Indiana Archives

The Joyful Heart Foundation today applauded the Indiana state legislature’s passage of S.B. 264, which takes the first step towards creating a statewide sexual assault kit tracking system. This important milestone in the effort to undertake rape kit reform in Indiana is the result of collaboration led by Senator Michael Crider, survivor and advocate Michelle Kuiper, the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault, and Joyful Heart.

The Joyful Heart Foundation, a leader in the effort to eliminate the national rape kit backlog, today criticized law enforcement in Gary, Indiana for hindering efforts to obtain information about the number of untested sexual assault kits in their custody. “The rape kit backlog represents a failure of the criminal justice system to protect survivors and hold perpetrators accountable. We can and must do better,” said Ilse Knecht, Director for Policy and Advocacy.