Be the first to know

      Topics you care about, straight to your inbox

      Your email address

      Default

      Be the first to know

      Topics you care about, straight to your inbox

      Your email address

        Rape survivor advocate who helped with KIYC investigation dies at 51

        Natasha Alexenko is a voice for survivors of rape and sexual assault through her organization Natasha’s Justice Project.

        News 12 Staff

        Nov 9, 2024, 1:56 AM

        Updated 26 days ago

        Share:

        News 12 New Jersey is remembering a sexual assault survivors advocate who contributed to Kane In Your Corner’s “Victims of the System” investigation.
        News 12 has learned that Natasha Alexenko, a voice for survivors of rape and sexual assault through her organization Natasha’s Justice Project, died at the age of 51.
        Alexenko became an advocate after surviving rape while she was a college student and was walking back to her apartment. Her rape kit was not tested for 10 years. She says this experience motivated her to advocate for other survivors.
        "So many people came into my life through this process of coming forward as a survivor, and kind of helped lay the groundwork of how I can take my story and utilize it to assist others,” Alexenko previously told News 12. “And again, like it's just kind of this symbiotic relationship where I get to help others and they get to help me by bringing me joy and sharing their hopes and dreams, too."
        In a prime-time News 12 New Jersey investigative special, Kane In Your Corner exposed how thousands of rape kits went untested in the state, even though survivors wanted them tested.
        The investigation prompted state lawmakers to introduce a bill that would require all rape kits to be tested.