The state of Pennsylvania has received a $2.5 million federal grant to set up a sexual assault kit tracking system.

Sexual assault is a crime that is often under reported, and, when brought forward, can be difficult to bring to trial in court.

“It can be really difficult to make sure you have the right evidence and the right folks,” Gabriella Romeo said, public policy director of the Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect. “And sometimes it comes down to a story. And whether we choose to believe a survivor,”

A key piece of evidence for these cases can come from medical forensic examinations, also called sexual assault test kits.

“If someone takes the courage to go to the hospital and have a forensic exam performed, that itself is a lot,” Romeo said.

In the past, Pennsylvania’s criminal justice system had a severe backlog of processing these evidence kits. Now, the backlog has been resolved—and a new law requires a tracking system be put in place.

“It explains for each step where the kit is in the process. Is it at the hospital? Did law enforcement pick it up? Is it is it out for testing? And it'll give a real time explanation for survivors so they can truly understand what that means,” Romeo said. “The goal is to let these survivors have accountability and transparency over this process."

Lawmakers and the Pennsylvania Coalition on Crime and Delinquency announced today that the state got a $2.5 million federal grant to help build that required system.

They expect the system to be operating within the year. The new law requiring the system was passed last session with bipartisan support.

“If I can look on my phone and see where the Starlink satellite is in the sky at a given moment, I should be able to, as a victim of rape, see where my rape kit is, when it's going to be processed— and get timely updates about a really important piece of medical and criminal investigation information,” Sen. Katie Muth (D-Chester/Montgomery/Delaware) said.