Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin has announced that she plans to create a task force to deal with the immense backlog of rape kits in the state.
As News 9 reports,the Oklahoma Task Force on Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence will investigate all of the sexual assault forensic evidence kits in Oklahoma, to determine how many have yet to be tested.
The task force will then determine how to prevent such a backlog in the future. The group will also be charged with improving law enforcement training, and helping victims know their rights and find access to help.
Currently in Oklahoma, it’s estimated that only a quarter of rape kits are tested. The poorly run system has left thousands of untested kits in law-enforcement warehouses across the state.
In a statement, Fallin called sexual assault a “horrific crime.”