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Meet the 24-Year-Old Who Could Dramatically Change U.S. Sexual Assault Law

''When she was 22 years old, Amanda Nguyen was raped. Within 24 hours of the assault, Nguyen did exactly what she was supposed to: She went to the hospital to have a rape kit examination. But while she took immediate action, there was no guarantee that the critical evidence would be preserved long enough to be of use. Massachusetts, where Nguyen was living at the time, only keeps rape kits on lab shelves for six months.

"What that means is that survivors—every six months—have to fight to hold on to their critical evidence from the trash," Nguyen, now 24 and the State Department liaison to the White House, explains. "This is truly broken ... Every six months, I'm reminded of this traumatic event, this assault." For herself and for others, she wanted better.

Nguyen started to take a closer look at the legislation that aims to protect victims of sexual violence. She found that laws that varied state-by-state. Many were buried in bigger bills and proved tough to track down...''

by MATTIE KAHN