Sexual assault is a serious form of interpersonal violence that results in significant negative impacts to survivors' health, well-being, and sense of personal safety. Survivors may report the assault to police to pursue redress for this harm through the criminal legal system. However, police typically take few steps to investigate sexual assaults and routinely do not submit sexual assault evidence kits (SAKs) collected during post-assault medical forensic exams for forensic DNA analysis. Large stockpiles of previously unsubmitted SAKs have been discovered across the United States, which has prompted some police agencies to begin submitting these kits for testing and reopening sexual assault cases for prosecution. In a process referred to as victim notification, police may contact survivors years after they reported the assault to inform them that their SAK has now been tested and ask if they want to participate in the re-investigation of their case. Many survivors choose to re-engage with the criminal legal system following victim notifications; however, survivors' decision-making around this choice remains understudied.In this study, I explored why survivors whose SAKs had been part of the backlog of untested kits in Detroit, Michigan, chose to re-engage with police following a victim notification. I conducted a qualitative secondary analysis of data collected via semi-structured interviews with 32 sexual assault survivors who received a SAK victim notification that their cases were being reopened. Participants were all women and most identified as Black or African American (88%). All survivors in this sample chose to participate in the reinvestigation and prosecution of their cases. Data were analyzed using Miles et al.'s (2020) qualitative analytic framework to answer three focal research questions: 1) what were survivors' motivations for re-engaging; 2) what were survivors' concerns about re-engaging; and 3) how did the reactions of other people, such as family and friends, influence survivors' decision-making regarding reengagement?Survivors described three key motivations for re-engaging with the investigation and prosecution of their cases: protection of others and prevention of future assaults; a desire for justice for themselves through acknowledgement of the harm done to them and incarceration of the assailant; and a desire for closure. Participants' concerns about re-engaging included fears for their safety, concerns about the emotional toll of participating, distrust of the police, and guilt about prosecuting the assailant years after the assault. Analyses also revealed an emergent finding regarding the influence of police's supportive responses during the notification on participants' decision-making. Whereas participants did not appear to be directly influenced in their decision-making by the reactions of friends and family members, they did appear to be impacted by the supportiveness of police, especially if that support helped to address some of their concerns about participating in the case.Findings from this study expand upon prior research on survivors' experiences with SAK victim notifications and their decision-making regarding re-engagement with the criminal legal system. Despite substantial concerns regarding their safety, emotional wellbeing, and the criminal legal system itself, survivors were motivated to re-engage to prevent others from experiencing similar harm, as well as to seek justice and closure for themselves. This study has implications for future research on justice, accountability, and healing for survivors of sexual violence. Findings from the current study can also inform practice and policy related to SAK victim notifications in Detroit and other jurisdictions across the country. Results may be useful for informing the development of victim notification protocols and specialized training for investigators, as well as for policymakers and community activists seeking to enact systems change in how communities respond to sexual violence.
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