Two years ago, Katie White set up Enough, which distributes self-swabbing rape kits. These are DIY kits that people who believe they have been raped or sexually assaulted can use at home by collecting DNA and posting it to a private laboratory for analysis.

White was responding to a few stark facts about sexual violence in England and Wales: of more than 70,000 rapes reported to police in 2021-22, only 2,223 resulted in charges. The number of reports was only a fraction of rapes anyway: 83% of survivors choose not to go to the police.

Sixteen- to 35-year-olds are overwhelmingly the targets and crime survey data found a higher proportion of full-time students were victims of sexual assault in the past year than any other occupation type. From all this, White inferred that the number of student rapists being brought to justice was only the barest fraction of the total.

White says that the kits provide women with an option after a rape to gather evidence at home, before they decide what to do and whether to visit a sexual assault referral centre or contact the police. She tells me that the kits were positively received by students when they were handed out at campuses. The institutional response has been critical.

Victim Support and a number of rape charities have reacted strongly against self-swabbing because people may wrongly think of it as an alternative to going to a sexual assault referral centre (SARC) and accessing the ancillary support these services offer, such as counselling. The National Police Chiefs Council said the kits may “reduce trust in statutory services” and both warn that evidence collected outside regulated environments may not be admissible in court.

All of this is entirely fair: survivors deserve the best support available, and the best evidence gathering, should they decide to press charges. But........

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