A sexual assault evidence collection kit, sexual assault forensic evidence (SAFE) kit, sexual offense evidence collection (SOEC) kit or Physical Evidence Recovery Kit (PERK),[1] is a set of items used by medical personnel for gathering and preserving physical evidence following an allegation of sexual assault which can be used in rape investigation. The kit was developed by Louis R. Vitullo and was referred to for years as the Vitullo kit. It is colloquially referred to as a rape kit or rape test kit. The term applies also to the collected evidence for a specific case.[2]
A rape kit consists of small boxes, microscope slides and plastic bags for collecting and storing evidence such as clothing fibers, hairs, saliva, blood, semen or body fluid, which may help identify the assailant and provide evidence supporting prosecution in a criminal trial.[3][4] The process of collecting the evidence for the kit takes hours.[5]
Although a rape kit's contents may vary by location, it may include:[1][6][7]
Instructions
Bags and sheets for evidence collection
Swabs for collecting fluids from the lips, cheeks, thighs, vagina, anus, and buttocks
Blood collection devices
Comb used to collect hair and fiber from the victim's body
Clear glass slides
Envelopes for preserving the victim's clothes, head hair, pubic hair, and blood samples
Nail pick for scraping debris from beneath the nails
White sheets to catch physical evidence stripped from the body
Documentation forms
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