Pennsylvania, New York Attorneys General Sue Pittsburgh-Based Maker of Take-Home Rape Kit

Ryan J. Farrick — June 18, 2024

Gavel on copy of lawsuit; image by Wirestock, via Freepik.com.

“These kits essentially offer false promises to consumers by misleading them to think evidence collected privately at home can result in a criminal conviction—that is yet to have happened anywhere with the use of these kits,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement.

The attorneys general of Pennsylvania and New York have filed claims against Pittsburgh-based Leda Health Corp., the maker of “so-called ‘Early Evidence Kits’” marketed and sold to sexual assault survivors.

In a recent press release, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said that Leda’s marketing strategies are inherently problematic—and appear to violate state-level consumer protection laws. Henry also alleged that any genetic information obtained using an “Early Evidence” kit would fall short of statutory evidence-collection standards.

“These kits essentially offer false promises to consumers by misleading them to think evidence collected privately at home can result in a criminal conviction—that is yet to have happened anywhere with the use of these kits,” Henry said in a statement. “I spent much of my career advocating for survivors of domestic and sexual assault and have been seen the trauma experienced by the brave survivors.”

“They deserve advocates offering the whole truth in available options, including avenues for pursuing justice against their assailant,” she said.

The lawsuit has already received some support from local advocacy organizations, including the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect.

Yellow police tape with black writing: “Do Not Cross.” Image by David von Diemar, via Unsplash.com.

“PCAR supports the swift action by the Attorney General to warn the public of the risks of “at-home rape kits” and ban them in Pennsylvania. PCAR continues to work tirelessly to support survivors of sexual assault and restore hope during an extremely vulnerable and traumatic time,” PCAR Public Policy Director Gabriella Romeo said in a statement published to the attorney general’s website. “The use of an “at-home kit” provides a sexual assault survivor with false hope and misleads them away from a pathway to safety and justice. It’s imperative sexual assault survivors seek trained medical care at a hospital and services from their local rape crisis center. These individuals are trained to support survivors while utilizing trauma-informed proven methods of healing.”

Leda Health has since retaliated by filing its own series of lawsuits against Henry and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

“The reality is a vast majority of victims of sexual assault do not get a rape kit done, and for choices that range from just fear about the procedure or just desire to maintain control over their bodily autonomy, and when they do that, they sacrifice certain things,” said Alex Little, an attorney representing Leda Health. “And so by allowing those victims access to kits, that may allow them to collect evidence in ways they did not realize they could to give them a little more control over evidence that is collected—Leda wants to give them more options.”

Little, speaking to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, indicated that company’s marketing decisions are protected by the First Amendment because “[of] the idea that there’s one specific way that a victim should respond to sexual assault and that the state can mandate they be told how to respond to sexual assault—is not what the First Amendment permits.”

“In fact,” Little said, “[the First Amendment] prohibits the state from threatening to shut down a company like they did with Leda for not adhering to the state’s preferred views about how victims should respond to sexual assault.”