For Immediate Release: May 5, 2014
Contact: Melissa Schwartz, media@endthebacklog.org
The U.S. House of Representatives has released its FY15 spending bill for Commerce, Justice, and Science. In it, the House Appropriations Committee has included $36 million to address the rape kit backlog in police storage facilities. This allocation provides dedicated funding for competitive grants that will provide communities across the country with the vital resources they need – and are asking for – to support multi-disciplinary community response teams tasked with developing and implementing comprehensive rape kit reform.
See below for a statement from Sarah Tofte, Vice President for Policy & Advocacy at the Joyful Heart Foundation:
“The thousands upon thousands of rape kits sitting untested in police storage facilities across the country represent thousands of leads to investigate, survivors to re-engage with compassion and care and cases to prosecute. Communities simply do not have the resources necessary to make this possible while also responding to new reported cases. Dedicated funding to support communities in their work to address the untested kits in their police storage facilities and move those cases forward to prosecution is a relief to public officials committed to comprehensive reform. It is the funding they need to uphold their commitment to pursue every lead from testing rape kits, reform their criminal justice response to rape, engage survivors in the process and bring offenders to justice. Funding for comprehensive rape kit reform sends a message to survivors that they—and their cases—matter. It sends a message to perpetrators that they will be held accountable for their crimes. It demonstrates a commitment to survivors to do everything possible to bring healing and justice.”
To view a coalition letter from nearly every major organization working to end domestic violence and sexual assault, click here.
For background and further information on the rape kit backlog, go to: ENDTHEBACKLOG.org.