USA TODAY, Gannett and TEGNA TV have just released the results of a sweeping investigation on the scope of the rape kit backlog: more than 70,000 untested rape kits—each collected in the aftermath of a sexual assault— confirmed across 1,000+ police departments throughout the country. Like The Accountability Project, Joyful Heart’s own initiative to uncover […]
It is estimated that only between 2 and 8 % of rape accusations are false. Yet rape victims face one of the steepest barriers to being believed by the criminal justice system, and their cases are the least likely of any violent crime to move forward through prosecution. Several news articles over the past few […]
The Joyful Heart Foundation today praised the House Committee on Appropriations’ inclusion of $41 million in funding for the Justice Department’s community-based sexual assault response initiative in their FY16 Commerce, Justice and Science funding bill. Joyful Heart has been at the forefront of efforts to fund this unique program, first approved by Congress last year.
Last week, Special Investigations Division Chief of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office Rick Bell shared about the surprising discoveries that emerged from taking an unconventional at the rape kit backlog through an economic impact lens. In our final part of his interview, Rick talks about how Cuyahoga County is moving forward to address their backlog, […]
Several years ago, law enforcement in Cleveland discovered nearly 4,000 untested rape kits, dating from 1993. By 2014, every kit had been submitted for testing in accordance with Ohio’s Sexual Assault Kit Testing Initiative, and the testing of the first 2,326 kits yielded stunning results: 968 matches in the CODIS national DNA database, 324 investigations, […]
ENDTHEBACKLOG had the opportunity to interview Rick Bell, the Special Investigations Division Chief in the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. Rick has been with the office for more than 20 years, working in every unit of the Criminal Division before being promoted to Criminal Investigations Division Chief. Rick directs the Cuyahoga County Sexual Assault Kit Task […]
Now Available through New Grant Program from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office For Immediate Release: April 1, 2015Contact: Melissa Schwartz, media@endthebacklog.org NEW YORK – The Joyful Heart Foundation today applauded the availability of $35 million in new grants to aid jurisdictions working to end the backlog of untested rape kits in the United States. The funding, […]
THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Vice President FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMarch 16, 2015 “It’s the single-most significant and direct way to measure the character of a nation — when violence against women is no longer societally accepted, no longer kept secret, when everyone understands that even one case is too many. That’s when it will change.” […]
The Joyful Heart Foundation, one of the nation’s leading advocacy organizations working toward nationwide rape kit reform, today welcomed the U.S. Department of Justice’s release of two solicitations for funding to address the growing backlog of sexual assault kits at law enforcement agencies.
