A virtually decade-long combat for higher entry to look after rape victims is now regulation. On Tuesday, President Biden signed the Violence In opposition to Ladies Act, which incorporates provisions of a bipartisan invoice to broaden entry to look after victims of sexual assault.
Washington Senator Patty Murray drafted the laws after listening to the story of constituent Leah Griffin, of Seattle, who mentioned she was unable to obtain a rape examination at her neighborhood hospital in 2014.
"I went to the closest emergency room. I advised them what occurred," Griffin mentioned. "They shrugged their shoulders and mentioned, 'We do not do rape kits right here.' Hours later, I used to be capable of get a rape equipment at a distinct hospital throughout the town. However the delay in care triggered a catastrophic collection of failures in my case, and I by no means acquired justice."
Nevertheless, now she's acquired justice of a distinct form — by way of new laws aimed toward creating nationwide requirements of look after victims of sexual assault. The Violence In opposition to Ladies Act additionally contains provisions to higher examine the issue and create a federal grant program to incentivize hospitals to coach specialised nurses, generally known as sexual assault nurse examiners.
"My objective is that each hospital on this nation, city, rural, anyplace, could have somebody who's educated as a 'SANE' nurse to have the ability to assist a sufferer of sexual assault, have the ability to course of the proof that they want," Murray advised CBS Information.
A Authorities Accountability Workplace report in 2016, requested by Murray, found a extreme lack of expertise surrounding the problem, in addition to a scarcity of sources.
"I used to be shocked at what number of hospitals and well being care suppliers didn't have somebody educated to have the ability to do that work," Murray mentioned. "Since I have been engaged on this, I've had so many individuals come as much as me on the road and say, 'I simply had this occur to me.'"
Murray's co-sponsor, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, says in rural elements of her state, intercourse assault victims should take a airplane trip to obtain the required care.
The newly handed laws goals to establish the place gaps within the system stay, with the last word objective of creating certain what occurred to Griffin does not occur to anybody else.
"We do not even know the way large this drawback is," Griffin mentioned.
She hopes the invoice will enable the federal government to higher perceive the place the wants stay and goal grant funding to the communities that want it most.
"To lastly see it throughout the end line is the accomplishment of a lifetime," she mentioned.