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Quiz: How Well Do You Know Joyful Heart's 6 Pillars of Rape Kit Reform?
We began 2019 asking you, our joyful community, to help us advocate to end the backlog of untested rape kits around the United States. We developed six pillars of rape kit reform as part of our national campaign to enact comprehensive rape kit reform laws in every state. While we hope you share information about our campaign with others, we know some of the terminology we use can be challenging.
Attorney General Josh Stein calls for more funding to test backlogged rape kits
North Carolina has the highest number of untested rape kits of any state, but a recent call from N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein for funding to test the kits might change that.
“What we have found through communities that have taken a lot of the old untested kits off the shelves and tested them is that serial offenders have been left free to remain on the streets and commit crimes over and over again,” said Ilse Knecht, director of policy and advocacy for The Joyful Heart Foundation
How to Get Started as an Advocate to End the Rape Kit Backlog
As we kick off a new year and a new legislative session, Joyful Heart continues our work advocating for rape kit reform across the country. Ending the rape kit backlog is a tremendous goal, and we need advocates like you to help by supporting reform where you live.
Whether you are a novice advocate or a seasoned pro, you can make a difference. Here’s how to start advocating for rape kit reform in your community.
Bodies on Backlog
Sexual assault changes a person’s view of self, especially their body, and a rape kit becomes an extended vestige of a survivor’s own body—at great personal cost.
The Joyful Heart Foundation pushes for more funding to labs and for state regulations requiring responsibility for testing kits; it fostered a massive push to get all rape kits tested, even those dating back to the 80’s.
The Me Too movement has changed our culture. Now it’s changing our laws.
The Me Too movement has touched almost every industry in the past year, and state legislatures have been under growing pressure to curb sexual assault and harassment in private workplaces and within their own chambers. But has the reckoning had an impact on the law?
Early signs point to yes.
New State Laws To End The Untested Rape Kit Backlog
During its second year, Joyful Heart’s national campaign to pass comprehensive rape kit reform continued to build momentum. Since January, an exceptional 46 rape kit reform bills were introduced in 24 states. We worked with partners in 11 states and helped lawmakers amend several drafts of legislation. As a result, we celebrate 15 states passing 14 rape kit reform laws that include one or more of our six pillars.
Minnesota's rape kit reform bill becomes law as Duluth passes a milestone on its backlog
In Minnesota's most ambitious effort to process untested rape kits, the Duluth Police Department has eliminated its entire backlog and submitted 415 kits for laboratory testing, a step that could open the door to justice for scores of sexual assault victims.
The kits, sitting in storage for as long as 25 years, were inventoried in 2015 after the Legislature ordered a one-time audit of all untested kits held by law enforcement agencies across the state. Departments reported more than 3,400 untested kits; Duluth had the most, with more than 550.
This Matters
Testing rape kits send a fundamental and crucial message to victims of sexual violence: You matter. What happened to you matters. Your cases matter." - Mariska Hargitay
