BOISE - With a bill to speed up the process of rape kit testing on its way to the Idaho House of Representatives for a hearing, advocates are speaking out about the importance of victims feeling like their voices are being heard.
On Wednesday night, Boise police announced a reported sexual assault was recanted. But activists say the reasons why people take back allegations may not be so cut and dry.
"People instantly ask, 'What did the victim do?'" Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence Social Change Director Jennifer Landhuis, said.
A new bill headed through the Statehouse aims to help victims be more confident in seeking justice. Almost immediately after testimony was given Thursday afternoon, the House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee unanimously approved the new rape kit testing legislation.
Rep. Melissa Wintrow (D- Boise) drafted the bill, HB 528.
"I can tell you it's not uncommon for any victim of this kind of a crime to be reluctant to come forward," she told KTVB.
Seeing as the crime is extremely violating and traumatizing. Advocates say only 36 percent of sexual assault or rape victims actually come forward to law enforcement.
"That number is extremely low and they don't come forward for a lot of reasons," Landhuis said. "The system can be extremely re-traumatizing to a victim."
She says oftentimes victims won't report for reasons surrounding fear - fear of what people might say, fear that others will find out what happened, and fear of the person who harmed them.
Some victims may even give law enforcement their story, but then take it back.
"It's viewed as recanting or changing their story, and in actuality there's some other piece that's playing into it like coercion and threat and fear of perpetrator," Landhuis told KTVB.
Those are oftentimes viewed as false reports, but it's important to note the difference between false reports and unfounded reports, which are claims of sexual assault that law enforcement just can't prove with the evidence they have.
"But it doesn't mean that it didn't happen," Landhuis added.
Forensics experts say that about 1,300 sexual assault victims in Idaho chose to have evidence collected in the past year.
"We are already sending a victim through the trauma of having evidence collected off their bodies and we're doing it for a reason - so we can hold somebody accountable for a crime," Wintrow said.
The representative is a strong advocate for violence against women and introduced a bill that she says will improve efficiency and transparency in the rape kit testing process. It would put a reasonable timeline in place for processing DNA evidence, as well as a system for law enforcement to track the kits.
"I think this sends the message loud and clear: The State of Idaho values victims' voices. We will test kits and we will hold perpetrators accountable," Wintrow added.
According to the FBI, only eight percent of reports are false, which is no more than any other crime. Advocates are hoping people will shift their focus away from victim-blaming and recanted allegations to the reasons why assault and rape are happening every two minutes in our country.