Combating Image-Based Abuse (IBA): The Legal Landscape

Ilse has 25 years invested in victim advocacy and is a nationally recognized expert on the rape kit backlog. She leads Joyful Heart’s End The Backlog campaign, which is at the forefront of identifying untested rape kits across the country, appealing for laws and policies to improve criminal justice responses to sexual violence; and working with jurisdictions to assist them to develop and implement survivor-centered reforms. Ilse also manages the Foundation’s Image-Based Abuse Initiative, which raises awareness of the problem, changes laws and policies at the state and federal level, and pushes for rights and resources for survivors. Previously, Ilse spent 16 years at the National Center for Victims of Crime, where she created the DNA Resource Center and led the center’s efforts to reform policies and practices related to testing rape kits, stalking, and victims’ rights. She credits her mother with instilling a duty in her to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Marnie Shiels is currently a consultant on gender-based violence policy. Prior to that she was employed as an attorney in the Office on Violence Against Women of the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001-2025 where she worked on responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the Federal government workplace, forensic medical exam protocols, sexual assault in corrections, enforcement of protection orders, and the intersection of domestic violence and firearms, among other things.

In 2012, she received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for her work on the Prison Rape Elimination Act Working Group. In 2005, she received The Attorney General’s Award for Outstanding Contribution by a New Employee for her work on the National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations. Previously, Ms. Shiels was employed as a legal analyst at the National Center for Victims of Crime, tracking federal and state statutes and cases relating to crime victims and writing articles on legal issues related to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking.