Last week, in the middle of the Take Back the Night’s week of events concerning sexual violence awareness, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed new legislation to better protect sexual assault survivors. The bill — which will mandate the storage of rape evidence kits in the state’s Division of Consolidated Labor Services for a minimum of two years — comes after a state audit last year which found nearly 3,000 untested kits in the custody of state law enforcement agencies. According to the new law, if a survivor later reports an assault, the kit will be released to law enforcement. These new measures are commendable: failures from local law enforcement agencies to handle sexual assault cases should not be detrimental to survivors.
The audit found that a significant number of the untested kits were clustered in Peninsula-area law enforcement agencies such as those in Hampton and in Newport News. Officials from those agencies responded to the audit by pointing out that kits are not tested when the victim chooses to remain anonymous and not to pursue prosecution. This legislation will allow survivors to report an assault later and have their tested kits ready for review by law enforcement.
The fact that the decision to test kits has, up until now, been made at the local level leaves too much discretion in the hands of local law enforcement. Given that police have opted not to test kits simply when the suspect has admitted to having intercourse with the survivor — not necessarily to having raped the survivor — the need for statewide standards is obvious.
The legislation will also promote greater transparency in law enforcement procedures, as it establishes a process for survivors to request updates on and results of the rape kit tests.
McAuliffe signed two additional pieces of legislation last Thursday. The first one will allow a minor to consent to an evidence recovery exam despite parental or guardian objections. The second will support trauma-informed training for campus law enforcement in collaboration with state agencies. The former piece of legislation will ensure that minors who are victims of sexual assault will be able to have better access to resources they need following an assault. The latter will better equip campus law enforcement with the tools they need to provide treatment and support for survivors.
The justice system, as well as survivors themselves, can only stand to benefit from access to more evidence in these cases. This legislation makes that access possible.
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