Help Rape Survivors: Support the Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act!

“…navigating the broken system was worse than the rape itself”            

             - Amanda Nguyen, a survivor of sexual assault, told the New York Times.

Our legal system makes survivors of sexual assault endure a process that is incredibly cruel.

Currently a survivor has a 15-year statute of limitations for them to decide if they want to file charges… however their rape kit is destroyed only after 6 months from the time of incident.  Survivors must apply for an extension every 6 months if they want to keep their rape kit on file. 

Rape kits provide crucial evidence if and when the survivor decides to press charges.  When a survivor of sexual assault decides to take legal action against their perpetrator, they should have access to the evidence and resources to do so… no matter when the incident took place.

There are about 293,000 (reported) victims of sexual assault every year… all the while thousands of rape kits remain untested in the United States. Victims have been through enough trauma already; the legal system does not need to add to their pain.    

I personally know many women that are sexual assault survivors… and most likely, you do too.  As a woman, the thought of repeatedly being reminded of such a traumatic incident makes me cringe.  

It is cruel that a woman has to be reminded of her sexual assault incident every 6 months, if they have any hope of getting legal justice from their perpetrators.

The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act is a bill that would create transparency around rape kits; kits would be preserved for the length of their state’s statute of limitations and victims would be notified ahead of time before their kit is destroyed.

Please sign to urge our US Senators to do everything in their power to ensure passage of the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act.