The story about Officer X is a difficult one to process. It contains triggering topics and ongoing trauma. And there is value in learning about this as an individual situation to understand the complicated nature of such cases. But there is also a broader reason PublicSource and City Cast Pittsburgh took this story on — and that is to educate and inform people about an obscure law that provides broader protections to victims of sexual violence than through the more well-known PFA order.

We journalists hadn't heard of this other law; the police officer familiar with sexual violence cases through her job wasn't aware; and not even some lawyers or court staff knew of it. We hope the story will raise awareness about this mechanism for those who need it for themselves or the people they serve.

—Halle Stockton, editor-in-chief