Start Marissa Hargitay on a hearing on Sexual Assault and treatment. Sexualke on those facing violence and what can be done to the untested backlog of rape kits and resources for rape victims. This is two hours. Morning, wele first roundtable for them Bipartisan Task force to end Sexual Violence. I would like to welcome you all to our Exceptional Panel of witnesses and the members of the task force who have joined us here this morning. Thank you all for being here. This promises to be an insightful conversation on a number of issues affecting people across our country. We announced the formation of the task force to end Sexual Violence. Also, assault awareness month. Andre educating ourselves our peers on the challenges our nation faces and the ways we, as representatives, can help combat Sexual Violence in its many forms. My colleagues have their own reasons for being here. For me, i want to be involved because i saw this problem firsthand as in my 25 years as a prosecuting attorney. A tooll assault kit is used to collect evidence from a survivor after an assault. These examinations are completed by a medical professional, ideally a specifically trained Sexual Assault nurse examiner, n. E. Nurse. S. A. Our nation faces a backlog, hundreds of thousands of kits deep. This is due to factors such as variance in testing procedures, outdated equipment, lack of training, budget restrictions, and generally, a large case road caseload. Victims are still waiting for justice. That is why this issue is a priority for the task force. We understand without trained nurses who can collect the necessary evidence to go after perpetrators we have a special pat panel of witnesses. Miss ased to welcome on Mariska Hargitay, she is law and order, s. V. U. As i told her this morning, our got a my first daughter law degree from usc. Advocate she is an for victims of a Sexual Assault. As an actress, and advocate, ms. Hartigay is an inspiration and force of change. Was awakened to the weight of shame, fear, darkness and isolation victims suffer. She decided to be part of a multiple Education Awareness Campaign around these issues for many organizations. She is made Public Service announcements to end the rape backlog, bring justice to survivors, prevent child abuse, and engage men to prevent violence and abuse. She has filmed many Public Service announcements. She is a voice to other organizations in hopes of raising awareness and much needed Financial Support for their programs. She is committed to ending violence and abuse. She spends as much time offscreen dealing with these issues as she did in her role as detective. We are pleased you are here to speak with us and look forward to hearing from you. I would like to welcome our next witness, victim advocate, from waco, texas. She is a loving mother, wife, author, speaker, radio host and Sexual Assault survivor. Response she is a spokesperson for the Dallas Police program. The empowering ministry for victims of sexual abuse support and survivor initiatives. Ms. Masters, we look forward to your testimony. Our next witness, mr. Nathan james for Congressional Research service. A variety of issues, including Law Enforcement, corrections, and forensic sciences. His recent work is focused on appropriations for the department of justice, the use , promotingessment policing reforms, and analysis of reported increases of Violent Crime in cities across the United States and Law Enforcement militarization. We are glad to have your expert knowledge and we look forward to working with you. I am pleased to announce the next two witnesses, my good friend, mike omalley, and our chief prosecutor, thank you both for traveling all the way from cleveland. In november of mike omalley was 2016, elected to prosecuting a county prosecuting attorney to cuyahoga valley. Havinghe knows it well, been the chief. His office prosecutes nearly 12,000 defendants and handles nearly 7,000 juvenile complaints annually. Prior to taking office he served as First Assistant safety director and a Cleveland City councilman he began his career as a probation officer while attending law school at night. Rick bell, his super sidekick has been an assistant prosecutor for 27 years. Hes currently the special investigations divisions chief overseeing the following task forces, cold case homicides crimes against children and and sexualafficking assault kit task force. Mr. Bell has supervised every unit of the Criminal Division including the major crime units and Community Based protection units. Were glad both of you could be here today and look forward to your testimony. Last but not least, dr. Jennifer markowitz from the International Association of forensic nurses. Shes a forensic nursing consultant who specializes in issues relating to Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and strangulation, including forensic examination and professional education and curriculum development. She provides expert testimony, case consultation and technical assistance, develops training material, resources and publications and is a forensic nurse examiner since dr. 1995. Markowitz regularly served as faculty consultant for the jag, u. S. Army the marine corps and , coast guard. In she was named the 2004, distinguished fellow the International Association of forensic nurses. In 2012 she served as their president. Thank you very much for being here today, we look forward to your testimony. Ill now hand it over to my fellow cochairs for their Opening Statement. Ms. Kuster. Ms. Kuster thank you, mr. Joyce. I want to thank everyone for being with us. Thank you for bring with us at our Bipartisan Task force to end Sexual Violence. I am delighted to have everyone with us. Thank you foray, your leadership on this issue and are advocacy and for speaking out area i am delighted to have Michael Omalley and richard bell with us. We have a lot to learn. And hopefully practices to share. It Jennifer Markowitz and nathan james, thank you for the work you do. David said that his reason for being here my reason for being here is that over four undergraduatean assaulted. I was a few years after that i was working as staff on capitol hill. Jackie and i were working in assaultedoffices next to each. To be sexuallyw harassed in the workplace, we did not have a name for it back then. A few months after that, i was attacked walking home on capitol hill. I luckily was able to get away. The reason i bring this up is that, not about my story, but because it is so common. I did not tell anyone any of these stories for 40 years. I did not tell my husband, my son, my own family. The reason i now understand is because i thought it was my fault. I thought it was in the wrong place, i had done the wrong thing. It did not make any sense to me in my 20s why it would be my fault. It has taken me 40 years to understand it certainly was not and i really appreciate living now. If our generation had been more butous and spoken up now i am dedicating my life and im delighted to be here with my colleagues in a bipartisan way. Together,men coming our staff has done an extraordinary job, young men and young women. The time is now. Us this morning, we have a moment and can really change the world. Our intention is to bring together members of congress and legislation in initiatives to a dress Sexual Violence in areas we intend to tackle, k12 education, college safety, military, online harassment, and Data Collection and Law Enforcement training. We are starting today with the rape kit backlog. This is really at the core. It is a demonstration that as a society, we are not caring about victims, survivors of Sexual Assault, men and women. After the trauma of Sexual Assault and an intensely personal Sexual Assault forensic exam, no survivor should experience the pain and distress of having their Sexual Assault kit backlogs. There is no other crime we would do this, not process the evidence. The failure to test these kits allow rapists to remain on the streets and put more people at risk. We know this true from evidence of communities. We will hear from mariska and others about what we have learned about serial predators. Im encouraged by previous bipartisan efforts, the Sexual AssaultKit Initiative, to retest backlogs, engage with survivors, and bring Sexual Assault predators to justice. We will can tell you continue to build on the progress we have made reducing the Sexual Assault kit backlog. Funding is important, and we will be prepared to fund that with you. I am eager to him explore the topics of access to Sexual Assault nurse examiners, known as s. A. N. E. Nurses. They provide compassionate their short and longterm recovery of survivors. In communities across this country and World Community such as my district in New Hampshire, many survivors do not have access to s. A. N. E. Nurses. I would like to explore ways to make that available. We want to ensure everyone has access to a s. A. N. E. Nurse. I think my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and i look forward to this discussion. I yield back. Thank you, representative kuster. Mr. Meehan i want to thank my colleagues for being part of this Bipartisan Task force. And identifying the gamut of important issues we want to collectively address. I cannot think of anything more important for us to kick it off then with this important issue that has this distinguished panel before us today. I think you each for your presence here today. You for your dedication to this issue through your. Rofessional work as a former prosecutor, we have had the ability or opportunity to engage with the victims on a Broad Spectrum of issues. In a broad sense, there is thanng more dehumanizing someone who has had to go through the crime of being sexually assaulted, in and of its health. Is a different type of victims than any other we deal with because i think as representative kuster and others have discussed, no one considers themselves fair, robbed on sight of the street, somehow participant. Yet we so often see victims beginning to question what their role in relationship is to this. How we respond is every bit as as thent to the victim mechanics of this process that we are going through. I think we also have seen progress in this area. Certainly from my time as a prosecutor about a decade ago, to where we are today. We also know there is a long way to go. And yourargitay organization, the joyful heart, has looked at the issue of rape kit backlogs, something you have experienced via your professional work. Those who have open themselves to you, what we find is that once somebody has a place to go, these stories are overwhelming in the form of not just the emotion, but the search for a place to help give me closure, but not even closure. I think the issue is, give me back control of this thing that was stolen from me. I thank you for allowing us to go on his journey together. I will note and i hope everyone here will Pay Attention to a film that was put together by ms. Hartigay and was released in evidence of what is identified already as remarkable response. I wish you luck as you continue to use that as the voice of some victims who have experienced this, and where we need to go to continue. , i want torkowitz thank you for your work in this space. One of the important places we made progress is with the Sexual Assault nurse examiners. They goes to that first experience, post trauma. Is engaged,ebody and the importance of us, not only being able to collect the dence, but the humiliated he may leading process of what can be a five to six hour procedure. We close with the idea that, having had the procedure, now you have been doubly victimized. What happens with that evidence . After going through all of that, we leave it sitting on a shelf. We have become part of the process. Thank michaelt to for your devon your office. On the part ofst Law Enforcement to do this right. Most offices want to do what is right for the victims. Issues ofs are just resources, sometimes it is not an appreciation for what you can. Ell us you can tell us how we can do this better. I want to thank this remarkably experienced panel that will bring broad perspective. I think my colleagues were putting this issue front and center. It cannot be more timely. Ms. Hartigay, i hope you will allow us to continue to press forward, not just from this hearing, but collectively. Thank you, i yield back. Speier. Sentative after this particularly traumatic week for soothing to mes personally that we have a Bipartisan Group of members here focused on a very important issue. I want to thank my colleagues for being here, being part of this very important effort. I want to especially thank masters, a victims survivor who is here. It is hard to have to recall that experience, over and over again. Panel. Our starstudded not forigay, if it were you, Joyful Foundation would not be here. We are deeply grateful for your longterm commitment to this issue. Room, andund this there are mostly women here. We know the statistics that one in four women are probably going to be sexually assaulted in their lives. If we look at your faces, we know that some of you have. I wish we would have as many men in this room as we have women in this room, because this issue will not be fully addressed until we have a complete s ofrstanding by both sexe what really goes on. Over 30 years ago, i was then a county supervisor and one of the deputy das came in to meet with me and said, we are having a terrible time getting cases. Ions on rape i said, tell me what the problem is. One problem was, they did not have a comprehensive and angation done, actual a valuation of the victim when they came into the emergency room. There was an issue around the chain of custody of the evidence. Effort to tryy and address the issue. The conviction rate went way up. When there is a commitment by people to do the right thing, we can do the right thing. There is no clearer demonstration of our countries lack of regard for Sexual Assault survivors, then ignoring the backlog of Sexual Assault cases. Ever let the dna in a murder case sit on a shelf. And yet, it is commonplace to let the dna of Sexual Assault victims sit on the shelf. The backlog of kits, the bureaucratic discrimination against survivors, and the lack of sufficient Sexual Assault sponsored teams and Sexual Assault nurse examiners is an injustice committed against women because they are women. Refuse to let this injustice stand. I yield back. Thank you. I now recognize ms. Hartigay for her Opening Statement. Good morning, thank you for your heartfelt comments and passions for this work. I am Mariska Hargitay and im speaking to you today as the founder of the foundation. I want to thank you for making this the topic of your first briefing. By elevating this issue youre sending a powerful message to survivals of Sexual Assault, that their cases matter. They matter. Youre demonstrating to lawenforcement and prosecutors that we must work to do everything we can still hold offenders accountable and keep our communities safe. You have my full statement on record, so i would like to use my time today on how far we untestedaddressing the t backlog. Rape ki in 2014, congress created the Sexual AssaultKit Initiative to provide jurisdictions with critically needed resources to test accolade kits, great multidisciplinary teams to investigate and prosecute related cases, and address the need for victim notification and reengagement with the criminal Justice System. Impact cannot be overstated. We have heard from Law Enforcement and prosecutors, that the requirement to create a team to undertake systemic reform, bringing communities together like never before. These focused resources are helping lawenforcement get the street,nals off easing personnel, facilities facilitating community engagement, and keeping neighborhoods safer. We ever the same feedback from victim advocates. It is helping agencies already stretched thin to implement reforms and catalyze positive changes. I first testified in congress backlog inape kit may, 2010. Today t