Police and prosecutors recommend that sexual assault survivors have a medical forensic exam and the collection of a sexual assault kit (SAK; also known as a “rape kit”) to preserve biological evidence (e.g., semen, blood, saliva, hair) if they want to pursue criminal prosecution. However, law enforcement personnel do not routinely submit SAKs to crime laboratories for forensic DNA testing. Instead, they often place untested kits in storage and close many of these reported cases after minimal investigation. Current estimates indicate there are 300,000 to 400,000 untested SAKs in law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. In response to this national problem, the U.S. Department of Justice created the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Project to support kit testing, re-investigation, and prosecution of these “cold case” sexual assaults. The SAKI program also provides training and technical assistance to police, prosecutors, and victim advocates on how to use a multidisciplinary, trauma-informed, and victim-centered approach in cold case prosecutions. This study examined the extent to which one SAKI-funded site implemented these three guiding principles in their interactions with victims while prosecuting cold case sexual assaults. We conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with N = 32 sexual assault survivors from the first cohort of cold cases that were re-opened and prosecuted in this jurisdiction. Nearly all cases ( n = 31) ended in a guilty plea or trial conviction, and the vast majority of survivors indicated that they had positive experiences with the SAKI team. Survivors noted that they were listened to, believed, supported, and well-prepared by a multidisciplinary team of practitioners who were personally invested in their cases and in their well-being. Implications for creating multidisciplinary, trauma-informed, and victim-centered approaches with other communities are discussed.

中文翻译：

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“这次不一样：”创建多学科、创伤知情、以受害者为中心的性侵犯悬案调查和起诉方法


警方和检察官建议性侵犯幸存者进行法医检查，并收集性侵犯工具包（SAK；也称为“强奸工具包”），以保存生物证据（例如精液、血液、唾液、头发），如果他们想要提起刑事诉讼。然而，执法人员通常不会将 SAK 提交给犯罪实验室进行法医 DNA 检测。相反，他们经常将未经测试的试剂盒储存起来，并在进行最少调查后关闭许多报告的病例。目前估计表明，全美执法机构中有 300,000 至 400,000 个未经测试的 SAK。针对这一全国性问题，美国司法部创建了性侵犯工具包倡议（SAKI）项目，以支持对这些“悬案”性侵犯的工具包测试、重新调查和起诉。 SAKI 计划还为警察、检察官和受害者权益倡导者提供培训和技术援助，帮助他们了解如何在悬案起诉中使用多学科、创伤知情和以受害者为中心的方法。这项研究考察了 SAKI 资助的一个网站在起诉悬而未决的性侵犯案件时，在与受害者的互动中实施这三项指导原则的程度。我们对来自该司法管辖区重新审理和起诉的第一批悬案中的 N = 32 名性侵犯幸存者进行了半结构化定性访谈。几乎所有案件（n = 31）都以认罪或审判定罪告终，绝大多数幸存者表示他们在 SAKI 团队中获得了积极的经历。 幸存者指出，他们得到了多学科从业者团队的倾听、相信、支持和充分准备，他们亲自投入到他们的案件和福祉中。讨论了与其他社区建立多学科、创伤知情和以受害者为中心的方法的影响。