Justice for rape survivors

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Justice for rape survivors

Approximately 9,000 rape kits are sitting dormant in law enforcement offices all across California -- potentially never to be tested. Survivors of sexual assault endure a four- to six-hour process to collect the DNA of their attackers with no guarantee that the evidence will ever be tested or used to reach a conviction.

AB 41 is a bill that would require a reporting process from law enforcement offices, mandating that they track rape kits and give a reason for those that are left untested. The bill is a key step in ensuring that law enforcement is held accountable to testing these kits, while also giving the state a clearer idea of what resources are necessary to ensure that all kits are tested in the future. It passed through the Assembly and was put on hold in order to go over any potential financial concerns, but the Appropriations Committee can drive it forward.

Bills like AB 41 have been introduced in past sessions of the legislature, but each time they’ve been killed. AB 41 must be pushed into the Senate for a vote by September 1 or it will die again. Senator Lara -- chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee -- is a progressive champion and has consistently shown us that he does what’s right for California’s people. We can help push AB 41 toward victory by letting him and the rest of the Appropriations Committee know that the public fully supports this bill. We need to make our voices heard: justice for survivors of sexual assault is worth the financial cost.

Sign the petition demanding your legislator on the Appropriations Committee push AB 41 toward victory:

I support AB 41 and ask you to take the bill out of the suspense file so that it can be voted on by the Senate. The bill has received support from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as law enforcement offices across the state. I’m standing with them in saying that securing justice for survivors of sexual assault far outweighs the potential financial costs of this bill. Please commit to pushing AB 41 one step closer to passage.