Huffington Post
5.23.16 | Amanda Nguyen
The Senate voted unanimously Monday to approve legislation enacting new rights for rape survivors.
The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), would provide sexual assault victims a right to be informed about the results of forensic testing of their rape kit, and the right to have their kit preserved free of charge until the relevant state’s statute of limitations has expired.
Amanda Nguyen, the 24-year-old founder of a nonprofit called Rise, lobbied Shaheen to introduce the bill. Nguyen was sexually assaulted in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and currently has to officially request every six months that her rape kit not be destroyed, although the statute of limitations in the state is 15 years.
“It’s been 10 months now since Amanda Nguyen first walked into my office,” Shaheen said in a statement. “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.”
Sexual Assault Survivor Rights as Outlined in the Bill are Below:
Ҥ 3772. Sexual assault survivors' rights
“(a) Rights of sexual assault survivors.—In addition to those rights provided in section 3771, a sexual assault survivor has the following rights:
“(1) The right not to be prevented from, or charged for, receiving a medical forensic examination.
“(A) subject to paragraph (3), have a sexual assault evidence collection kit or its probative contents preserved, without charge, for the duration of the maximum applicable statute of limitations;
“(B) be informed of any result of a sexual assault evidence collection kit, including a DNA profile match, toxicology report, or other information collected as part of a medical forensic examination, if such disclosure would not impede or compromise an ongoing investigation; and
“(C) be informed in writing of policies governing the collection and preservation of a sexual assault evidence collection kit.
“(3) The right, if the Government intends to destroy or dispose of a sexual assault evidence collection kit or its probative contents before the expiration of the maximum applicable statute of limitations, to—
“(A) upon written request, receive written notification from the prosecutor not later than 60 days before the date of the intended destruction or disposal; and
“(B) upon written request, be granted further preservation of the kit or its probative contents.
“(4) The right to be informed of the rights under this subsection.
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