The Alaska Department of Public Safety has launched a new system that will let survivors track evidence kits used in sexual assault cases. The goal is to assure survivors that something is being done.
The tracking system launched in June. Austin McDaniel, with the Department of Public Safety, said 48 kits have been logged into the system so far, and 33 survivors have used the system to track their status.
Jennifer Brown with Standing Together Against Rape, Inc. — a sexual assault support and prevention organization in Anchorage, also known as STAR — said the system was a long time coming.
“Survivors of sexual assault will be able to know that action is being taken on their kits,” she said.
The new system comes after the state finally cleared a years-long backlog of untested kits. And it comes after years of problems, as reported by Anchorage Daily News and ProPublica, with collecting evidence and investigating sexual assault cases in Alaska.
Brown said the new tracking process begins when survivors first get tested. They’re given a card with a code that corresponds to a testing kit, and a nurse or advocate can help them set up an account.
The card also encourages safeguards for people who may be at risk from someone they live with — like avoiding autofill and saving passwords. For safety, survivors can also designate a family member, friend or an advocate from STAR to be the one to get updates on their kits.
Brown said the process is like tracking a package. The initial clinic has seven days to send the kit out. Then law enforcement has 30 days to process it. Last, it goes to the state crime lab.
“The limitations on those kits being tested is a maximum of six months, but we’re seeing that they’re being tested a lot faster than that,” Brown said.
She said that it’s too soon to know how well the system is working. But for now, she’s eager to see how it will help survivors of sexual assault.
“That’s a big step in the right direction,” she said.
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