SACRAMENTO — Out state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Bill 1228, the Genetic Privacy for Sexual Assault Victims Act. SB 1228 is sponsored by San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, the Prosecutors Alliance of California, and sexual assault survivors.

SB 1228 protects sexual assault survivors and other victims by prohibiting the retention of DNA profiles collected from victims by local law enforcement agencies — including rape kits for sexual assault survivors. It also prohibits victims’ DNA from being used for any purpose other than identifying the perpetrator of the crime. Thus, a victim’s DNA could not be used in the future against the victim.

These protections help ensure the privacy of sexual assault survivors and promote public safety by encouraging survivors to report sexual violence. If a sexual assault survivor believes their rape kit DNA can be used against them in the future, they will have one more reason not to come forward and undergo an invasive rape kit examination.