Matthew Gamette is the Laboratory System Director at the Idaho State Police Forensic Services. Since 2014, Idaho has worked to reform rape kit handling. Here, Matthew shares his experience working with a multidisciplinary team, in-house developers, and victim advocates to build and launch the first operational statewide rape kit tracking system in the country. In […]
Last year, legislators from 34 states took action to eliminate their state’s backlog of untested rape kits. Other elected officials and state leaders bolstered these efforts, ensuring that elected officials from attorneys general to governors are exercising the full authority of their offices to offer a path to justice for survivors, apprehend offenders, and make […]
Today’s guest author is Lieutenant John Somerindyke from the Fayetteville, North Carolina Police Department (FPD). As a 2015 Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grantee, FPD was tasked with testing backlogged rape kits, notifying victims, and investigating cases. Here, Lt. Somerindyke shares FPD’s efforts to establish a victim notification protocol to re-engage survivors in the criminal justice […]
Marya Simmons is the supervisor of the Victim Witness Unit at the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. Since 2013, she has worked to support survivors through the prosecutorial process. Here, she discusses her role as a system-based advocate on the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) Task Force, which handles cold cases associated with previously unsubmitted […]
Testing rape kits swiftly helps link crimes together and identify serial rapists sooner. Studies of perpetrators identified through testing backlogged kits show that serial offenders commit many types of violent crimes, including crimes against intimate partners and acquaintances. Testing rape kits and uploading suspect DNA into the federal database helps prevent future sexual assaults and […]
Sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse are inextricably linked. While Joyful Heart’s top policy priority is ending the backlog of untested rape kits, we frame this work to achieve our broader mission: ending this violence forever. This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we explore the overlap between domestic violence and sexual assault, and how efforts […]
This summer, the Policy and Advocacy team at Joyful Heart welcomed two undergraduate interns to our New York office. Emma and Julia gained hands-on experience in our ongoing campaign to eliminate the untested rape kit backlog and conducted independent research projects to inform our future policy work. Here, Emma and Julia share their reflections and […]
The movement to end the untested rape kit backlog got a significant boost from the federal government this month when it issued the first-ever national guidelines for handling rape kits. On August 8, the National Institute of Justice—the research, development, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Justice—released National Best Practices for Sexual Assault […]
Earlier this month, Joyful Heart’s Policy and Advocacy team attended the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Summit in Boston. Over the course of three days, we connected with lawmakers and staffers from across the country about how to end the backlog of untested rape kits. Advocates and stakeholders know kits are shelved in evidence […]
