ABSTRACT

News of hundreds of thousands of untested forensic rape kits in police storage facilities and forensic labs across the United States has sparked a national dialogue about criminal justice responses to sexual assault. In a battle for more funding for forensic testing, victim advocacy organizations and activists are pointing to the necessity of rape kits for identifying and convicting sexual offenders. When tested, they argue, rape kits can ensure victims’ healing and justice, and increase public safety. Current campaigns to reduce rape kit backlogs reflect a widespread techno-optimism around forensic technologies’ ability to reduce and prevent violent crime. This optimism has a long history. The rape kit’s development in the 1970s was fueled by anti-violence activists’ hope that a new technology would improve criminal justice responses to sexual assault. The rape kit’s history provides an insightful backdrop to current rape kit backlog campaigns and the optimistic sociotechnical imaginary of a society rid of sexual violence through forensic technologies that drives them. An analysis of textual data, including media articles, government reports, conference proceedings, and advocates’ social media campaigns, reveals the history of techno-optimism around the rape kit and its recent expressions in rape kit backlog campaigns. This data also draws attention to the less visible consequences of this techno-optimism: a booming forensic industry profiting from the optimism around the rape kit, an increasing pressure on sexual assault survivors to comply with forensic procedures, and a narrowing of critical dialogues on criminal justice responses to sexual assault and sexual assault prevention.

摘要

美国各地警察储存设施和法医实验室中有数十万个未经测试的法医强奸工具包的消息引发了一场全国性的对话，讨论针对性侵犯的刑事司法应对措施。在为法医测试争取更多资金的斗争中，受害者倡导组织和活动家指出，必须使用强奸工具包来识别和定罪性犯罪者。他们争辩说，经过测试，强奸工具包可以确保受害者的康复和正义，并提高公共安全。当前减少强奸工具包积压的运动反映了对法医技术减少和预防暴力犯罪能力的普遍技术乐观情绪。这种乐观由来已久。反暴力活动家希望新技术能够改善对性侵犯的刑事司法反应，这推动了 1970 年代强奸工具包的发展。强奸工具包的历史为当前的强奸工具包积压活动和乐观的社会技术想象提供了一个有见地的背景，即一个社会通过法医技术摆脱性暴力。对文本数据的分析，包括媒体文章、政府报告、会议记录和倡导者的社交媒体活动，揭示了围绕强奸工具包的技术乐观主义的历史及其最近在强奸工具包积压活动中的表现。这些数据还引起人们对这种技术乐观主义不太明显的后果的关注：一个蓬勃发展的法医行业从围绕强奸工具包的乐观情绪中获利，