Reunion Online

By failing to test rape kits, we are telling victims that pursuing justice doesn't matter, that convicting violent perpetrators and taking them off our streets is not a top priority.

Last night I watched the premier of a beautiful movie about an ugly epidemic. Telling Amy’s Story chronicles the years and incidents of domestic violence that led up to the fatal shooting of Amy Homan McGee, a mother of two who had finally found the courage to escape her abusive husband.

Nine years ago, a Verizon Wireless employee named Amy became a victim of domestic violence. Despite court orders and a legal battle, Amy's husband continued to stalk her, interrupted her work, and ultimately killed her. She was just one of thousands of women affected each year by such violence, and one of far too many to be killed as a result.

Almost a year ago, CBS News broadcast a two part series on a five month investigation into tens of thousands of untested rape kits nationwide.

When Valerie Neumann woke up dazed and physically bruised the morning after her 21st birthday, the awful reality began to sink in that she had been raped. Neumann then made the difficult decision many sexual assault victims make -- to submit to the ordeal of a rape kit at her local hospital.

This week, Valerie Neumann, a rape victim who was profiled in a CBS News investigation into the national rape kit backlog, is pounding the halls of Congress asking dozens of lawmakers to support legislation that will require DNA from all rape kits to be tested.

It was the first overhaul in 20 years of what is officially known as the sexual offense evidence collection kit and the upgrade was seriously needed, state Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Denise E. O’Donnell said.

A new kit for collecting forensic evidence from rape victims will be unveiled today - the first revamping of the crucial tool in 20 years.

Two decades after their first use in New York emergency rooms, rape testing kits are being updated for the DNA age.