Statement on White House Report on Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action

From Sarah Tofte, Vice President of Policy & Advcacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation, on the White House report on sexual assault: A Renewed Call to Action

NEW YORK, NY – January 22, 2014 – Today’s new White House report recognizes the serious and growing problem of sexual assault and notes the urgent need to address the rape kit backlog in the United States. Testing rape kits can bring healing and justice to survivors. Not testing rape kits allows perpetrators to get away with their crimes. The Joyful Heart Foundation has made this work a priority. Our ENDTHEBACKLOG initiative is conducting groundbreaking research to identify the extent of the nation’s backlog and best practices for eliminating it, expanding the national dialogue on rape kit testing and advocating for comprehensive rape kit reform legislation and policies at all levels of government. We hope that today’s announcement will help inform the rape kit reform that must be included as part of the pending congressional reauthorization of Justice for All, which provides funding for DNA and rape kit testing. To learn more, go to www.ENDTHEBACKLOG.org.

###