New county program will give sexual assault survivors agency they had been denied
Allegheny County’s new web portal allowing survivors of sexual assault to track their cases through the justice system provides an essential service for victims, while demonstrating sensitivity to the particular traumas associated with these heinous crimes.
While work on this project has been ongoing for five years, it is fitting that it should come to completion under County Executive Sara Innamorato, who has made justice for survivors of sexual harassment, abuse and assault a signature priority. It will be essential, however, that her administration formulate a plan for county funding to ensure the portal outlives its federal funding.
The new portal, part of the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, offers survivors a way to navigate the criminal justice system on their terms. Victims or their loved ones can request case updates via mail, phone or email, and will receive information within 10 days, using the help of a case manager who provides individualized assistance and ensures communication occurs in a compassionate way.
Since 2019, Pennsylvania state law has ensured victims receive updates when investigators reach certain milestones, such as when a DNA match is found for a test kit, but this portal allows survivors to be in control of data access. Until now, victims or their loved ones had to request updates by submitting contact information to the correct law enforcement agency (which is often difficult to figure out), and then they would be ambushed with information whenever it became available — regardless of whether they were ready to receive it.
Roughly 100 rapes were reported to Pittsburgh police in 2022, the latest year data is available. Another 200 fell under the wide umbrella of “sex offenses.” Some years, these two categories are nearly as common as DUIs.
Nonetheless, sexual assaults are some of the most widely underreported crimes — often because the criminal justice system, in building a case, inevitably forces victims to recount and relive deeply traumatic events over and over again. And even then, securing convictions and jail time for offenders is challenging. According to RAINN, an anti-sexual violence organization, out of 1,000 sexual assault perpetrators, only 25 will ever be incarcerated. It’s imperative to minimize harm for survivors when possible.
Two victim advocacy organizations will also offer case management through the portal: Pittsburgh Action Against Rape and the Center for Victims, two agencies with 50 years of experience each. Case managers are vital components of care, as sexual assault perpetrators are usually known to their victims, either as family members, partners, friends, or coworkers — so fleeing victims often face homelessness or unemployment.
Allegheny County first received the $500,000 in federal SAKI funds in 2019 to take a countywide inventory of untested sexual assault kits, create a database to track these crimes, and to increase transparency through the portal. Another $1 million in federal funds awarded last year will keep these improvements going.
But that money won’t last forever. Ms. Innamorato needs to ensure the county is ready to fund the portal, so it doesn’t go dark when federal funds run out.