What Attorney General Terms Landmark Legislation Signed Into Law by Governor

What Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan termed landmark legislation to encourage more sexual assault survivors to come forward and increase the successful prosecution of sexual assault crimes in Illinois has been signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner. The law goes into effect on January 1, 2017, and includes deadlines for the required training of law enforcement officers.

Senate Bill 3096, sponsored by Sen. Scott Bennett and Rep. Emily McAsey, was initiated by the Joint Sexual Assault Working Group led by Madigan, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, St. Clair County State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly and Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) Executive Director Polly Poskin. The Working Group was formed to address the fact that most survivors of sexual assault do not report their crimes to Illinois authorities. The new law will require victim-centered policies and sexual assault response training for law enforcement authorities and first responders, including 911 operators, in order to improve the response to survivors and encourage more survivors to report their crimes. The law also changes state law to allow the Illinois State Police to process and test rape kits faster and extends the time for survivors to consent to the testing of their forensic evidence from 14 days to five years.

The new law was created to address statistics that show the prevalence of sexual assault crimes in our communities. Studies show that one out of every five American women and one in 33 men have been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in their lifetimes. It is estimated that 43 percent of lesbian and bisexual women and 30 percent of gay and bisexual men have experienced sexual assault during their lifetimes.

These crimes also affect children – in 2014, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services reported that over 2,100 children were confirmed as victims of sexual abuse. People who are living with disabilities also experience high rates of sexual assault. Studies have shown that 83 percent of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. Among people with intellectual disabilities, studies have found 80 percent of women and 30 percent of men have been sexually assaulted, and 50 percent of those women have been assaulted more than 10 times. Despite those numbers, only 3 percent of sexual abuse cases involving people with developmental disabilities are reported.