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Full Media Archive
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Mariska Hargitay Reflects on Epstein, Weinstein and Her 'SVU' Milestone: "Everywhere, People Are Talking About Sexual Violence" September 18, 2019 • The Hollywood Reporter By The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter profiled Joyful Heart founder Mariska Hargitay and her record 21 seasons on NBC's Emmy-winning drama series. She reflected on bringing assault to the front page. read more |
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Mariska Hargitay Talks About Getting Thanked by Sexual Assault Victims and Why #MeToo Is a 'Celebration' September 19, 2019 • Parade By ParadeParade profiled Joyful Heart founder Mariska Hargitay. read more |
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The Chilling Story of Three Women Haunted by the Same Rapist, And How the Law Failed Them June 24, 2019 • Mother Jones By Madison PaulyDarrell Rea is about to be sentenced for the murder he committed 36 years ago. But the rape cases that helped bring him to justice will never be charged. More than 20 states have passed a cascade of laws in the past few years requiring mandatory testing of old or new rape kits, audits of untested evidence, or notification systems for survivors to keep track of their kits, according to the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization that advocates for sexual assault survivors. read more |
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Redouble efforts on untested rape kits June 12, 2019 • News Tribune By News TribuneThe News Tribune calls on the Missouri Highway Patrol to redouble its efforts to address the problem of a growing number of untested rape kits at the patrol's crime lab. The Kansas City Star reported the number of untested rape kits with the patrol's crime lab has more than doubled since last August, when a new law requiring police to submit kits within 14 days took effect. read more |
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Cities and States Continue to Face Challenges with Rape Kit Backlogs May 30, 2019 • Route Fifty By Emma ColemanIn attempting to clear a backlog of 6,838 untested rape kits, Wisconsin’s crime labs delayed DNA testing in around 350 active cases, a report released this week found. Since 2016, when the push to clear the backlog began, crime lab technicians have spent over 4,850 hours testing 4,160 of the kits, taking up about half of the state labs’ analyst capacity. Wisconsin isn’t alone, explained Ilse Knecht, the director of policy and advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation, a survivor’s advocacy group. read more |
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Hundreds of rape kits go untested in South Carolina May 22, 2019 • WMBF News By Samantha KummererMYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - When Ilse Knecht thinks about thousands of untested sexual assault kits, she imagines thousands of people sitting on shelves. “Each one of these boxes represents a survivor who went through that experience, did everything society asked them to do - report the crime to police, have evidence collected and participate in the criminal justice process - and we fail them,” Knecht said. read more |
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Test Every Kit May 10, 2019 • Uptown Radio By Stephanie HortonDNA evidence collected after a sexual assault is known as a rape kit. Rape kits are supposed to be tested immediately. When they aren’t—it creates a backlog. New York City was one of the first states to clear its backlog in 2003. But nationally a quarter of a million rape kits sit in storage, waiting to be tested. read more |
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Nonprofit Joyful Heart Moves a Mountain of Systemic Indifference on Rape April 26, 2019 • Nonprofit Quarterly By Erin RubinTaiwana lived in Flint, Michigan, in 1996, in a home her grandparents had passed down through her family. She was in that home with six of her seven children when her rapist attacked. Although she reported her attacker and got a rape kit, her case was not pursued for over two decades. Tens of thousands of people have had an experience like Taiwana’s. The Joyful Heart Foundation (JHF) is leading a national effort to end this pattern. read more |
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Washington moves to clear backlog of 10,000 rape kits April 12, 2019 • The Bellingham Herald By James DrewWashington state officials say they have the solution to the massive backlog in untested rape kits. The bill that the Senate passed Thursday, combined with funding in the upcoming two-year state operating budget, will enable the State Patrol to clear the backlog by December, 2021, an aide to Gov. Jay Inslee said. read more |
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Massachusetts makes $8 million investment to collect and test rape kits as Gov. Charlie Baker signs budget bill April 1, 2019 • MassLive By Melissa HansonMassachusetts is moving forward with an $8 million investment to test all rape kits in police custody following the passage of last year’s criminal justice bill, which included significant measures in rape kit reform. The passage of the state’s budget bill means that Massachusetts has now enacted all six pillars of reform recommended by the Joyful Heart Foundation. read more |
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Manhattan District Attorney rape kit backlog grants lead to 186 arrests nationwide March 12, 2019 • ABC News By Meghan Keneally, Aaron KaterskyEleven thousand untested rape kits were found in an abandoned warehouse near Detroit in 2009. For years since, local officials nationwide have been working to get the funding to test their own backlog of untested kits. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has been trying to help other jurisdictions that face their own backlogs, doling out $38 million nationwide over the course of three years to pay for kits to be tested and criminals brought to justice. read more |
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Attorney General Josh Stein calls for more funding to test backlogged rape kits February 4, 2019 • The Daily Tar Heel By Diane AdameNorth 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 read more |
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Bodies on Backlog January 1, 2019 • Ms. Magazine By Aurora BiggersSexual 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. read more |
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'Disturbing' rape kit investigation prompts action in several states December 5, 2018 • CNN By Sergio Hernandez and Ashley FantzThe Washington attorney general said Tuesday he will notify every law enforcement agency in his state and direct them to ensure that rape kits are not being inappropriately destroyed. His action comes in response to a CNN investigation into the destruction of rape kits nationwide and on the heels of a Missouri police chief's apology to victims. read more |
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Mariska Hargitay on CNN: Rape kit backlog and destruction is outrageous December 3, 2018 • CNN By Mariska HargitayMuch has been written this year about women's anger -- its power and potential, its evolution and necessity. But beneath the analysis, there is the feeling itself: anger, pure and simple. It's what I felt when I read CNN's report about the destruction -- the outrageous, careless, wrongheaded, uneducated, ill-informed, dangerous, willful destruction -- of rape kits. read more |
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She's been waiting 15 months for her rape kit to be processed. A new proposal to track evidence aims to change that. November 14, 2018 • Chicago Tribune By Alison BowenSarah Parsons is ready to move forward, to endure a criminal case against the man she said sexually assaulted her, to begin closing a difficult chapter. But she is waiting on one thing. The evidence collected last year in the emergency room of a Chicago hospital, known as a rape kit, hasn’t yet been analyzed. An attorney advised waiting; the results would likely bolster the case. read more |
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Untested rape kits start to pile up • Newbury Port Press By Christian M. WadeA backlog of untested rape kits has many states scrambling to process the DNA evidence to help track down sexual predators whose crimes may have gone unpunished. In Massachusetts, it’s not clear how many untested rape kits exist. State officials are planning to survey local police to get a handle on the scope of the problem. read more |
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5 ways you can stand up for domestic violence survivors October 20, 2018 • Mashable By Victoria RodriguezDomestic violence can take the form of physical, psychological, or economic abuse, and it is a national issue that affects people of all ages and genders, though the majority of victims are women. Survivors do not report abuse for many reasons, including fear of gaslighting. Despite years of progress, domestic violence remains a silent epidemic. read more |
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Mariska Hargitay Applauds Christine Blasey Ford for Her ‘Courage’ During Brett Kavanaugh Hearing September 28, 2018 • Yahoo By Elizabeth TaylorThere’s no doubt that Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh were on most people’s minds for the past 24 hours or so. read more |
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Hargitay hails impact of 'SVU' as It marks 20 seasons September 21, 2018 • Associated Press By Associated PressNEW YORK — Mariska Hargitay thinks Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has played a huge role in educating people on sexual violence, but believes there is still a lot of work to do. The star of the TV drama spoke as the NBC show celebrated its 20th season Thursday at the Tribeca TV Festival. read more |
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Using #WhyIDidntReport, Twitter users challenge Trump after he questions why Ford didn't report September 21, 2018 • NBC Bay Area By Liz LaneSome of the most vocal proponents of the #MeToo movement and droves of other women have come to the defense of Christine Blasey Ford after President Donald Trump questioned her credibility and wondered why she didn’t report her sexual assault at the time she said it happened. read more |
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Senate bill requiring prompt rape kit tests heads to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk September 4, 2018 • The Daily Californian By Jenny WengA bill requiring law enforcement agencies and laboratories to promptly analyze all newly collected rape kit evidence advanced to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk Friday. The state Senate and Assembly unanimously approved SB 1449 authored by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, according to a press release provided by Leyva’s office. Under the legislation, newly collected rape kits would have to be sent to a lab within 20 days and tested no later than 120 days after receipt in order to prevent backlogs of forensic evidence. read more |
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DA pledged to test 1,000 rape kits, but lab’s pace is testing critics’ patience August 30, 2018 • Times of San Diego By Ken StoneIn late April, at the height of her successful campaign for district attorney, interim DA Summer Stephan announced she would spend $1 million to test 1,000 rape kits. By the end of August, only 200 kits will have been tested by Bode Cellmark Forensics, a private lab in Virginia, said a spokesman for LabCorp, Bode’s corporate parent. read more |
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California bill to count rape kit backlog won’t impact SFPD August 29, 2018 • SF Weekly By Ida MojadadThrough public records requests, End the Backlog estimates that more than 13,000 kits are sitting untested on the shelves of California law enforcement—but it still won’t have a complete number unless jurisdictions are mandated to have them. read more |
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The Me Too movement has changed our culture. Now it’s changing our laws. July 31, 2018 • HuffPost By Rebecca BeitschThe 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. read more |