On Friday President Obama signed the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights; the most comprehensive sexual assault legislation to date. The new bill is a combination of existing laws from different states and will help make sure that rape survivors always know where their evidence is located, whether it has been tested, and the results. Previously, the legislation around rape and the handling of rape kits–the kit with materials and instructions for gathering evidence following a rape–has been unclear and repeatedly criticized.

Rape victims are sometimes even charged for their exam following a sexual assault, which is not supposed to happen. According to federal law, rape victims should not be billed for a forensic exam and necessary medical care. However, sometimes the medical guidelines go beyond what the law covers, and who pays for that part varies between different states. This will be resolved by the new law.

Thank you @glamourmag for reporting this historic day!https://t.co/vSsZpraYcF

— Amanda (@nguyen_amanda) October 7, 2016

.@POTUS just signed the sexual assault survivor bill of rights. Congrats @risenowus & all who work to end sexual assault every day! #ItsOnUs

— Valerie Jarrett (@vj44) October 7, 2016

The driving force behind the new law was 24-year-old Amanda Nguyen, who is a rape survivor herself and took action after her own rape kit was about to be destroyed. After being raped in 2013, she submitted a rape kit to the state of Massachusetts. According to the law she had 15 years to decide whether she wanted to pursue legal action, but the state threatened to destroy her evidence after only six months unless she filed a request for an extension. To ask this of a rape victim so that existing evidence is not destroyed sounds pretty bizarre.

“A global movement is happening & our most powerful tool is our voice.” Amanda Nguyen on Sexual Assault Survivor’s Bill of Rights #2030NOW

— FAWCO (@FAWCO) September 19, 2016

“The system essentially makes me live my life by date of rape,” Nguyen said to the Guardian. It was also impossible to get a straight answer when she tried to find out where her evidence was located. On top of it all, she had to physically return to Massachusetts every six months to make sure the kit wasn’t destroyed.

In a press release on the bill, Nguyen said:

We want to thank President Obama for signing the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights into law today. This historic piece of legislation codifies the federal rights of the 25 million rape survivors in America and serves as a model for Statehouses to adopt.

Here are some of the rights that victims will be guaranteed under the new law:

• The right to have a sexual assault evidence collection kit preserved for duration of the statute of limitations;
• The right to be notified in writing 60 days before the destruction of a sexual assault evidence collection kit;
• The right to request further preservation of a sexual assault evidence collection kit;
• The right to be informed of important results of a sexual assault forensic examination;
• A grant for attorneys general to provide survivors with written notice of what rights and policies they have in that state.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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The Senate voted unanimously Monday to approve legislation that will outline basic rights for sexual assault and rape survivors–the first federal bill to ever do so.

The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act was sponsored primarily by Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D) of New Hampshire with the help of Amanda Nguyen, the founder of Rise, a nonprofit that protects the rights of sexual assault survivors.

The bill passed the Senate today!! https://t.co/fYh4TUZfr3

— Amanda (@nguyen_amanda) May 24, 2016

According to Refinery29 the bill would provide the following four essential rights to sexual assault survivors:

1. The right to have a sexual assault evidence collection kit preserved for the entire relevant statute of limitations.
2. The right to be notified in writing 60 days prior to the destruction of a sexual assault evidence collection kit.
3. The right to request further preservation of a sexual assault evidence collection kit.
4. The right to be informed of important results of a sexual assault forensic examination.

Nguyen lobbied Senator Shaheen to introduce the bill after struggling to preserve her own rape kit for years due to a tangled web of bureaucracy.

The 24-year-old State Department liaison to the White House and astronaut-in-training was sexually assaulted two years ago in Cambridge and submitted a rape kit as evidence to the State of Massachusetts. According to The Guardian, “Massachusetts law gives Nguyen 15 years to decide whether to pursue legal action. But a pamphlet handed to her at the hospital said that unless she filed an ‘extension request,’ under state law, the state could destroy her rape kit in just six months.”

After scrambling to file an extension and find the location of her rape kit, Nguyen was able to prevent her rape kit from being destroyed. Unfortunately despite the 15 year statue of limitations, Nguyen is still required to return to Massachusetts every six months to repeat the process.

To see just how messed up our sexual assault laws are watch this fantastic “Funny or Die” clip.

Shaheen commented on the Senate victory in a statement saying,

It’s been 10 months now since Amanda Nguyen first walked into my office. The system failed Amanda and so many other survivors of sexual assault across the country. Today, the Senate has sent a message that it’s time to change the culture around how survivors are treated in our criminal justice system.

Currently there is not a single state where the law guarantees rape kits be kept until the statute of limitations expires. The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act could help alleviate the nation’s backlog of untested rape kits, as well as provide a major solution by making sure that these kits are not trashed legally by labs.

The bill must now pass through the House of Representatives before it can become a law. If you’d like to get involved you can join Nguyen’s Change.org petition to urge Congress to “support common sense rape survivor rights.” The petition currently has over 106,000 signatures, and needs roughly 43,000 more to reach its goal.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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