Advertising Standards Authority Bans Misleading DNA Kit Ads
A company providing self-swab DNA testing kits to sexual assault victims has had its online advertisements banned for containing misleading information.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Enough's website, LinkedIn post, and GoFundMe page made unsubstantiated claims about the use of evidence from their kits in court and exaggerated statistics on the number of women raped annually in the UK.
Sir Martin Narey, former head of the Prison and Probation Services in England and Wales, who filed the complaint against the adverts, stated:
"I thought they were frightening young women and terrifying their parents by exaggerating the likelihood of being raped."
Miles Lockwood from the ASA explained that the posts were banned due to a lack of evidence supporting their claims. Enough responded by saying it respected the ASA's ruling and had revised its wording accordingly.
Concerns Raised by Sir Martin Narey
Narey initially supported Enough by helping launch a Dads for Daughters group, encouraging fathers to back the project. However, he later expressed growing concerns that the company might be "exaggerating" its claims.
Enough, which began in Bristol, claimed that a woman was twice as likely to be raped as diagnosed with cancer and cited inflated figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) regarding the annual number of rapes in the UK.
ONS data shows 71,227 rapes were reported to the police in 2024, but Enough suggested the actual figure could be significantly higher due to underreporting.
Narey emphasized his greater worry was about claims related to the admissibility of evidence collected through the self-swab kits:
"The awful truth is that young women and parents have bought these kits in the hope that it might help in the awful event of their daughter being harmed.
They hope that that might bring someone to justice. It's likely to do the reverse."
Distribution and Purpose of the Kits
Enough began distributing the kits free of charge to Bristol students last year and has also sold them online for £20.
The kits are designed to allow individuals who believe they have been sexually assaulted to collect a DNA swab at home, have it tested for the alleged perpetrator's DNA, and store the results.
Forensic experts previously expressed concerns to the BBC about the DIY kits, warning they could give victims false hope.
In September 2024, the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine issued a joint statement with several organisations, including clinicians, forensic scientists, and the Forensic Capability Network, stating they did not currently support self-swab kits. They warned such kits could "put survivors at risk" without appropriate information.
At that time, Enough argued that the kits served as a deterrent amid "intolerable levels of rape" and offered an alternative reporting route outside the criminal justice system.
ASA's Ruling on Advertising Claims
The ASA upheld all three complaints against Enough, resulting in the ban of all related advertisements.
The company was instructed not to state or imply that evidence collected via its self-testing kits is admissible in court unless it can provide adequate substantiation.
Additionally, Enough was prohibited from making claims about the incidence of rape or the number of women raped without sufficient evidence.
Miles Lockwood, Director of Complaints and Investigations at the ASA, commented:
"The problem with these adverts was that Enough gave an impression that you could have more confidence in the reliability of the DNA evidence you would collect through these test kits than was actually the case.
They didn't have the evidence to make the claims that were in the ad, and that's why we banned them."
"Ultimately, what's happening here is that they're promoting DNA self-test kits for women who have experienced a truly traumatic event so we expect to have really high levels of evidence if you're making a claim like that."
Enough's Response to the ASA Ruling
Enough stated it "respects" the ASA's decision and has updated its wording to improve clarity.
A company spokesperson said:
"Following the complaint, we have been in discussions with Committees of Advertising Practice and our wording now reflects their language guidance."
Enough noted that its wording on the annual number of rapes in the UK now refers to the "estimated" figure and that its kits "can in principle be admissible in court."
The company added that it was created to address the "do nothing gap" for those who do not report to the police or sexual assault referral centres, but acknowledged that these remain the "best and most comprehensive option where survivors feel able to access them."
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