Lisa Madigan backs bill to help sex assault victims

Posted on April 20, 2016

*Madigan is backing a bill from a Champaign Senator to encourage more sexual assault victims to come forward. (Facebook/Lisa Madigan)*

By Terry James

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is supporting legislation that would encourage victims to step forward.

Madigan says last year nearly 10,000 people sought counseling and assistance as victims of sexual assault, but only about 40 percent of those people went to police.

“We recognize that we could not continue to deal with the problem of sexual assault crimes piece meal,” said Madigan. “Instead we needed to look at what a survivor experiences at the time of the assault, to the medical care and evidence collection, and the investigation and the prosecution of the crime.”

Senate Bill 3096 aims to outline the information that must be included in a police officer’s report, as well as what information needs to be made available to victims. It also outlines procedures for collection of sexual assault kits from hospitals to ensure victims’ rights are protected.

Terry James can be reached at [email protected].

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