Amanda Nguyen was just 22 years old when she was raped in Massachusetts. It was only then that she realized that sexual assault rights don’t exist in America. Nguyen described the humiliation and lack of support she encountered on her petition on the Change.org site:
“I struggled to have my basic rights recognized by the criminal justice system. Through my fight, I learned that survivor rights are not equal across the US. Over forty states have backlogs in untested kits. Some states do not cover the full medical expenses of a kit, leaving survivors to pay their own way towards justice.”
That tragedy opened her eyes to the truth behind sexual assault rights. It’s the reason that this young woman has chosen to do something incredible: she has built a nonprofit civil rights organization called Rise that is focused on creating a Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights that could become federal law.
Congress responded to the bill and went out of its way to vote on it in a timely manner. A Sexual Assault Rights bill, co-authored by Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), has passed in the Senate. The bill was then approved by the House Judiciary Community, and went to the House Floor for a vote.
.@HouseJudiciary passed the Survivors' Bill of Rights, which I intro'd w/@RepZoeLofgren → https://t.co/Um3rxU6XUh pic.twitter.com/3a0vihaTZr
— Mimi Walters (@RepMimiWalters) July 7, 2016
In a Medium article written in April, Senator Shaheen said:
“The system failed Amanda, and so many other survivors across the country, but Congress can begin to reform it. The goal of my legislation is to change the culture around how sexual assault survivors are treated as they pursue justice.”
If it passes, America will finally have a federal law that outlines a sexual assault survivor’s rights.
There are four important rights in the bill. The first is the right to have rape kits preserved, at no cost to the survivor, for the length of the statute of limitations of the crime. Because statutes are different across the country, individual states will be expected to be in charge of explaining preservation efforts to survivors.
Another element focuses on a survivor’s right to be informed, in writing, 60 days prior to the destruction of their sexual assault evidence kit. This has been a problem across the country for survivors, most of whom are never contacted when their kits are destroyed. Women and men who wish to press charges after the kits were destroyed, this can be devastating.
The right to be informed of any results from the sexual assault kit, as well as the right to request that their sexual assault kits remain preserved is also new.
The right to have a free sexual assault kit performed is paramount to the bill.
Most people don’t realize that sexual assault survivors often have to pay for their own kits, which can easily cost up to $1,000 dollars or more. This is money survivors of a crime should never have to pay for, and often causes undue stress.
For now, the bill waits for a vote in the House of Representatives. As we all wait with bated breath, we can only wonder if it’s possible to have common sense sexual assault rights available for everyone.
