Overview

Behind every sexual assault case is a person whose life has been irrevocably altered. The first responders, law enforcement investigators, forensic nurse examiners, laboratory analysts, victim advocates, and attorneys who support and interact with victims in different ways, can work together to positively impact a victim’s post assault experience and improve healing and recovery.

The Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Act, is focused on the accurate, timely, and effective collection and processing of DNA evidence in sexual assault investigations. In support of these efforts, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) released a set of best practices in response to the community’s needs.

Through the report, National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach report, NIJ’s expert working group created 35 recommendations providing a guide to victim-centered approaches for responding to sexual assault cases and better supporting victims throughout the criminal justice process.

The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE), in collaboration with NIJ, has developed the National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits Mobile App to create a mobile-friendly version of the National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach report. The National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits Mobile App allows users to view the report on a mobile device, such as a smart phone, for easy recall of the report’s content.

Additionally, the app allows the user to bookmark specific pages of the guide for easier future recall, as well as share specific pages of the guide with native (email, messaging, AirDrop, etc.) and app-specific (Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, etc.) methods.

Utilizing the device’s Location Services, the app also provides the user the RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) website for a summary of State Laws associated with sexual assault specific to the state the user is currently located in thereby. The RAINN website paired with the location services of the app provides concise information about the sexual assault laws specific to the location of the user, which is critical supplemental information to the material already provided by the National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach report.

In addition to the content of the report, the app has links to the Center for Forensic Nursing’s Multidisciplinary Glossary on Sexual Violence, the PDF version of the National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach report, and to the FTCOE website.

We want to hear your thoughts on the app! Please provide any feedback you have in the User Feedback Questionnaire here.