The Capitol Building is seen Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, in Olympia.
Washington state Republicans sponsored two bills that recently passed a House vote that are intended to improve care for sexual assault survivors, according to a news release from the House Republicans.
House Bill 2101, sponsored by Rep. Gina McCabe, R-Goldendale, would direct the Office of Crime Victim Advocacy to develop strategies to make trained sexual assault nurse examiners available in rural areas.
McCage, co-chair of the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination task force, says the bill is a necessary step in providing care.
“On the SAFE Task Force, we’re continuing to work on ways to close gaps in access to quality care for rape victims,” McCabe said in a statement. “It’s clear more tools and resources need to be at the disposal of local communities so they can provide the best care to survivors. In rural communities like the ones I represent, victims don’t typically have access to SANEs, who play a critical role in the detailed forensic investigation that are necessary for prosecution.”
A second bill, House Bill 2585, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Port Orchard, would help ensure rape survivors receive timely notice of the availability of rape kit exams in Washington Hospitals.
Under the bill, hospitals that fail to provide the exams or do not have a provider available would be required to notify a victim within two hours of their arrival at a hospital. Failure to do so would result in a civil penalty of $2,000.
During public testimony, a woman named Hailee shared an experience in which she had to wait for over six hours at a hospital before being told a rape kit exam could not be performed there, according to the House Republicans.
“I was appalled when I heard Hailee’s story because the hospital should have been a safe haven for her,” Caldier said in a statement. “She should have received immediate care, but instead had to sit there for nearly seven hours before being told she’d have to go somewhere else. This cannot continue to happen in Washington state.”
The bills now advance to the Senate.
