In the U.S., about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men experience sexual violence. Sexual Assault Evidence Kits (SAEKs) help investigators collect important evidence, like DNA, that can identify attackers, support the victim’s story, and help in court. Testing these kits quickly is important to make sure the evidence is useful.
Unfortunately, many SAEKs across the country were not sent to labs for testing or sat untested for months due to limited resources. Groups like the Joyful Heart Foundation and the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault pushed for changes to make sure more kits are tested.
In 2014, a White House report brought national attention to the issue. Since then, more than 35 states, including Maryland, have looked at their untested kits and worked to improve how SAEKs are collected, stored, and tracked.
In 2015, Maryland passed a law (Senate Bill 498) requiring police departments to count their untested kits and report the findings. That report showed Maryland didn’t have a testing “backlog” at labs. Instead, most kits hadn’t been tested because police decided not to send them in — around 3,700 kits as of January 2016.
In 2017, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office
published a report on the issue. One major recommendation was to form a statewide committee to create clear standards for how kits should be handled.
About the Committee
The Sexual Assault Victims Resources Act of 2017 (SB734) created the Maryland Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Policy and Funding Committee. The committee is led by the Attorney General and works to:
- Create best practices for SAEK testing, storage, and funding
- Improve communication between agencies
- Address the shortage of trained nurses to perform exams
- Ensure victims are kept informed
In April 2018, the committee published early recommendations to improve kit testing and support survivors.
During the 2018 legislative session, the committee supported
HB 1124, which added work to create a system to track kits statewide. The committee also helped with rules to support
HB 255, which requires better victim notification and kit storage.
The committee’s first official report on its progress was due to the Governor and the General Assembly on January 1, 2019.