Today, the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national organization working to end the backlog of untested rape kits nationwide, celebrates the signing of HB2706, HB2462, HB1172, HB3607, and SB476 this legislative session. These bills add teeth to Texas’ existing rape kit reform laws and vastly increase survivors’ rights throughout the state.
Today’s guest author is Texas State Representative Donna Howard, who has served in the Texas House since 2006, representing District 48 in Travis County. Here, Rep. Howard reflects on the effort to pass H.B. 281, which established a statewide tracking system for rape kits. She writes today’s blog to inspire legislators and advocates across the […]
Today’s guest author is Chris Kaiser, Director of Public Policy and General Counsel at the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA). Texas recently became the first state in the nation to implement all of our six legislative pillars of rape kit reform. Here, Chris shares TAASA’s advocacy efforts to enact a statewide tracking system and […]
Today’s guest author is Wendy Davis, former Texas state senator and founder of the advocacy organization Deeds Not Words. Here, she discusses the rape kit reform laws she sponsored in the Senate and addresses the need for survivors’ voices to drive policy solutions. I first started working on the issue of sexual violence in 2009 […]
The Joyful Heart Foundation today announced that Texas has become the first state in the nation to implement comprehensive rape kit reform. With the passage of H.B. 281, which requires the Department of Public Safety to establish a comprehensive statewide tracking system to monitor rape kits from collection to analysis, Texas has now enacted all six pillars of reform recommended by Joyful Heart and leaders in this field.
At least seven sexual assaults in Dallas have now been connected to one man, Joseph Beaty. Although the first known assault occurred in 2009, it is only now, eight years later, that Beaty is finally being prosecuted for his crimes. Had all rape kits collected in these assaults been swiftly tested by authorities, crimes could […]
Memphis Sexual Assault Kit Summit In October, Joyful Heart was proud to attend and give the keynote speech at the second annual Sexual Assault Kit Summit for Cities, hosted by the Memphis Sexual Assault Kit Task Force. Over 26 jurisdictions from 15 states came together to share and discuss strategies and best practices for addressing […]
Today, we have a guest post from Texas Department of Public Safety Assistant Director Skylor Hearn. Skylor has been at the helm of Texas’ efforts to count and clear every untested rape kit across the state, and earlier this year testified alongside Joyful Heart Foundation’s Managing Director Sarah Haacke Byrd at the Senate Judiciary Committee […]
“I know this milestone is of special importance to the rape survivors and their families and friends because it means their cases are receiving the attention they should have years ago. If there is a chance of prosecution in a case that has languished or new cases that are uncovered, that prosecution will happen.” Houston […]
