Maine doesn’t have a statewide system to track rape kits. Lawmakers are considering a bill to change that.

Maine doesn’t have a statewide system to track rape kits. Lawmakers are considering a bill to change that.

The legislation builds on initiatives to track kits and address backlogs in Cumberland, Kennebec and Penobscot counties.

Maine considers establishing statewide system to track rape kits

As Burcu Sagiroglu listened to lawmakers debate a bill that would establish a statewide tracking system for sexual assault kits, her mind wandered back to her days as a student at Colby College.  She remembers numerous friends confiding in her that they had been sexually assaulted on campus, yet many of them did not feel comfortable reporting the assault to authorities. At the time, she didn’t understand why. “After six years in this field I'm l…