SAN ANTONIO – When someone reports they’ve been raped, a nurse does an exam and collects evidence for the crime labs, called a rape kit.
For decades, the bravery of reporting the assault has been dampened by a national backlog of kits needing to be tested.
It’s been made clear, party lines don’t matter when it comes to rape kit testing.
Two weeks ago, the US House passed a version of the Debbie Smith Act of 2023, which would continue funding to end the backlog of untested DNA evidence in sexual assaults.
KSAT anchor/reporter Courtney Friedman got to talk one-on-one with Sen. John Cornyn, who has championed this legislation for years.
“At one point there were as many as 400,000 untested rape kits. I met some of the women who had been assaulted whose rape kit had never been tested for various reasons, either cost or because the identity of the assailant was actually known,” Cornyn said.
Cornyn went back almost 20 years, when he began the task of creating consistent funding to state and local crime labs, to process kits that have been sitting on shelves, leaving survivors devastated.
“Years ago I met Debbie Smith for whom this legislation is named, and she has been championing the cause of testing rape kits,” he said.
The original Debbie Smith Act was signed into law in 2004 and has been refunded several times since.
Since the first law passed, more than 860,000 DNA cases have been processed.
However, as of 2022 more than 25,000 rape kits remained untested across 30 states, including Texas.
The total number nationwide remains unknown, because there is a need for better audits and data collection, which this legislation would also improve.
Because of this testing, serial rapists are being caught.
Cornyn told a story about a kit that went untested for so long it passed the statute of limitations. But the recent DNA test was able to be used for a different case.
“They are serial offenders, so in this case they were able to use the tested rape kit 20 years later as evidence in the punishment phase of the same assailant who had sexually assaulted another woman,” Cornyn said.
The evidence is also allowing innocent people to be exonerated.
“DNA evidence is very powerful and cannot only be used to identify an assailant, but also to rule them out,” Cornyn said.
The 2023 legislation would continue that funding.
One version of the bill is moving quickly, already clearing the House.
“I’m glad we’re able to move non-controversial bills. This is not a partisan issue, of course, so I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get it through the Senate and to the president’s desk soon,” Cornyn said.
Another form of the bill passed the Senate on Nov. 2 and goes to the House next for consideration.
KSAT tried for weeks to find a local sexual assault survivor to interview who could offer that personal perspective of why this funding is so important. People were hesitant, and in the end decided against it. It’s very understandable, yet it also shows the power of stigma that still surrounds sexual assault.
Agencies like the Rape Crisis Center, along with advocates like Cornyn, want survivors to know their voice matters, and that there is effort happening to process their evidence.
“The situation is much better and the testing is widely available to people who want it,” Cornyn said.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted and needs help, the Rape Crisis Center is ready to assist. Just call (210) 349-7273 or go to their website.
You can also call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673.