DNA test kits only add to victim trauma, warns Peterborough Women's Aid
Adverts for the kits have since been banned
A domestic abuse service in Peterborough believes DNA self-swab kits will only add to the trauma that sexual assault victims go through.
It comes as adverts for these kits have been banned for being misleading after the company Enough - which issues the kits - made unproven claims about how evidence from the kits could be used in court.
"Taking a swab to gain evidence of sexual violence is a very traumatic experience for the victim, Mandy Geraghty, of Peterborough Women's Aid, said.
"If these self-swabs cannot be used, this trauma would have to be repeated."
What was the ruling?
The decision by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) came after inaccurate information and that claims made by Enough - the company behind the test kits - about court evidence and rape figures were not backed up.
In its ruling, the ASA said Enough made statements that claimed "a woman is twice as likely to be raped as be diagnosed with cancer", there were “430,000 rapes in the UK last year", “over 400,000 women are raped every year" and “over 400,000 women are raped every year”.
There was also a complaint around the evidence from Enough’s testing kits being admissible in court were misleading and if it could be substantiated.
All complaints were upheld by the ASA.
The ASA has ordered that the adverts must not appear again in their current forms, and that Enough must not claim its kits produce admissible court evidence unless it can substantiate that claim.
What is the idea of a test kit?
The tests allow people who believe they've been sexually assaulted to take a swab at home, before it's tested for the DNA of someone they think is the perpetrator
Forensic experts have laid doubt over the accuracy of the kits as they could give victims false hop.e
Rape Crisis England and Wales say the kit is a "new, untested and potentially problematic product."
The charity says as rape trials usually focus on consent, any DNA evidence gathered is rarely used as evidence and not give victims the support they need.
In a letter, MP Alicia Kearns - who's been campaigning to have the kits banned - welcomed the ASA's ruling.
"They told our daughters they were more likely to be raped than get cancer; that is shameful fearmongering designed to sell a product," she said.
"They (the kits) push survivors away from the police, away from rape crisis centres, away from the professionals who can actually help them get justice and begin to heal."
Ms Kearns added that survivors of sexual violence "deserve truth, professional support and justice" and "not a product that monetises their trauma and destroys their chance of justice."
We have asked Enough for comment.