WA bill would bring trauma-informed practices to sexual assault cases
As a sexual assault survivor, Leah Griffin has spent years working to reform the public policies that she says repeatedly undercut her attempts to seek justice and heal. After the 2014 assault, she got turned away from a hospital, waited hours to speak with police and was threatened by prosecutors.
“What I experienced at that time was a cascading system of failures,” she said.
Griffin knew something had to change. After reaching out to numerous lawmakers and other officials, Griffin joined recent efforts in the Washington Legislature to codify survivors’ rights, strengthen hospital protocols and expand trauma-informed training for police.
“We really have just been systematically tackling the problems that I experienced,” she said.
Two key partners in that fight have been state Reps. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale, and Tina Orwall, D-Des Moines. This year, the pair sponsored House Bill 1028, which would implement several steps intended to improve experiences and outcomes for sexual assault survivors seeking justice through Washington’s legal system.
https://crosscut.com/politics/2023/03/wa-bill-would-bring-trauma-informed-practices-sexual-assault-cases
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