Victim/Survivor Notifications on Utah Sexual Assault Kit Re-Traumatization & Engagement in the Criminal Legal System

This paper provides context for the creation, discovery, and aftermath of the multitude of unsubmitted sexual assault kits. It continues by describing the efforts of the Utah Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) group to address the issues created by the unsubmitted kits. This paper specifically examines the implementation and effects of victim notification procedures developed by the SAKI group in order to evaluate their effects of survivor re-traumatization and participation within the criminal legal system. This paper is intended to be accessible to all interested readers regardless of previous knowledge of the criminal legal system and thus includes a significant amount of contextual information as well as useful addenda.