Sexual assault victim-survivors in Minnesota will now have better access to information about their case, thanks to a new sexual assault kit tracking program. Drew Evans with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension says the system uses a barcode system to update information about a kit’s status allowing victim-survivors to “see where that kit is at any given time through the system. That way if the kits not traveling appropriately or if they have questions, they can make contact or they can make contact with the advocacy groups that often represent victims survivors so that we can inquire about it to ensure that the case is being handled appropriately.” Evans says the goal is to increase transparency and in the past there have been instances where “cases that were sitting on shelves that weren’t examined or there were transfers that could have been inadvertent that could have been you know malfeasance as part of the investigative process and so this is designed to build on that accountability.”