(1/25) A number of Silicon Valley investors are putting their money and influence into a campaign to gaslight rape victims into not seeking medical treatment

despite the warnings of top law enforcement officials

and NOBODY is talking about this.

(2/25) First, a little about me. I used to be a licensed sexual assault crisis counselor, counseling victims admitted to one of three Minneapolis emergency rooms.

After I'd speak to the victim, they'd receive a medical exam from a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE).
(3/25) During the exam, DNA and other evidence is collected with a "rape kit" to optionally be used in a civil or criminal case.
(4/25) But collecting evidence is not the ONLY reason to receive an exam.

The victim may also receive:
- counseling (hello!)
- treatment for (potentially invisible) injuries
- medications like Plan B and emergency antiretroviral therapy for HIV prophylaxis.
(5/25) Leda Health, a startup cofounded by Madison Campbell and Liesel Vaidya, is raising money to sell "do-it-yourself" rape kits that wouldn't require a hospital visit

which is possibly the most HARMFUL startup idea that I have ever heard of.
(6/25) Leda Health's marketing is misleading to victims and may cause them to not seek critical and time-sensitive medical treatment.

Furthermore, rape kits in a hospital are protected. There needs to be a strong "chain of custody" or the kit will not be admissible in any court.
(7/25) The problem with any do-it-yourself rape kit is that it is impossible to guarantee that it has not been tampered with.

Such a kit cannot be admissible in court and may harm other efforts to collect evidence.
(8/25) Campbell has repeatedly been misleading about her kits' admissibility in court.

Leda Health used to be called "MeToo Kits" and they were widely panned in the press for both their tasteless name and their nonsensical plan.

https://t.co/LrGgiCaJGK

https://t.co/3rk0rK2sgF
(9/25) These are some victim advocacy orgs have criticized MeToo Kits:

- Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault
- End Rape on Campus
- New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault
- The Aurora Center (my old org)
- National Alliance to End Sexual Violence
- HAVEN
- CAPPA
(10/25) Governments have also sharply rebuked MeToo Kits:

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a cease-and-desist to MeToo Kits under the Michigan Consumer Protection Act--arguing that MeToo Kits "misleads victims."

https://t.co/EO0Xpcx1Q6
(11/25) MeToo Kits received similar responses from attorneys general in Virginia, North Carolina, New York, and Oklahoma--and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

https://t.co/P6K9tmoBhU

https://t.co/5dFHnXoiJ5

https://t.co/IhQk5Ffw04

https://t.co/BJhHPp7d74
(12/25) Even members of Congress have responded.

Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia and 15 colleagues sent a letter to Madison and MeToo Kits warning about the medical and legal issues of DIY rape kits.

https://t.co/TPC64uSmuD
(13/25) Campbell never says out loud that victims shouldn't go to the hospital,

but as per the attorneys general and district attorneys, she doesn't have to.

The kits are misleading nonetheless.
(14/25) While victim advocates, law enforcement officials, and members of Congress aren't falling for Campbell's claims, Silicon Valley tech investors are.

Campbell rebranded "MeToo Kits" to "Leda Health" and started raising money.
(15/25) Campbell is also a member of On Deck (https://t.co/iy7yZpmhlp)--a fellowship aimed at training the tech executives of tomorrow.

They just redesigned their website, and Campbell is a featured case study.
(16/25) When MeToo Kits rebranded to Leda Health, they removed information from their new website.

Later, Campbell insisted in an interview that the kits would be "encrypted and backed with blockchain technology."

as if that were the real problem.

https://t.co/3ZTVBDweA7
(17/25) Blockchains are a solution for establishing chains of custody for digital assets like Bitcoin

but they don't solve the chain of custody issue for biological evidence of a crime.
(18/25) The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner serves as an approximately neutral party and the hospital is physically secure enough to guard against tampering.

DIY kits or "the blockchain" will **NEVER** achieve this, and Campbell is being misleading about this to raise money.
(19/25) It's not clear if Leda Health has pivoted away from selling fake rape kits, but what little public evidence is still available indicates they haven't.

Last August, they applied for a USPTO trademark for marketing rape kits.

https://t.co/iJi2VqBZeq
(20/25) There is also Campbell's Twitter, where she is building the rape kits "in public."

#BuildInPublic
(21/25) But even if they have pivoted,

given Madison Campbell's commitment to selling inadmissible kits

even after being censured by law enforcement officials and members of Congress,

we can't trust her to not break the law in the future.
(22/25) The way to improve the system is to train more Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners and increase the throughput for processing cases.

DIY kits or the goddamn "blockchain" are false flags. Their marketing misleads rape victims and is a danger to the justice system.
(23/25) Law enforcement action against the company, like the cease-and-desist from the Michigan Attorney General, did not stop Campbell from continuing on a path that may harm rape victims and possibly violate US law.
(24/25) This might be a legal fantasy, but I think the only solution is for the government to pierce the corporate veil

and pursue individual criminal charges against founders Madison Campbell and Liesel Vaidya.
(25/25) And for the investors?

They're all people I respect. I hope they aren't mad at me. I'm assuming they just didn't know what they were getting into.

But as a philosopher once said,

the road to... tampering evidence in rape cases... is paved with good intentions.

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