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Laws and Policies

National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach

In August of 2017, the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) released a report on National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach. In 2013, the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Report Act (SAFER Act) was passed into law amending the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 to provide funds for grants to be administered to laboratories to address the critical need of eliminating the backlog of sexual assault kits, the law requires an establishment of protocols and practices.

Issue 22: What's missing from the news on sexual violence? An analysis of coverage, 2011-2013 Sally Laskey Tue, 09/01/2015

This publication explores how sexual violence is portrayed in the news and considers the implications of these portrayals for prevention advocates and journalists interested in discussing not just the details of sexual violence, but also how to end it. The findings lay the foundation for ongoing work to define more effective messages about sexual violence that can support prevention policies.

This work is part of a multi-year collaboration between the National Sexual Violence Resource Center and Berkeley Media Studies Group.

Publish Date

September 2015

Key Findings from ‘Sexual Violence Victimization and Associations with Health in a Community Sample of Hispanic Women’

Sexual violence can result in many health, economic, and social struggles in the lives of survivors. This resource highlights findings from a 2015 study on sexual violence against Latina women. Findings can help strengthen our prevention and response strategies with Latin@ communities. In
Spanish.

Publish Date

June 2015

Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Functioning and Effectiveness: Findings from the National SART Project

This practitioner focused report of findings from a national research project on Sexual Assault Response Team functioning and effectiveness.

The full version of the technical research report to the National Institute of Justice is available online.
Scientific publications of the data in peer-reviewed journals with full methodological details are also available.

Publish Date

May 2015

Sexual Assault Victims’ Experiences of Notification after a CODIS Hit

This report provides research results about Houston's victim notification process. In Houston, victim notification involves reestablishing contact with victims whose cases are reopened for investigation as a result of a match in the law enforcement database Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), from
victims’ recently tested sexual assault kits (SAKs).This action research assesses the implementation of the Complainant Notification and Hotline Protocols

Key Components of Building a Successful Victim Notification Protocol

This report includes research on creating victim notification protocols.  Six major themes emerged from survey respondents regarding the process of developing and implementing the Protocols. They include: 1)Strategic planning, 2) Organizational support, 3) Active partnerships, 4) Resources, 5) Outreach, and 6)Victim-centered approach. Of the six themes, researchers identified the victim-centered approach as significant to the process of developing and implementing victim notification protocols.

How to Notify Victims about Sexual Assault Kit Evidence Insight and Recommendations from Victims and Professionals

This report describes research on victim and professional perspectives on the delivery of victim notification procedures, implementation of new victim notification processes, victim engagement within the criminal justice system, and recommendations for improvements.

Victims and professionals made five recommendations.

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