ST. MARTIN PARISH — A state bill passed called “Survivor’s Bill of Rights” is making major changes for survivors of sexual assault.
Changes include sexual assault collection kits now having a mandatory 72 hours to make it to a law enforcement agency.
As for unreported kits, the Lousiana State Police Crime has implemented a tracking system.
Hearts of Hope Sexual Abuse Response Center Coordinator Jencie Olivier said this changes how long unreported sexual assault kits obtained by law enforcement agencies are available to a survivor.
“So the change that I’m most excited about is that sexual assault survivors have the right to have an anonymous kit done,” Olivier said.
“When they had that anonymous kit done in the past the kit, the law stated that the kit had to be held for up to one year, and now they have 20 years to decide to make a report or not. That their kit will be safe and held so that they can choose to come forward.”
She said this allows survivors to come forward when they are comfortable if they choose to make a report later on in life.
“A lot of survivors need time to decide if they want to report sometimes it's for safety reasons, sometimes it's just because they’re not ready,” Olivier said.
“This is a crime that happens to a person and a person’s body so we want to make sure that that person is okay and this allows them time to make that informal on how they want to report it.”
The bill will also allow for a survivor to go to any healthcare provider or licensed hospital for a forensic medical examination even if it is not reported.
The survivor will not be billed through their test and it will go through the Crime Victim Reparations Board.
“They should not be charged for their sexual assault exam,” Olivier said.
“In the past, they would ask them if they want to file on their insurance or not, and what that does is when you have your insurance on you and you’re billed for it, it adds extra costs to that survivor, not only that this will help protect people who don’t want anyone knowing this happened to them.”
A survivor will be provided an advocate if available.
“With consent from the hospital, they have the right to have an advocate present, which is someone from Hearts of Hope that will go out and meet that person at the hospital,” Olivier said.
“And what their advocate will do is talk to them about options, about reporting, what reporting looks like, throughout every step a survivor can have an advocate present.”
Director of the Governor's Office of Human Trafficking Prevention Monica Taylor said many sexual assault advocacy centers have practiced what this bill enacts.
It also creates a safer space for victims in the state.
"We hope that this bill of rights does is that it shows victims of sexual abuse that one, they will be believed whenever they come forward,” Taylor said.
“Law enforcement is there to believe them and that society as a whole is moving forward in such a way that we do believe people when they say they were sexually abused or sexually assaulted.”
Law enforcement may not use DNA collected from a kit to investigate the survivor.
Olivier said if you are in need of sexual assault assistance you can visit Hearts of Hope's Lafayette location at 911 General Mouton Rd.
