Alicia Kearns MP today welcomed a landmark ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) finding that Enough - the company behind self-swab rape kits - made misleading and unsubstantiated claims in its advertising, following a year-long campaign by the MP to have the kits banned.
The ASA upheld three complaints against Enough, ruling that its claims about court admissibility, rape statistics and cancer comparisons were misleading and unsubstantiated. The investigation was triggered by complaints from a former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office, former Head of the Prison and Probation Service, and former Chief Executive of Barnardo's.
What the ASA found:
- The regulator found Enough falsely claimed its kits produced evidence admissible in court - a claim the ASA found completely unsubstantiated.
- Enough also claimed 430,000 people were raped in the UK last year, almost three times the ONS figure of approximately 150,000, and falsely told women they were twice as likely to be raped as be diagnosed with cancer.
Alicia Kearns MP has been raising the issue for the last year, and over 40 sexual assault charities and organisations - including Rape Crisis UK - have written to the Government asking them to take action against the kits and a rape case has already collapsed after relying on one of Enough's kits for evidence.
The National Police Chiefs' Council has warned that self-testing DNA kits "may cause significant issues around the integrity and admissibility of criminal evidence." Trading Standards is separately investigating Enough following a referral by Alicia Kearns MP.
(Photo: BBC)
Shadow Safeguarding Minister Alicia Kearns MP said:
"Today's ruling exposes what I have been saying for a long time: Enough has been lying to women and girls.
“They told survivors their kits were admissible in court. There is no evidence to substantiate that. They told women 430,000 people are raped every year in the UK. That's three times the ONS figure. They told our daughters they were more likely to be raped than get cancer. That is shameful fearmongering designed to sell a product.
"These kits are not empowerment - they are exploitation dressed up as empathy. They push survivors away from the police, away from rape crisis centres, away from the professionals who can actually help them get justice and begin to heal. A case has already collapsed because a victim relied on one of these kits. That is the real-world consequence of Enough's false promises.
“They’re selling lies – including that self-swab rape kits will deter rapists. As a woman it is not my duty to deter rapists, nor will telling them I have a swab kit at home going to stop them raping me.
"I will not stop until these kits are taken off the market and taken off our university campuses. Survivors deserve truth, professional support, and justice - not a product that monetises their trauma and destroys their chance of justice in court."
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis UK, said:
“We welcome today's ruling from the Advertising Standards Authority, the UK's independent regulator, confirming many of the concerns which Rape Crisis England & Wales and other committed journalists and parliamentarians like Alicia Kearns MP, have been raising since June 2025, about the promotion of self-swab 'rape kits'.
“Survivors of rape and sexual abuse, and indeed the general public, must always be provided with clear and accurate information about products which are being advertised and sold to them. This should include the fact that quality assured, legally admissible, forensic medical examinations and treatment are available to them free of charge after rape and sexual assault, as are independent and specialist services such as Rape Crisis Centres.”
