Evaluating a Victim Notification Protocol for Untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs): How Do Survivors Define Justice Years After An Assault?, Detroit, Michigan, 2019-2020 (ICPSR 38921)

Version Date: Nov 13, 2023

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Principal Investigator(s):
Rebecca Campbell, Michigan State University

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38921.v1

Version V1

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Summary

After a sexual assault, victims are advised to have a medical forensic exam, including the collection of a sexual assault kit (SAK) to preserve forensic evidence of the crime. The SAK samples can be analyzed for DNA, which can help prosecute assailants and prevent future assaults. However, police do not routinely submit SAKs for forensic DNA testing, and large stockpiles of untested kits have been documented in over 41 jurisdictions. To address this growing national problem, many cities are now testing all of their older rape kits. Re-contacting survivors to inform them that their SAK had not been tested and now will be/has been tested is referred to as 'victim notification.' This study explored how victim notifications can support survivors' well-being and promote justice. Researchers conducted qualitative interviews with 32 sexual assault survivors in Detroit, MI. All participants had experienced a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notification, in which law enforcement personnel contacted survivors to inform them that their SAKs had been tested and the testing yielded a suspect DNA match in the FBI's national criminal database CODIS. All survivors agreed to re-engage with the criminal legal system and participate in the investigation and prosecution of these cases. Researchers also completed qualitative interviews with 12 community-based advocates about their experiences providing advocacy and support to these survivors throughout their notification and re-engagement experiences. They used semi-structured interviews to document:

  1. Survivors' CODIS Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notification experiences;
  2. Survivors' decision-making processes regarding re-engagement with the criminal legal system;
  3. Survivors' re-engagement experiences with the criminal legal system and the extent to which their court experiences provided procedural, distributive, retributive, and/or restorative justice;
  4. Survivors' advocacy experiences from victim notification through criminal legal system re-engagement.

Citation

Campbell, Rebecca. Evaluating a Victim Notification Protocol for Untested Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs): How Do Survivors Define Justice Years After An Assault?, Detroit, Michigan, 2019-2020. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-11-13. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR38921.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office on Violence Against Women (2018-SI-AX-0001)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2019-01-01 -- 2020-12-31

Date of Collection

2019-01-01 -- 2020-12-31

Data Collection Notes

  1. This release is a documentation only Fast Track Release and files are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped for release. Users should consult the investigator is further information is needed.

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Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore how victim notifications can support survivors' well-being and promote justice.

Study Design

Researchers used a qualitative transcendental phenomenological research design, which seeks to identify common features of a shared lived experience, which in this study was the experience of a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notification. Semi-structured interviews were used to document: 1) survivors' CODIS Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notification experiences (Goal 1); 2) survivors' decision-making processes regarding re-engagement with the criminal legal system (Goal 2); 3) survivors' re-engagement experiences with the criminal legal system and the extent to which their court experiences provided procedural, distributive, retributive, and/or restorative justice (Goal 3); and 4) survivors' advocacy experiences from victim notification through criminal legal system re-engagement (Goal 4).

Researchers conducted qualitative interviews with 32 sexual assault survivors in Detroit, MI. All participants had experienced a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notification. Law enforcement personnel employed by the county prosecutor's office contacted survivors to inform them that their sexual assault kits (SAKs) had been finally been tested and the testing yielded a suspect DNA match in the FBI's national criminal database CODIS. All survivors agreed to re-engage with the criminal legal system and participate in the investigation and prosecution of these cases. Researchers also completed qualitative interviews with 12 community-based advocates about their experiences providing advocacy and support to these survivors throughout their notification and re-engagement experiences.

Sample

Sexual assault survivors were eligible to participate in this study if:

  1. They were currently aged 18 or older;
  2. They had been sexually assaulted in Detroit, MI, had a SAK collected and reported to police, but police did not initially submit their kit for DNA testing;
  3. Their previously-unsubmitted SAK was discovered in this city's backlog and was finally submitted for testing, and based on the testing results, they had been selected for a Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notification;
  4. Their legal case had been re-opened and prosecuted;
  5. Their case had been adjudicated and closed (by guilty plea bargain or trial).

Over 20 months of recruitment, 112 survivors met the study's eligibility criteria.

The community-based sexual assault victim service agency that participated in these CODIS Hit Re-Engagement Victim Notifications could not share the names and contact information of eligible survivors with the research team, per their agency's confidentiality policies and the policies of their funders (VAWA/VOCA). Therefore, researchers developed a recruitment protocol so that agency advocates could contact eligible survivors and ask whether they would be interested in participating in a research interview. The protocol specified:

  1. How advocates could reach out to survivors, based on their preferred modality during their court case;
  2. How often advocates would attempt to contact a survivor, which was typically up to four times over the course of two weeks, followed by a two week break, then two final contacts;
  3. What advocates should say in voice mail messages (if survivors had given permission for messages);
  4. How advocates should explain the purpose of the project, the expected time commitment, and compensation;
  5. How to schedule the interviews.

The research team and advocates conducted mock recruitment calls to practice the scripts, and had weekly check-in meetings with the agency to ensure fidelity to the protocol.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

Sexual assault survivors in Detroit, Michigan.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Response Rates

Of the 112 eligible survivors, the advocates were unable to reach 68 survivors (61% of eligible survivors) and were able to connect with 44 survivors (39% of eligible survivors).

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Original Release Date

2023-11-13

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Notes