Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault/Victims Survivors (“DV/SA”)

Chaired by Commissioner Bernadette Eyler-Smith, the DV/SA Committee works to address the unique needs of the victims/survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking by collaborating with service providers, promoting, and administering education for law enforcement, prosecutors, and others, and advocating for the passage of legislation and court rules consistent with evidence-based best practices.

Committee Feature

The Final Report of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System studied the ways in which the Pennsylvania justice system processes rape and sexual assault cases and treats survivors throughout the legal process. The Committee’s research revealed that in Pennsylvania, as in other states, many survivors of sexual assault have low expectations that their cases will be treated with due diligence. Survivors also noted serious deficiencies in the investigation of sexual assault cases. Therefore, the Committee highlighted the need for significant changes to the procedures used during the investigation and prosecution of crimes of sexual assault, such as equipping survivors with information on the status of their case and the availability of special assistance programs.

In furtherance of this recommendation, the DV/SA Committee has long supported legislation that would establish a statewide rape kit tracking system in Pennsylvania. These systems, which have been implemented in 41 states across the U.S., allow individuals such as survivors, law enforcement agents, hospital and lab staff, and other designated system users to track and manage the path of sexual assault kits throughout the chain of custody. In September 2024, the Committee submitted letters in support of Senate Bill 920 (Sen. Langerholc, R-35), designed to establish a statewide system. The bill passed both chambers of the General Assembly unanimously and was signed into law by Governor Shapiro as Act 122 on October 29, 2024. Interbranch Commission staff are working with Committee members to support the implementation of this system.

The Committee’s current initiatives include the following:

• Supporting the “Uniform Parentage Act”, which would, in relevant part, empower sexual assault survivors to prevent their sexual assailants from establishing legal parentage of the child conceived because of the assault.
• Assisting PCCD in reviewing and scoring competitive applications under the Violence Against Women Act’s STOP (“Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors”) Formula Grant Program, which will provide $12 million over three years. The funding is designed to fund counties in their cross-system, collaborative response to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and dating violence.
• Continuing to research and increase public and professional awareness of the Continued Presence (“CP”) tool.
• Participating in quarterly meetings of the Statewide Human Trafficking Coordination Project Advisory Council, which is tasked with creating a reliable website on which materials, best practices, and trainings related to human trafficking are made available to the public, survivors, and allied professionals across the Commonwealth.