For Immediate Release: August 6, 2021
Contact: Olivia Hall, media@endthebacklog.org
NEW YORK — Today, the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national organization working to end the backlog of untested rape kits nationwide, celebrates the signing of HB4013. We applaud Representative Natalie Higgins, House Speaker Ronald Mariano, and Minority Leader Brad Jones for their hard work shepherding this important language into the bill.
With the passage of HB4013, all previously untested sexual assault kits shall be tested within 180 days of the effective date of the act. The language in this piece of legislation gives the State Lab the option to outsource testing to a private lab, if they themselves are not able to analyze all untested kits in their possession. The law also includes an inventory mandate, which requires a report on the amount of untested kits in the lab’s possession, the year each kit was collected, the year each kit was tested, and the date the information was updated into CODIS.
Specifically, HB4013 rectifies a loophole found in a 2018 law which, according to Joyful Heart’s research and investigative reporting of WCVB Boston, left more than 6,300 untested rape kits out of the 2018 law requiring testing of the backlog.
“Behind every kit is a person—a sexual assault survivor—waiting for justice,” says Ilse Knecht, Directory of Policy and Advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation. “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. Through mandating the swift testing of these backlogged kits as well as giving crime labs the resources to test them, Massachestts is sending a message to perpetrators that they will be held accountable for their crimes. Testing kits is an important part of a survivor’s healing process regardless of when the assault occurred. This law tells them that what happened to them matters.”
“I am forever thankful the House continues to recognize the trauma endured by the 6,300 sexual violence survivors whose kits have not been fully tested,” says Representative Natalie Higgins. “We believe their trauma needs to be taken seriously and their evidence needs to be treated with the care it deserves by being processed expeditiously. And if the kit ultimately cannot be tested, the survivor deserves to understand why.”
Currently, Massachusetts is one of the few states that have fulfilled all Joyful Heart’s six pillars. However, this amendment provides even greater support to survivors and increases transparency and accountability around the rape kit process.
If you would like an interview or additional comment by Ilse Knecht, please feel free to contact me to set up an interview. Additionally, you can learn more about our legislative efforts in Massachusetts at http://www.endthebacklog.org/Massachusetts.