Dr. Rachel Lovell shatters misperceptions about sexual assault and assists government in its efforts to solve cases. 

For survivors of rape and sexual assault, reporting to the police and working with investigators and prosecutors means reliving one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. When officials don’t believe them, survivors often feel like they’ve been violated once again. 

Dr. Rachel Lovell, Assistant Professor of Criminology and Director of the Criminology Research Center at the Levin College at Cleveland State University, has read through decades-old local police reports on sexual assault and has found that offenders exploit blind spots and biases in the criminal justice system. 

“In the reports, when you read them, even some of the perpetrators are saying, ‘Go ahead and tell the police. No one will believe you,’” Lovell says. In some of those same reports, she adds, it appears that police either don’t believe survivors, or if they do, they don’t prioritize their cases. 

Cases often fail to move forward because of understaffed police sex crimes units and victim hesitation and disengagement, Lovell says. For decades, many law enforcement officials haven’t submitted sexual assault kits (SAKs) for testing, resulting in a national backlog. Victims may need to sit for four to six hours while medical professionals examine them to prepare a kit. 

Lovell’s work with law enforcement, prosecutors and victim advocates in Northeast Ohio began during the state’s effort to test all backlogged SAKs linked to assaults that fall within Ohio’s 20-year statute of limitations. 

Since Cuyahoga County officials partnered with Lovell in 2015, they have been able to notify survivors respectfully and in line with current research standards, says Mary Weston, supervisor of the county prosecutor’s office’s cold case/GOLD Unit. Lovell also worked with the prosecutor’s office to develop a written policy for notifying survivors about reopened investigations and prosecutions. 

“She helped us develop what kind of statistics we should be keeping an eye on, what numbers we should track,” Weston says. “It helped us in the long run when it came to reporting our statistics for our grants, and as time has gone on, it’s allowed us to really be able to assist other jurisdictions who are trying to develop task forces.” 

Lovell, who joined Cleveland State in 2021 and previously worked at Case Western Reserve University, has served as the principal investigator on research projects with Cuyahoga County prosecutors and Akron police. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) has issued more than $17 million in funding to Cuyahoga County prosecutors and Akron. 

For the past eight years, Lovell has led research for the Cuyahoga County SAK Task Force, which includes multiple government agencies and the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.  

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