LANSING – State Representative Bettie Cook Scott (D-Detroit) today announced that the House Judiciary Committee has passed a package of bills to increase funding for organizations that provide services to victims of sexual assault.
"In the early 1970s I worked in an administrative position at the YWCA Interim House, a place of refuge for battered women and children," said Scott, who sits on the Judiciary Committee. "At that time, rape and sexual assault were not openly discussed. Thirty years later, I am proud to sit on a committee that saw fit to take up this very important legislation."
The package would:
- Create a Sexual Assault Victims' Medical Forensic Intervention and Treatment Fund (SAVMFITF) within the State Treasury. Money from the fund would be distributed through the Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board, which is housed within the Department of Human Services.
- Increase by $5 the minimum state costs that a defendant pays for a felony conviction or misdemeanor. Those additional funds would be distributed into the Justice System Fund, which in turn would feed the SAVMFITF.
Scott said the legislation will increase the number of trained professionals and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs available on a state-wide basis to assist victims of sexual assaults.
"Without such programs in place, victims at hospital emergency rooms often face long waits in the waiting room – or worse yet, are seen by a staff that is not trained to provide the unique emotional needs of a sexual assault victim," Scott said. "Passing this legislation is the right thing to do for women and for all Michigan residents."