CT NewsJunkie
6.5.15 | Christine Stuart
The 2015 legislative session saw some some key legislative victories for women and families, but there were also painful defeats, according to lawmakers and advocates.
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But in addition to those victories, two key bills to protect women against violence failed to get approved.
A bill that would have required colleges and universities to to adopt a “yes, means yes” policy when it comes to sexual consent and how it is defined during on-campus disciplinary proceedings for students accused of sexual misconduct. The bill passed the Senate with only one lawmaker voting against it, but was never raised in the House.
“This session, it became clear to us that we have a lot of work to do in changing cultural attitudes about violence against women,” Jillian Gilchrest, a senior policy analyst for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, said. “The failure of Affirmative Consent was a real blow because, as a state, we had the chance to send nationally an unambiguous message that sexual intimacy should be a shared experience.”
Also, a bill designed to better protect domestic violence victims died without a vote in either chamber. Known around the capitol as the “TRO bill” for “temporary restraining order,” the legislation would have required the subject of an ex-parte restraining order to relinquish any firearms and ammunition within 24 hours of being notified of the order. Opponents say the bill violated their constitutional right to due process.
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