Under current North Carolina law, the identity of sexual assault victims is included in public court documents. Law enforcement and District Attorney’s offices are not held liable for providing this information to anyone outside of their institutions. 

In a study of 100 sexual assault cases where the victims reported the crime, 58% of them dropped the case with the primary reason being over privacy concerns.

Just this year, a sexual assault victim’s contact information, as well as details about her assault were provided to a journalist. The journalist then used that information to contact the victim, her family, and therapist in an effort to get the “story”. He then continued to harass the victim by sharing a photo that was part of the assault taken by the perpetrator.

Laws in Louisiana and Nevada grant confidentiality to victims of sexual assault. We’d like to see those same laws applied in North Carolina. It would also hold law enforcement and attorneys liable should they release this confidential information outside of their institutions.

Help us make reporting sexual assault in North Carolina safer and prevent them from being further traumatized. Let North Carolina legislators know that you care about this issue.

Thank you!