Jennifer Degner, a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) from Texas, has played a crucial role in initiating the Global SAK (Sexual Assault Kit) Donation Project. Jennifer first met Vanessa Lynch, Director of DNAforAfrica, during an online COVID-era Zoom meeting. The two quickly bonded over the challenges they faced in their respective environments — including the critical shortage of SAKs in Africa.

Following that meeting, Jennifer revealed that she had been throwing away hundreds of perfectly good, unused items from their ‘Texas 100’ SAKs — all destined for landfill. “How could we get these to Africa, where the need is so great?” she asked Vanessa.

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Within weeks, Vanessa had rallied a team together, and thus began the Global SAK Donation Project. Spanning three continents, the team devised a plan to stockpile the sealed, unused SAK items, transport them to Africa, and distribute them to rape crisis centres. There, specialised forensic nurses and doctors would oversee the proper collection of samples, while the relevant FSL would analyse and monitor the quality of the evidence in their DNA labs. This process is being documented by Prof. Lisa Smith, a criminologist at the University of Leicester — the birthplace of forensic DNA profiling — as part of a research study examining the impact of high-quality DNA evidence on the justice system and survivor confidence.

Says Jennifer Degner, SANE, based in Texas:

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“My vision is to see the Global SAK Donation Project become successful, so that many more can have access to quality evidence collection and forensic nursing care. It is my hope that this programme, with increased donations, will grow to include more areas in Africa. I look forward to being able to advocate for survivors and forensic nurses on a larger scale throughout the United States and Africa, and to share my knowledge and experience with more organisations.”

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Now on its fourth shipment, another consignment of SAK items successfully arrived in Lusaka, Zambia (may 2025), where Innocent Makasa, Acting State Forensic Analyst and Technical Director of Quality Assurance at the National Forensic Science and Biometrics Department, is leading this part of the project.

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This ongoing partnership demonstrates the strength of global collaboration and its potential to significantly improve access to quality evidence collection and forensic nursing care for survivors of sexual assault.

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You can follow the Global SAK Donation Project HERE

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