The “Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights” just went into its final round in the legislative process before becoming a law. The California Assembly passed the bill 77-0 this week.
Introduced by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, in February, the bill would give survivors of sexual assault more rights in getting services and legal help after an attack.
AB1312 would provide victims of sexual assault more resources and help after they report abuse. Things like rape kits, therapy and emergency contraceptive can be hard to get access to after trauma, according to Ed Smith, a Sacramento attorney. This law would make it a requirement.
Dylan Saake, director of Labor Relations and Compliance at California State University, Chico, said in an interview he believes this new law would change the way people look at sexual assault, not only on his campus but around the community.
“The federal version doesn’t have a massive impact on California, but it makes people aware of what their rights are. I think it’s a huge benefit,” said Saake, who is also the Title IX coordinator at Chico State.
It’s true a lot of the provisions of AB1312 are already policy in California. The “Sexual Assault Victims’ DNA Bill of Rights,” for example, includes things like investigation rights, rape-kit obligation and other resources to help victims in their recovery and prosecution process. However, there are loopholes that allow some of these regulations to be overlooked, or cut short. This law would also support California in its accountability when it comes to sexual assault policy.
According to the US Department of Justice, in a national survey from 2012, the highest percentages of unreported crimes were theft and sexual assault at a 65 percent unreported rate. The reported reasons for not taking an assault to the police included fear and a lack of police trust. AB1312 would make it easier and more reliable, policy wise, for victims to go to police or services for help.
AB1312 was approved unanimously by the California Senate earlier this month, just before U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, announced her intent to review Title IX, calling it a “failed system.” Title IX, implemented in 1972, gives schools guidelines about how to deal with sexual assault on campus, as well as banning discrimination in activities when it comes to sex and gender.
Although Title IX and the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights are not directly related, they both deal with sexual assault and discrimination. Passing one or revising the other can affect not only people around Chico and the university, but around the rest of the country.
According to the Rape Crisis and Intervention Center, located in Chico, sexual assault is, “any act committed against a person’s will by force, coercion, or trickery that is of a sexual nature.”
Statistics on its website show:
• A rape occurs every minute and a half in the United States
• One-in-three women will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime, and
• One-in-five boys will be sexually assaulted by the age of 18.
Of these people, 85 percent are abused by someone they know.
Statistics like there are the reason Saake believes that awareness is a huge benefit of the law. He said that once AB1312 is in place, it will open up conversations about sexual assault that not many people talk about.
The Rape Crisis and Prevention Center has a 24 hour hotline, (530)342-7273.
Kendall George can be reached at chicoreport@gmail.com or @kendallmgeorge on Twitter.
