Natasha Alexenko, a passionate advocate for the elimination of the national backlog of rape kit testing, tragically passed away on October 31 in West Islip, New York, at the age of 51. Her fight for justice began after experiencing the compounded trauma of being sexually assaulted, only to later discover that the rape kit containing crucial forensic evidence had remained untested for a decade.

Her husband, Scott Sessa, confirmed that her death was due to complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis, and occurred in a hospital.

At the age of 20, Alexenko was a filmmaking student at the New York Institute of Technology when she was attacked in the early hours of August 6, 1993, as she entered her Manhattan apartment. Armed with a 9mm handgun, the assailant forced her into a stairwell, where he robbed, raped, and assaulted her. After threatening to kill her if she followed him, he fled the scene.

Despite her urge to shower, Alexenko went to a hospital for a forensic exam, where evidence such as hair, blood, fibers, and semen from the attack were collected and stored in a rape kit. In her memoir A Survivor’s Journey: From Victim to Advocate (2018), Alexenko recalled, “As I lay trembling on the cold examination table… I assumed my rape kit would be tested immediately. Why else would I endure such a painful, invasive, and embarrassing exam?”

However, the kit was not tested until 2003, just as the statute of limitations for prosecuting her case was nearing expiration. (New York State eventually abolished the statute for first-degree rape in 2006.) Alexenko’s experience was not unique; she learned that many victims had their cases stalled due to untested rape kits. By the late 1990s, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office estimated that over 17,000 rape kits were sitting untouched in a New York City police warehouse. The issue was widespread, with thousands of kits untested in crime labs across the country, often due to underfunded resources, overburdened systems, and, as some advocates argued, societal biases against victims of sexual assault.

“My rape kit was not just a number in a police department,” Alexenko said, speaking to the End the Backlog initiative, a project of the Joyful Heart Foundation, which works to end the backlog of untested rape kits.

In time, Alexenko’s attacker, Victor Rondon, a career criminal, was identified through DNA collected from her rape kit. In 2007, 14 years after the assault, Rondon’s name replaced the John Doe placeholder in her case file. He was arrested in Las Vegas for a parole violation and extradited to New York, where his DNA was matched to the evidence from Alexenko’s assault. In 2008, Rondon was convicted on multiple charges, including rape, sodomy, and sexual abuse, and sentenced to 44 to 107 years in prison.

Alexenko was born on February 28, 1973, in West Islip, Long Island, and grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario. Her father, Victor, was a substance abuse counselor who died of an overdose when she was 9 years old. She later moved back to St. Catharines after the assault, where she completed her studies at the New York Institute of Technology. Over the years, she worked in various roles, including as the director of the Long Island Maritime Museum.

In 2011, Alexenko left her job to found Natasha’s Justice Project, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about the rape kit backlog. She formed a partnership with the Joyful Heart Foundation, advocating for legislative change and testifying before Congress and state legislatures across the country. One of her key victories came in 2019, when California passed a law requiring rape kits to be tested within specific timeframes.

Nancy O’Malley, former District Attorney of Alameda County, California, praised Alexenko for her open and heartfelt advocacy: “She was very open and honest about her own experience, and it came from a place of vulnerability.”

In 2011, Alexenko’s story was featured in the HBO documentary Sex Crimes Unit, which highlighted the issue of untested rape kits in New York City. She also spoke alongside Vice President Joe Biden in 2015 when he and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. announced $79 million in federal funding for local and state agencies to test thousands of rape kits. The Justice Department later allocated nearly $300 million more through the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.

In Virginia, Alexenko’s work with state Senator Richard Black, a conservative Republican, led to the passing of a law in 2016 requiring the testing of rape kits within 60 days. Though initially cautious due to Black’s controversial past on women’s rights, Alexenko found common ground and succeeded in advancing legislation in a red state.

Alexenko is survived by her husband, mother, and sister. She leaves behind a lasting legacy in the fight to hold sexual predators accountable and to ensure that victims’ voices are heard.