Lofgren Announces $1.4 Million in Federal Funding for the San Jose Police Department to Help Deliver Justice for Sexual Assault Survivors

SAN JOSE, CA – Today, U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-19) announced that the U.S. Department of Justice will provide the San Jose Police Department with $1,425,000 to analyze 655 untested Sexual Assault Kits from 1986-2018.

This grant is part of a $48 million national allocation that Congress included in the Fiscal Year 2021 government funding legislation to reduce Sexual Assault Kit backlogs. Rep. Lofgren voted in favor of the package in December 2020.

"Sexual assault survivors deserve meaningful access to justice," said Rep. Lofgren. "This grant will help the San Jose Police Department process its backlog of untested Sexual Assault Kits and help prevent a backlog from ever forming again."

In Congress, Rep. Lofgren has been a leader in protecting the rights of sexual assault victims, including by shepherding the passage of the Survivors' Bill of Rights Act in 2016. That legislation ensures survivors have access to an evidence collection kit and know the result of a forensic examination in federal criminal cases. This August, Rep. Lofgren joined bipartisan colleagues in reintroducing legislationto also provide those rights in state cases.

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