after the exam is over. In Greater Boston, when someone presents themselves to a hospital emergency room for treatment of sexual assault, a call is automatically placed to the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, which sends an advocate to the hospital to be with the survivor. This advocate ensures that the survivor is connected with services they will need for healing in the days, weeks and months following the attack.
As we wrestle with how to better deal with sexual harassment, abuse and assault, we need to move away from strategies that focus solely on potential victims. No one should ever feel responsible for their own assault because they failed to put a chemical in their drink to see if it had been drugged. And no one should ever be led to believe that collecting evidence at home is enough for an investigation and prosecution, or that a criminal-legal response to rape is all that is needed in the aftermath of an assault.
Gina Scaramella is the executive director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.
