‘I cannot do this alone’: Sexual assault survivors invited to town hall about CBI’s backlog of DNA rape kits
“It’s very frustrating. It’s very dehumanizing,” said Miranda Spencer, one of the sex assault survivors who is stuck in limbo. “I never understood the true meaning of feeling like a number until I went through this.”
Spencer first told her story publicly before lawmakers during a joint meeting of the Judiciary Committees in January. Her testimony spotlighted the issue and forced the public to pay attention.
Elizabeth Newman, the public policy director with CCASA, said the impact of Spencer sharing her story shows just how powerful it is when survivors speak.
“We really want to center the voices of the people who are in that backlog, who have been affected by this delay, who want to see a change. And really move along to a place where we take sexual violence seriously, and we honor the trauma and the resilience of survivors by responding appropriately and sensitively and in a timely manner,” Newman said.