Rape Kit - Description and Use

Description and Use

A rape kit consists of small boxes, microscope slides and plastic bags for collecting and storing evidence such as clothing fibers, hairs, saliva, semen or body fluid, which may help identify the assailant and provide evidence supporting prosecution in a criminal trial. The process of collecting the evidence for the kit takes hours.

Although a rape kit's contents may vary by location, it may include:

• Instructions
• Bags and sheets for evidence collection
• Swabs for collecting fluids from the lips, cheeks, thighs, vagina, anus, and buttocks
• Blood collection devices
• Comb used to collect hair and fiber from the victim’s body
• Clear glass slides
• Envelopes for preserving the victim’s clothes, head hair, pubic hair, and blood samples
• Nail pick for scraping debris from beneath the nails
• White sheets to catch physical evidence stripped from the body
• Documentation forms
• Labels