​Rape Kits

End the Backlog – an effort, created by the Joyful Heart Foundation, dedicated to shining a light on and ending the rape kit backlog ~ hundreds of thousands of rape kits collected in the aftermath of a sexual assault, sitting untested in police and crime lab facilities.

• The Accountability Project – we seek to create a full picture of the number of untested rape kits in police storage facilities across the country. We are achieving this goal by reaching out to police departments and asking them for a count of the untested kits in their custody. Often times, when a community discovers that it has a backlog, stakeholders come together and address it, but knowing there is a backlog is the critical first step. On a deeper level, we aim to bring greater transparency and accountability around rape kit testing practices nationwide. Read announcement release.

Making Victims Part of the Solution: Untested Sexual Assault Kits, The National Center for Victims of Crime – in partnership with the Office on Violence Against Women, is pleased to offer training, technical assistance, and resources communities can use to create victim-centered responses to the problem of backlogged and untested sexual assault kits (SAKs). We hope these tools will help jurisdictions betters support victims and sensitively and knowledgeably address victims' rights and needs during the backlog reduction process.

Natasha's Justice Project – founded in 2011, NJP works to end the rape kit backlog for good. We work through research, public education and media outreach. We also offer travel grants so that survivors can be present at their attackers' trials, Washington, DC.

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) – administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, is a new program that provides funding through a $41 million competitive grant program to support the comprehensive reform of jurisdictions’ approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in sexual assault kits (SAKs) that have never been submitted to a crime laboratory. The goal of SAKI is the creation of a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to these cases whenever possible through a victim-centered approach, as well as to build jurisdictions’ capacity to prevent the development of conditions that lead to high numbers of unsubmitted SAKs in the future, Washington, DC.

Sexual Assault Kits ~ Using Science to Find Solutions – Effective sexual assault responses requires regular communication, collaboration and cooperation among all the stakeholders. Practitioners from law enforcement, district attorneys’ offices, forensic science, medical and mental health, and victim-support services who work together can improve responses to sexual assault. National Institute of Justice-funded research is being used to continually improve the effectiveness of our nation’s response to sexual assault. Visit our new Web feature to learn more about how collaboration and science are working together to solve the problem of unsubmitted sexual assault kits, Washington, DC.