Fairly recently, Safe Church Ministry collaborated with the Office of Social Justice to draft an action alert for the Survivors’ Access to Supportive Care Act (SASCA). Sexual assault survivors are being overlooked because the extensive exam they receive after being sexually assaulted is never processed. A lot of this issue comes from lack of resources to process these exams. The silence is both hurting the survivors and allowing the perpetrators to run free. For more information on this issue view this action alert: https://p2a.co/AjEZ8cD.
This issue came as a surprise to me. I had no idea that when someone went through an extensive exam after being sexually assaulted their exam would probably not be processed. I assumed that every rape-test kit would be immediately processed, and the perpetrator would be arrested if they were identified. Researching this topic hit a nerve because of the injustices so many survivors of sexual assault were and are experiencing due to a lack of resources. Luckily, this bills aims to remedy this issue. Read more about this bill here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s3203/text.
Collaborating with OSJ was interesting because it allows both OSJ and Safe Church Ministry to pool our perspectives and resources in order to try to help remedy a social injustice that coincides with both of our ministries. I find that combining our resources allows us to work on providing justice to survivors on a more wide scale basis than what OSJ or Safe Church Ministry can do on their own. Collaborating with OSJ also allowed me to learn more about some of what they do to remedy injustices.
You may be asking what can I do to help solve this injustice. We urge you to help protect the vulnerable and do your part in solving this issue by contacting your members of congress. This link (https://p2a.co/AjEZ8cD) will allow you to send an email to your congress members. Sometimes I find that solving such a large injustice seems like a daunting task, but this is one small way you can contribute to achieving justice for sexual assault survivors. How many survivors will go unheard before we see real change? What will it take to see comprehensive reform?