Services for sexual assault victims in Lancaster County will soon be improved with the results of a revolutionary study being done to find flaws in the system.

The study is one of the very first of its kind, and organizers say it's an in-depth collaboration between Voices of Hope, the Family Violence Council, as well as law enforcement, all working together to provide a safer and more comfortable environment for victims of sexual assault.

"Some victims, even though they're traumatized, they still want the perpetrator held accountable, but they're worried about what that process looks like," said Bob Moyer, executive director of the Family Violence Council.

That's why the organizations involved are looking for ways to ease the process for the victims. Marla Sohl is the sexual assault victims coordinator for Voices of Hope, and is involved in the study.

"We are really doing an investigation of our services; of anybody who comes in to immediate contact with a sexual assault survivor or contact with the criminal justice system, to try and find out what we're doing well, what's working to uphold the safety of the sexual assault survivor, what's also helping to hold offenders accountable," said Sohl.

The Lancaster County Attorney's Office is participating, and Chief Deputy Joe Kelly says from a law enforcement point of view, it's important to make victims feel comfortable not only for their benefit, but also so they can also be more helpful in the case against their perpetrator.

"The more safe and secure that a victim feels, the more likely it is that they are going to be willing to discuss the crime up front in detail early on, and so it helps us establish a good rapport with the victim," Kelly said.

A rapport that could help put away more bad guys.

"These are people whose behavior is intentional, criminal, felonious, and it would be nice to catch more of them and put them in jail, but in order to do that we need to create better trust with the victims," said Moyer.

The organizers of the study say they have several groups meetings left before they write up their findings in a report. From there, Kelly estimates it could take a year to implement the changes they decide on.