Washington, D.C. - RAINN, along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Rep. Ann Wagner (MO-02), and CBS Television Studios, hosted a viewing and panel discussion of the new and critically-acclaimed limited series, Unbelievable on Capitol Hill.

Photo Credit for all photos: Kris Connor/CBS ©2019

CBS Television Studios. All Rights Reserved.

The panel discussion was moderated by RAINN’s vice president of public policy, Camille Cooper, and included:

• Actress Kaitlyn Dever, star of Unbelievable
• Susannah Grant, Executive Producer & Showrunner of Unbelievable. Grant was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2001 for Erin Brockovich
• Sarah Timberman, Executive Producer of Unbelievable
• Nancy Oglesby & Mike Milnor from Justice 3D, a leading organization educating on issues related to investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases.

The panel discussion focused on the importance of passing the Debbie Smith Act to provide funding to end the rape kit backlog. Another focal point of the conversation was training law enforcement officers in trauma-informed sexual assault investigations.

Heard on the Hill:

“The Debbie Smith Act will expire in less than a week, and House Democrats have not made any real progress on moving this legislation forward. There’s no reason this critical funding should lapse. They must bring this legislation to a vote and stop using sexual assault victims as a bargaining chip.” - Senator John Cornyn (R-TX)

“There is nothing you can be doing that I think is more important than supporting the reauthorization of the Debbie Smith Act.” - Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12)

“The thing that is really important is to be there for survivors and to believe survivors and that’s the message of Unbelievable. It truly is unbelievable. It’s horrifying for me to think that not only was this survivor not believed, but she was pushed so far as to recant her truth.” - Congresswoman and survivor, Ann Kuster (D-NH-02)

“It’s really opened my eyes to a lot of things. We should educate ourselves and have compassion and care… People react to trauma very differently and you can’t react to survivors in one big group, you have to respond to them individually.” - Kaitlyn Dever, star of Unbelievable

“The Debbie Smith Act does tremendous crime prevention...the idea that it would be left to languish feels inconceivable to me.” - Susannah Grant, Executive Producer & Showrunner of Unbelievable

“There are as many reactions to trauma as there are human beings on earth.” - Sarah Timberman, Executive Producer of Unbelievable

“I think it should be mandatory in every state that part of basic law enforcement training includes trauma.” - Mike Milnor, Justice 3D

“There has to be an engagement that builds trust with the victim so they can disclose in their own way.” - Nancy Oglesby, Justice 3D