Friends, 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I want to take a moment before the month ends to talk about our efforts to improve the justice system here in our state so that there is help and healing at every step for every survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault.  

In North Carolina and across the nation, victims and survivors of sexual assault must navigate a series of obstacles in their journey through trauma, justice, and healing. No two victim-survivors share the same experience.

But this much is clear: The criminal justice system must do better for victims of sexual assault. While we work to seek justice and hold offenders accountable, we cannot cause additional harm to those who have already suffered so much.

Our office remains committed to getting justice for survivors of sexual assault by testing the backlog of sexual assault kits in local law enforcement custody and adding more Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) to hospitals across the state. 

This month, I was proud to announce a new program we are launching to train 50 North Carolina nurses to serve as SANE nurses, medical professionals who help victims of sexual assault and collect evidence in the immediate aftermath of an incident. 

SANE nurses provide compassionate and expert medical care to people who have suffered a heinous crime. They also collect evidence that is vital to law enforcement investigations. I’m pleased that our partnership with the Southern Regional Area Health Education Center helps bring us closer to having trained SANE nurses in every hospital in North Carolina.

And I also wanted to share an update on our work to test older, untested sexual assault kits in local law enforcement custody. In 2019, North Carolina had 16,237 untested kits–each one representing a person who suffered a traumatic crime and then willingly submitted to examination to deliver evidence to the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, these kits languished on the shelves of local law enforcement, sometimes for decades.

So we are attacking the backlog. Of the kits that can be tested, more than three-fourths have been tested (5,775) or are in the process of being tested (3,852). The state is making good progress on testing these kits, and we are solving old cases and locking up dangerous people, but we will not stop until we end the backlog.

Survivors of sexual assault deserve our best efforts to deliver them justice – full stop. Sexual assault will not end with one person or one initiative. It’s about all of us not only speaking up to say “No more,” but also putting in the work to prevent this violence before it happens — and make North Carolina safer for all. 

Thank you for standing with me, in this fight and in every fight. Our work to seek justice and accountability on behalf of North Carolinians is stronger because of you, and I look forward to our work still ahead of us. 

— Josh

P.S. If you or someone you know is a victim or survivor of sexual assault, click here for resources to help you better understand the options available to you and how the North Carolina criminal justice system is working to better serve you.