Pagan Kennedy

She was, from day one, she was very clear that part of the point of this was to clear the names of men who were falsely accused. And in the 80s, when she was sort of beginning to leave the stage, that was something she was outspoken about. But I would say that this is something that I feel people aren't aware enough of, that one of the things that's really important

about building and protecting a rape kit evidence system is the fact that so many exonerations can come from this system. And I even found an interesting report recently showing that possibly the reason why false accusations against black and brown men has plummeted recently is because of the use of rape kits, and especially because we've now processed so many of the backlogged kits.

about building and protecting a rape kit evidence system is the fact that so many exonerations can come from this system. And I even found an interesting report recently showing that possibly the reason why false accusations against black and brown men has plummeted recently is because of the use of rape kits, and especially because we've now processed so many of the backlogged kits.

about building and protecting a rape kit evidence system is the fact that so many exonerations can come from this system. And I even found an interesting report recently showing that possibly the reason why false accusations against black and brown men has plummeted recently is because of the use of rape kits, and especially because we've now processed so many of the backlogged kits.

And so the point was made that, you know, even before the trial, if you have the DNA, if somebody is falsely accused, you can just overturn that very quickly if you have strong evidence or DNA evidence showing that Somebody else's DNA in the kit. So this is not even relevant, you know. So that's really important.

And so the point was made that, you know, even before the trial, if you have the DNA, if somebody is falsely accused, you can just overturn that very quickly if you have strong evidence or DNA evidence showing that Somebody else's DNA in the kit. So this is not even relevant, you know. So that's really important.

And so the point was made that, you know, even before the trial, if you have the DNA, if somebody is falsely accused, you can just overturn that very quickly if you have strong evidence or DNA evidence showing that Somebody else's DNA in the kit. So this is not even relevant, you know. So that's really important.

Yes. Well, I will say that thanks to wonderful groups like Joyful Heart that did the End the Backlog project and many survivors and prosecutors like Kim Worthy and all kinds of people who worked tirelessly to raise this issue of the backlogs back. That problem, it's not solved, but it's a lot better.

Yes. Well, I will say that thanks to wonderful groups like Joyful Heart that did the End the Backlog project and many survivors and prosecutors like Kim Worthy and all kinds of people who worked tirelessly to raise this issue of the backlogs back. That problem, it's not solved, but it's a lot better.

Yes. Well, I will say that thanks to wonderful groups like Joyful Heart that did the End the Backlog project and many survivors and prosecutors like Kim Worthy and all kinds of people who worked tirelessly to raise this issue of the backlogs back. That problem, it's not solved, but it's a lot better.

Through the last 10 or so years, there's been enormous funding to pay for the DNA in the kits to be processed, and it has really given us a lot of new data. So that's wonderful. I think there's, from the people I talk to and doing a lot of research here,

Through the last 10 or so years, there's been enormous funding to pay for the DNA in the kits to be processed, and it has really given us a lot of new data. So that's wonderful. I think there's, from the people I talk to and doing a lot of research here,

Through the last 10 or so years, there's been enormous funding to pay for the DNA in the kits to be processed, and it has really given us a lot of new data. So that's wonderful. I think there's, from the people I talk to and doing a lot of research here,

It's also really clear that we have a problem of access, that there are still just too few people who have been through something terrible who feel like they can submit evidence. So I think that's something we really need to think about and work on.

It's also really clear that we have a problem of access, that there are still just too few people who have been through something terrible who feel like they can submit evidence. So I think that's something we really need to think about and work on.

It's also really clear that we have a problem of access, that there are still just too few people who have been through something terrible who feel like they can submit evidence. So I think that's something we really need to think about and work on.

We became aware of, yes, exactly, of that backlog in Detroit in the 2010s because of amazing activists in that city who brought this to attention. And there were Thousands of these kits that were warehoused in this structure that if you saw the video of them finding it and it looks like a parking garage and there was like pigeons flying around and stuff.

We became aware of, yes, exactly, of that backlog in Detroit in the 2010s because of amazing activists in that city who brought this to attention. And there were Thousands of these kits that were warehoused in this structure that if you saw the video of them finding it and it looks like a parking garage and there was like pigeons flying around and stuff.

We became aware of, yes, exactly, of that backlog in Detroit in the 2010s because of amazing activists in that city who brought this to attention. And there were Thousands of these kits that were warehoused in this structure that if you saw the video of them finding it and it looks like a parking garage and there was like pigeons flying around and stuff.

But what's really depressing is that almost as soon as the rape kit system existed, the there were backlogs. Or I should say, as soon as DNA identification became possible, there were backlogs because it was expensive to do especially in the early 1990s, if you think about how expensive that would be. And so almost immediately, it was in the news. I found the news stories.