Bipartisan Legislation Cosponsored by Senator Hassan to Help Reduce National Rape Kit Backlog Awaits President’s Signature

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan bill cosponsored by Senator Maggie Hassan to help reduce the national rape kit backlog awaits President Trump’s signature. The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Act will reauthorize, strengthen, and extend the Sexual Assault Forensic Reporting program.

“Survivors of sexual assault deserve an efficient judicial process that can put their attackers behind bars without undue delays created by the current backlog of untested rape kits,” Senator Hassan said. “We must support survivors by passing the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting Act, which will strengthen the Sexual Assault Forensic Reporting program and help ensure that perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice as quickly as possible.”

In addition to reauthorizing this program, the legislation would ensure that pediatric forensic nurses are eligible for training, highlighting the need for pediatric sexual assault nurse examiners in responding to children suffering from abuse. A one-page summary of the bill is available here.  

Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) were the authors of the Sexual Assault Forensic Reporting Act, a 2013 law creating the SAFER Program which has helped law enforcement reduce the rape kit backlog through existing funds under the Debbie Smith Act. The legislation increased the amount of these funds spent on untested kits by 35 percent and allowed 5-7 percent to be used on SAFER program audits. It helps state and local law enforcement agencies address both the laboratory and storage backlogs by providing funding to conduct one-year audits of untested sexual assault evidence, which has uncovered tens of thousands of untested rape kits on shelves and in labs across the nation.

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