Adverts for DNA self-swab kits banned as misleading

But at the time, Enough said the kits acted as a deterrent at a time of "intolerable levels of rape" and provided a route to report outside the criminal justice system.

• Whether the evidence from Enough's testing kits being admissible in court was misleading and could be substantiated

• The figures reported in the advert of "430,000 rapes a year", "430,000 rapes in the UK last year" and "Over 400,000 women are raped every year"

• The statements that a "woman is twice as likely to be raped as be diagnosed with cancer" and "Our daughters are twice as likely to be raped than get cancer"

The ASA upheld all three of the complaints and all of the adverts have now been banned.

The company has been ordered to not state or imply that evidence gathered using its self-testing kits is admissible in court unless it holds adequate substantiation for those claims.

Enough was further told not to make claims regarding the incidence of rapes or the number of women raped unless it holds adequate substantiation for those claims.

Miles Lockwood, director of Complaints and Investigations at the ASA, said: "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."

He added: "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."

In a statement, Enough said it "respects" the ASA's ruling and had updated its wording to ensure greater clarity.

"Following the complaint, we have been in discussions with Committees of Advertising Practice and our wording now reflects their language guidance," a spokesperson said.

Enough said its wording on the number of rapes a year in the UK now referred to the "estimated" number, and that its kits "can in principle be admissible in court".

They went on to say that the company was created to address the "do nothing gap" for those who do not report to the police or sexual assault referral centres, but that that it has always been clear that these "remain the best and most comprehensive option where survivors feel able to access them".

• If you have been affected by the issues in this article, help and support can be found at BBC Action Line

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.