The Campaign to End the Rape Kit Backlog
The Joyful Heart Foundation has identified more than 225,000 untested rape kits sitting in police, crime lab or other storage facilities across the United States. And with nearly 20 states remaining that have yet to count the untested rape kits in their possession, we believe there are several hundred thousand more yet to be discovered. Because most law enforcement agencies do not have systems for tracking or counting rape kits, we cannot be sure of the total number. That was true a decade ago, and sadly, it remains true today.
But in this moment, I can feel change coming.
On Monday, April 16, HBO will premier the documentary I AM EVIDENCE to a national audience. Produced by Joyful Heart’s Founder & President Mariska Hargitay, the film exposes the alarming trend of unsolved rape cases, revealing a flawed system that has historically mistreated sexual assault survivors and showing the way survivors, advocates, and some forward-thinking law enforcement officials are challenging the status quo.
For us at Joyful Heart, the rape kit backlog is not a new issue. For nearly a decade, we have made the elimination of the rape kit backlog our top priority. Through partnerships with federal, state, and local government, non-profit organizations, law enforcement, advocates, and survivors, we are working to raise awareness, pass rape kit reform laws, and advocate for necessary funding to improve the criminal justice response to sexual violence. We have a clear, ambitious goal: to expand justice for survivors by passing comprehensive rape kit reform legislation in all 50 states.
Behind every kit is a person — a sexual assault survivor — waiting for justice. But too often, the decision whether to test kits gets bogged down with bureaucracy, politics, and excuses about a lack of resources, instead of what is more often the case — a person’s decision to shelve a rape kit or cut short an investigation because they are unwilling to prioritize and dedicate sufficient resources to sexual assault cases.
There is no question that ending the rape kit backlog will take a coordinated effort and deep commitment at all levels of our government and in communities across the United States. As the lead social action campaign partner for I AM EVIDENCE, we are working to leverage this moment as a catalyst for meaningful reform and grassroots activism. By catapulting this issue to the forefront of our national dialogue, this film will elevate the voices of those most impacted, provoke outrage, and inspire direct action. To do this, we are organizing a national #ENDTHEBACKLOG Day of Action on April 16 with the goal of mobilizing the public to join forces with advocates across this country and reach out to their elected officials to demand state legislatures enact reforms once and for all.
The rape kit backlog is a problem we can solve. It’s time for each of us to speak up and tell our legislators they must take this problem seriously and make rape kit reform a priority.
Survivors deserve better. We all deserve better. This is our moment. The time is now.
To participate in the Joyful Heart Foundation’s #ENDTHEBACKLOG Day of Action, please visit endthebacklog.org.
Sarah Haacke Byrd is Managing Director of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a national organization dedicated to transforming society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, supporting survivors’ healing, and ending this violence forever.
