September 2003
Members of ChoicePoint's Women's Alliance raised $234,800 through the National Rape Evidence Project to pay for DNA testing of backlogged rape evidence collection kits. If national averages hold true, at least 15 of these kits will have immediate "cold hits," identifying perpetrators already listed in law enforcement databanks and bringing justice to victims and their families. As we learned when we tested 50 kits in Baltimore, many more criminals are likely to be identified over time.

September 2003
DNA Awareness Month

June 2003
ChoicePoint conducts employee fundraising campaign during June to raise funds to process untested rape kits. On June 17, ChoicePoint hosts the ChoicePoint Windward Challenge 5K Run/Walk, the proceeds of which are donated to the National Rape Evidence Project. The race raises $62,000, which equates to the testing of 124 rape kits (based on $500 DNA analysis cost per kit). more info

March 2003 – Bush administration calls for increased funding for rape kit testing
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2003/031102dnaremarks.htm

September 20, 2002 – Los Angeles City Council Member Jack Weiss announces plan for more DNA testing to identify and prosecute rapists.
http://lacity.org/council/cd5/newsarchive/ND6249.pdf

July 2002 – ChoicePoint and Porter-Novelli agree to serve as founding corporate sponsors of NREP
http://www.lifetimetv.com/community/olc/violence

June 2002 – Lifetime television launches programming campaign to encourage sexual abuse hotline use

April 2002 – The LA Times discloses that biological evidence in thousands of sexual-assault cases in Los Angeles County may have been lost or destroyed by law enforcement over the past six years.
http://www.law-forensic.com/cfr_destroying_evidence_3.htm

February 15, 2002 - Oprah Winfrey - Brian Ross of "20/20" and Howard Safir make an appearance on The Oprah Show to describe their initiative; thousands of individuals and organizations immediately seek ways to contribute money and launch local fund raising efforts.

January 2002 - ABC's "20/20" and City of Baltimore - A special rape kit testing effort launches in the city of Baltimore, achieving impressive results: release of a wrongly convicted person from prison; solving of a 12-year-old murder case; and identification of three additional rapists.
see the video here

September 10, 2001 – Debbie Smith Act in Congress - To make grants to train sexual assault nurse examiners, law enforcement personnel, and first responders in the handling of sexual assault cases, to establish minimum standards for forensic evidence collection kits, to carry out DNA analyses of samples from crime scenes, and for other purposes.
http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/releases/2002_05_29_billsummary.doc