Survivors of sexual assault in the military can now get help on-the-go, through the DoD Safe Helpline application for iPhone and Android. The free app lets survivors create personalized self-care plans that can be accessed anytime.

“The DoD Safe Helpline app helps military survivors of sexual assault care for themselves on their terms and on-the-go,” said Jennifer Marsh, RAINN’s vice president for victim services. “You can track your moods and feelings, create a personal self-care plan, learn breathing and relaxation exercises, and find long-term support. And it’s entirely confidential — you are the only one who will have access to your personal recovery information. It is also accessible anytime, anywhere — you don’t need to be connected to the web to use it.”

The app’s other key features include customizable imagery and relaxation techniques; resources for Active Duty, Guard, Reserve and transitioning Service members; and detailed information about sexual assault effects, prevention and recovery.  Created by RAINN for the Department of Defense, the app also connects users directly to Safe Helpline’s telephone and online helplines for immediate support from trained sexual assault recovery professionals. 

The DoD Safe Helpline app is available for download from the iTunes and Google Play app stores. To learn more about DoD Safe Helpline, get help, or find resources for transitioning Service members, visit www.safehelpline.org. 

Katie's Law Signed By President Obama

This month President Obama signed into law the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012, which encourages states to collect DNA from people arrested for a felony. Currently, only 25 states collect DNA from felony arrestees.

The new law is named after Katie Sepich of Carlsbad, Calif., who was brutally raped and murdered at the age of 22 while attending New Mexico State University. Leading the effort to pass the bill was Jayann Sepich, Katie's mother, who began pushing for the collection of DNA in 2003 when the family learned that DNA was not collected from people arrested for felonies in New Mexico. 

"Arrestee DNA is the greatest hope for families," Jayann Sepich said. "It's a tool that we have that we need to use. This whole thing began to get Katie's murder solved initially, but in our research, we found it was so much better than that. It's about saving so many lives so that other families don't have to go through what we went through."

This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Maryland v. King, which will decide the constitutionality of  state laws that mandate collecting DNA from arrestees. RAINN has joined DNA Saves, an organization founded by Sepich, in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold such laws.

News Stories Remind Survivors
It's Never Too Late to Get Help
Horrific stories of gang rape across the globe and in the U.S. dominated the news in January.  High-profile news stories about sexual violence can be difficult for survivors to hear. “I was gang-raped at age 13 and now I am 41, and I still sometimes have flashbacks, especially when such graphic recounts of sexual violence are in the news, as they have been lately,” said Amy, a member of RAINN’s Speakers Bureau.  RAINN’s Online Hotline offers a safe place for survivors of these crimes to anonymously chat online about what happened without saying the words out loud. It's never too late to get help: online.rainn.org

"The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, or RAINN, a U.S. nonprofit organization, says only 46% of U.S. rape cases get reported to the police." — The Wall Street Journal

"Victims are denied justice while the perpetrators remain free to rape again… This is a law-and-order measure requiring no ideological fight over additional financing." —NY Times editorial endorsing the SAFER Act

"My first reaction was, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. We’re now prosecuting rape based on 140-year-old laws that long ago stopped making sense?’”  — RAINN’s Scott Berkowitz on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360

Senate Takes Up Bipartisan
Violence Against Women Act

 “The first legislation I plan to move in the new Congress is the Violence Against Women Act,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) vowed this month. The landmark VAWA, which has helped reduce sexual and domestic violence by more than half, expired last year.

Sens. Crapo and Leahy

“Last year, the Senate passed my bipartisan bill, but House leaders refused to agree to protect some of the most vulnerable victims of domestic violence and rape,” Leahy told Georgetown University law students, according to MSNBC. The House passed a version of VAWA last year that stripped out some of the Senate bill’s protections for LGBT and Native American victims.

Leahy and co-sponsor Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) made one significant change to VAWA this year: they added the SAFER Act, which will help eliminate the backlog of untested DNA evidence from unsolved rape cases.

The SAFER Act, sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) passed the Senate just after Christmas. Days later, the House passed an amended version of SAFER (sponsored by Reps. Ted Poe [R-TX] and Carolyn Maloney [D-NY]). But the vote came too late to reconcile its bill with the Senate before the 112th Congress adjourned.

Because of Congressional rules, the bill had to be reintroduced, and the process started all over, when the new Congress was sworn in this month. The sponsors last week re-introduced SAFER, which has the support of Chairman Leahy and Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

How you can get involved:

1. Call your senators and ask them to co-sponsor S. 47 (the Violence Against Women Act) and S. 80 (the SAFER Act.
2. Ask your representative to co-sponsor H.R. 11 (the Violence Against Women Act) and H.R. 354  (the SAFER Act).