Pillar: Victim’s Right to Know

Sexual assault survivors want and deserve information about the status of their cases. In 2016, Joyful Heart released Navigating Notification, a study on victim notification that found access to information about the status of their cases can promote healing for survivors of sexual assault, and that the lack of knowledge can be harmful to their wellbeing.

Behind every kit is a person—a sexual assault survivor—waiting for justice. We stand with every survivor who has taken the step of reporting the crime to the police and endured an invasive examination in search of DNA evidence left behind by the attacker. Giving survivors access to information about their kits can help counter the loss of self-determination and control that is often at the core of a sexual assault.

While most states have guaranteed victims the right to notice of important criminal justice proceedings, these rights generally only apply after an offender has been identified and charged, which excludes many survivors of sexual assault. In many sexual assault cases, survivors leave the hospital and never hear again about their rape kits, and under law in the majority of cases, they do not have a right to be informed.

A sexual assault survivor should have the right to obtain information about the status of their rape kit, including when the kit is submitted to the lab, if a DNA profile is obtained, when the kit is entered into federal and state DNA database, and when a match occurs.

The following states and Washington, D.C. have achieved this pillar, which must be enacted into law to be effective: 

Joyful Heart works with state legislators to enact comprehensive rape kit legislation based on six pillars of reform. We have created model legislation, offering a survivor-centered, trauma-informed approach to rape kit reform at the state level. Click here to learn more.