TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A bill to provide more transparency during the investigation of sexual assaults has now passed both chambers in the Statehouse, with the recent approval by the General Assembly.
This bipartisan legislation would require the Attorney General’s Office to create a system to track rape kits and give victims access to the status of their case, if this bill is signed into law.
“These survivors being able to track their kit provides not just empowerment but critical transparency during the entire investigative process,” said Republican Assemblywoman Michele Matsikoudis, one of the bill’s sponsors. She says 40 other states already have these laws in place.
Matsikoudis says she was upset by media reports that there are thousands of cases in backlog all over New Jersey.
“So you can’t even track what place this is in, whether it’s still in the hospital, whether it’s in the police department, whether anybody even looked at it. Or even whether it was lost, God forbid,” Matsikoudis said.
She says victims are already violated once, and then their privacy is destroyed during invasive evidence collection. She says the least the government can do is ensure their cases are handled in a transparent manner.
“You step forward. You’re so brave. And then — just dead silence. That has to be just horrifying.”
Democratic Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds Jackson, another co-sponsor, says this will empower victims, ensure their voices are heard and rights are protected.
The bill has now passed both the Senate and Assembly and will soon head to the governor’s desk for a signature or veto.