KIYC: Sexual assault survivors in New Jersey will soon have a rape kit tracking system
The measure comes after a Kane In Your Corner investigation into the state’s treatment of survivors.
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45ds agoSurvivors of sexual assault in New Jersey will soon be able to know much more about the status of their cases, under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy. The legislation to establish a real-time tracking system for rape kits comes after a three-year Kane In Your Corner investigation into the state’s treatment of survivors, many of whom felt law enforcement did not take their cases seriously.
“Survivors of sexual assault who show strength and resilience in coming forward deserve recognition and support,” Gov. Murphy said in a written statement. “This well-overdue bill cements into law the work our Administration has undertaken to support survivors.”
Many sexual assault survivors who were interviewed as part of the Kane In Your Corner investigation, “Victims of the System,” were angry that they underwent hours-long forensic exams, only for prosecutors to choose not to test their rape kits for DNA.
New Jersey was one of only a few states that still gave prosecutors that discretion, and according to data obtained and analyzed by Kane In Your Corner, they did it nearly 1,000 times a year, even as New Jersey was falsely claiming it had no backlog of untested kits.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin responded to the investigation by issuing a directive requiring law enforcement to test all rape kits that survivors released for testing. Advocates for survivors have long contended that a tracking system was the logical next step.
“It's super simple technology,” says Ilse Knecht, director of Policy and Advocacy for the Joyful Heart Foundation. “We've had it for a really long time and more than 30 states have it now. It basically, would just allow all the stakeholders to know where the kit is at every point in time.”
There is no timeframe on how soon the rape kit tracking system will be operational, however.
The legislation does not specify a deadline.
The New Jersey Office of the Attorney General says work on a tracking system has already begun.
The agency received $2 million in federal funding to create the system in 2023.
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