Erin Helfert was a master’s student when she returned to Morocco to research gender-based violence and criminal justice. “I didn’t intend to become the subject of the very thing I was researching in Morocco,” she recalled. “But there I was.”
A new study supports what RAINN has been telling state and federal policymakers for decades: a more robust DNA database leads to lower crime rates.
RAINN’s policy department has joined a team of national experts selected by the Justice Department to support states’ work to address and end the backlog of untested and unanalyzed rape kits.
Wendy was in college when a stranger hid in her car and raped her, but her rape kit wasn't tested for twenty years. Two decades later, Wendy shares what it means to find justice and to live a full and happy life.
The SAFER Act supports efforts to audit, test, and reduce the backlog of DNA evidence in sexual assault cases and bring perpetrators to justice.
The Debbie Smith Act intends to eliminate the backlog of untested and unanalyzed DNA evidence by providing the resources to process evidence and add these samples to the national DNA database.