For Immediate Release: May 14, 2025
Contact: Olivia Hall, media@endthebacklog.org
NEW YORK — The Joyful Heart Foundation celebrates the signing of HB2581 by Governor Hobbs in Arizona, codifying the statewide rape kit tracking system into law. We applaud Representative Selina Bliss for her leadership and the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual & Domestic Violence for their unwavering advocacy.
Tracking rape kits, a practice mandated legislatively statewide in 34 states and Washington, D.C., sheds a light on the kit handling process, bringing accountability and transparency to the justice process. Tracking systems allow for oversight, and can expose jurisdictions that are not complying with rape kit testing or other laws while highlighting areas that need more improvement. Additionally, tracking systems often include a victim portal, allowing survivors to access the status of their kits––something many regard as crucial to their healing process.
“Tracking systems are vital to the healing process for survivors. Most survivors, after leaving the hospital, are never contacted about the status of their rape kit,” said Ilse Knecht, Joyful Heart Foundation’s Policy and Advocacy Director. “Having access to information about the status and location of their rape kit can help survivors counter the loss of self-determination that is often at the core of a sexual assault experience.”
“This law is more than a procedural fix––it’s a shift in how our state treats survivors of sexual violence. HB2581 affirms that survivors have a right to information, transparency, and a system that treats their evidence with urgency and respect,” said Jenna Panas, Chief Executive Officer of the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence. “It brings Arizona one step closer to a fully survivor-centered response to sexual assault and we are proud to stand with partners like the Joyful Heart Foundation in making that vision real.”
In 2016, per Executive Order 2016-02, Arizona implemented a tracking system with an anonymous victim portal; however, participation in the system was not made mandatory. In particular, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD), the largest jurisdiction in the state and where the majority of sexual assaults occur, opted out of the statewide tracking system. This decision to opt out of the statewide tracking system left survivors without an avenue to privately and confidentially track the status of their rape kits.
By codifying the statewide tracking system into law, HB2581 mandates that all jurisdictions participate, ensuring that no survivors—or their kits—fall through the cracks. This crucial legislation brings Arizona closer to achieving full, comprehensive rape kit reform.
Arizona has fulfilled five of Joyful Heart’s six pillars of rape kit reform. Learn more about reform in Arizona at Endthebacklog.org/Arizona.
If you have any questions or need more information, do not hesitate to contact our media department at Media@EndtheBacklog.org to connect with our director of Policy and Advocacy, Ilse Knecht.