According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 5 women and 1 in 31 men have experienced, completed or attempted rape in their lifetime. Information from the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that only 1 in 3 victims report the crime of rape to law enforcement.

Immediately after a sexual assault occurs, a survivor may choose to undergo a four-to-six-hour forensic examination by a doctor or nurse to collect and preserve any evidence left behind from the assault. If the survivor chooses to report the assault to law enforcement, the evidence, sometimes known as an "SAK" or "rape kit" can be used as evidence in the criminal case.

Although the first SAK was developed in the 1970s, throughout the years most jurisdictions in the United States did not have clear, written policies outlining the testing and analysis of SAKs, which created backlogs.

Backlogs can happen at the local police department level and at the state-level forensic laboratory. After evidence is collected from assault survivors, SAKs are booked into evidence, but the kits may not be sent to a lab for DNA testing if no charges are brought. If the kits are sent to a lab, they can languish there due to a high volume of cases and a shortage of staff and funding to process them. Many kits also remain in police evidence storage facilities.

In the past 15 years, state policymakers have recognized the importance of ending the SAK backlog, not only to help bring justice to millions of survivors, but to also help law enforcement solve and prevent these crimes. SAK evidence can identify an unknown assailant, reveal serial offenders and exonerate the people who have been wrongfully convicted.

Many states have enacted laws requiring agencies to conduct a statewide audit of untested rape kits, which requires participation from not only law enforcement but medical facilities and forensic laboratories. Some states like Illinois and Ohio require an annual audit.

In 2015, the Washington legislature allocated funding to its state crime lab and passed a law requiring law enforcement agencies to submit all sexual assault kits for testing within 30 days of their receipt. Once the lab receives those kits, they must be tested within 45 days. Through years of state appropriations and work with the crime labs, in 2023, the state's SAK backlog, which at one point was over 10,000 kits, were cleared.

In 2014, Michigan became the first state to implement a SAK tracking system. Now more than 30 states, most recently Arizona, Alaska, and Pennsylvania, have passed legislation allowing victims to remain informed of their submitted samples, have access to help desks for survivors and permits survivors to opt in for notifications and status updates.

Because the retention of SAK evidence is an important tool in solving crime, Florida enacted legislation, SB 764 in 2024 requiring unreported kits to be retained for 50 years, stored anonymously in a secure and environmentally safe manner, and with a documented chain of custody.

Frequently SAK's don't get tested because only a fraction of sexual assault victims report the crime to law enforcement. States like Illinois' SB 3096 in 2016, have passed legislation to improve system responses to sexual assault. The law requires trauma-informed training for law-enforcement investigators, first responders and 911 operators.