For Immediate Release: April 13, 2020
Contact: Melissa Schwartz, media@endthebacklog.org
NEW YORK – Governor Ralph Northam signed House Bill 808 into law last week, which makes sweeping improvements to support and provide resources to sexual assault survivors, and enhances the state’s current response to its backlog of untested rape kits. The Joyful Heart Foundation (Joyful Heart), a national leader in the effort to reform rape kit policies across the country, today praised the move to require that hospitals report annually to Virginia’s Department of Forensic Science the total number of patients seen, sexual assault kits offered, and examinations completed.
“Joyful Heart is encouraged to see Virginia enhance its policies and procedures around rape kit handing with H.B. 808,” said Ilse Knecht, Joyful Heart’s Director of Policy and Advocacy. “Ensuring that rape kits are accounted for at every step in the process means that communities can take steps to test those kits, hold offenders accountable, and bring justice to sexual assault survivors whose cases have languished, often for years—or even decades.”
Every 92 seconds someone is sexually assaulted in America. In the immediate aftermath of a sexual assault, a victim may choose to undergo a 4-6 hour invasive medical forensic examination to collect evidence left behind during the assault. Survivors who take this step expect that their rape kits will be tested. The public expects the same.
This new law increases transparency and accountability in the facilities that collect rape kits and ensure that kits do not sit untested at hospitals. H.B. 808 additionally provides guidance regarding rape kit evidence retention and how hospitals are to coordinate with law enforcement for the timely transfer of kit evidence to be tested.
Joyful Heart has developed a national campaign to pass comprehensive rape kit reform legislation in all 50 states framed around six pillars for reform. Virginia has now enacted five of our six pillars. Learn more at: http://www.endthebacklog.org/virginia
“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. Every untested kit represents a missed opportunity to bring justice and healing to a survivor and increased safety to a community,” added Knecht.
Joyful Heart has created the premier national resource about the rape kit backlog, which includes an interactive map and resources for survivors, legislators, and the media. Learn more at: ENDTHEBACKLOG.org.