The Effects of Legislation Mandating DNA Testing in Sexual Assault Cases: Results in Texas.

Many cities and states have taken steps to identify and process all untested sexual assault kits (SAKs). Texas was one of the first states to enact such legislation-SB 1636-which created a time line for a statewide audit and mandatory testing of SAKs. A mixed-methods approach was used to assess the effects of SB 1636 at both state and local levels. The study did not detect any effect of SB 1636 on reporting, arrests, or convictions. The legislation did have a significant effect on criminal justice workloads, particularly crime laboratories.

Increasing the Accessibility of Sexual Assault Forensic Examinations: Evaluation of Texas Law SB 1191.

INTRODUCTION: Texas SB 1191 was enacted in 2013 with the intent of increasing access to medical forensic examinations for sexual assault victims by requiring every hospital with an emergency department to be prepared to provide a medical forensic examination if requested by a sexual assault victim. To realize that goal, the law also required basic forensic training for medical professionals before conducting a medical forensic examination as well as a requirement that hospitals develop a "plan to train personnel on sexual assault forensic evidence collection." METHODS: Interviews were conducted in 18 healthcare facilities (five with sexual assault nurse examiner [SANE] programs and 13 without SANE programs) in Dallas, Lubbock, and Austin to determine their awareness and compliance with SB 1191. RESULTS: The data suggest that the law had a little effect on actual practice, and sexual assault survivors still sought a SANE program for a medical forensic examination. DISCUSSION: Although SB 1191 is an important state level effort to make forensic examinations more readily available, it did not fully account for the challenges faced by smaller hospitals that do not see enough sexual assault victims to justify training staff to SANE standards and did not adequately address the training required by medical professionals to feel prepared to conduct a medical forensic examination.

Mounting and sustaining the Violence Against Women Research and Evaluation Program at the National Institute of Justice.

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) mandated a number of research efforts that stimulated a dramatic enhancement to violence against women research supported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). This article documents and provides a perspective on key components in the history, development, and accomplishments of the Violence Against Women (VAW) research and evaluation program of NIJ. The article is comprised of four key parts: (a) progress of the research program and how leadership, planning, and collaboration were the catalysts in instituting the program; (b) significant research issues confronted and managed, including measurement, evaluation rigor, and gender symmetry; (c) critical conflicts in the field, such as calls for greater attention to sexual assault and violence against minorities as well as resistance to research on perpetrators and male victims; and (d) possible research directions for the future and a concluding comment.

NIJ's Program of Domestic Violence Research: collaborative efforts to build knowledge guided by safety for victims and accountability of perpetrators.

The primary focus of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Violence Against Women (VAW) research and evaluation program has been domestic violence, also called intimate partner violence (IPV). The program has supported over 200 studies that have centered on definition and measurement, victims and perpetrators, children, contexts and consequences of domestic violence, and civil and criminal justice interventions and processes responding to these crimes. Funding approaches in the program have employed grants for research and evaluation, demonstration programs with partner agencies, joint funding of research through interagency agreements, and collaborations with agencies and organizations sharing common objectives. Results have influenced policy and practices, particularly results from those studies conducted by researcher-practitioner collaborations. NIJ's success in the development and progress of this program is attributed to the initial vision that included researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in an ongoing discourse about what is known and needs to be known. The terms domestic violence and IPV are used interchangeably throughout the article.

Practitioner perspectives on the National Institute of Justice's Violence Against Women Research and Evaluation Program.

Five practitioners who have worked with NIJ over recent years were asked to provide a critique of NIJ's VAW program based on their experience. Individuals from professions that the program seeks to assist or inform offered the following commentaries.