Depressing news from the Feminist Majority Foundation

"As of September 4, 2008, the city had a backlog of 7,038 "rape kits" waiting in freezers for analysis, according to the audit. Rape kits contain the physical evidence collected after sexual assaults, often including DNA from the alleged perpetrators. At least 217 of those untested kits have now passed the statute of limitations for prosecution of the crimes, and are therefore useless.

The backlog on rape kits is not unique to Los Angeles, and 2004 federal legislation advocated by the Feminist Majority and other women's rights groups, renewed this year, addressed the problem by authorizing funding for local police departments to catch up on DNA analyses. L.A.'s crime lab was awarded nearly $4 million, but lost nearly $500,000 of that due to lax oversight. And the backlog has worsened."

So, potentially 217 rapists have effectively gotten away with their crimes? If ever proof were needed how rape still is not taken anywhere near seriously enough, this is a pretty powerful indicator of how things really stand.