FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2002

SCHUMER BILL TO BOOST CARE FOR RAPE VICTIMS, IMPROVE EVIDENCE COLLECTION PASSES SENATE

Only 35 New York Counties have SAFE programs and 27 Counties have no established program, leaving 2.7 million New Yorkers without access to this crucial emergency service

Schumer's Bill Would Provide Funding To Help Set Up and Expand Rape Crisis programs

Senator Chuck Schumer's efforts to boost care for rape victims and to improve the way evidence is collected in rape cases took a major step forward late last Friday with the Senate's passage of the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2002. The bill, which Schumer co-sponsored, is aimed at making the recovery process easier for rape victims while collecting the evidence needed to prosecute the case. This bill would increase funding for sexual assault forensic examiner (SAFE) programs and other similar programs.

"Usually in government, we deal with tradeoffs, balancing something we like with something we don't like quite as much," Schumer said. "Not today. The SAFE program is a win-win: it helps victims of sexual assault recover and move on with their lives, and equally important, it helps police catch and prosecutors convict rapists who would otherwise remain at-large, free to strike again." The SAFE program – known as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) – deploys specially trained forensic examiners who immediately treat victims of sexual assault and help them recover from their attack. At the same time, SAFE examiners gather evidence that dramatically increases the odds of apprehending and convicting the attacker.

In New York State, 35 counties have SAFE programs set up 57 different locations. Twenty seven counties have no established SAFE programs, leaving at least 2.7 million New Yorkers without access to these emergency services. New York City has only seven locations that offer SAFE services while Long Island only has three locations. In 2000, 2,067 rapes were reported in New York City. Of all the boroughs, more rapes were reported in Brooklyn (738) in 2000 than in any other. Queens had the second highest rape report rate with 503, followed by the Bronx with 413 reported rapes. In 2000, 358 rapes were reported in Manhattan and 55 were reported in Staten Island. On Long Island, 243 rapes were reported in 1999.

The following Counties DO NOT have SAFE programs: Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Schuyler, Cemung, Tioga, Oswego, Lewis, Jefferson, St Lawrence, Franklin, Hamilton, Oneida, Madison, Chenango Otsego Fulton, Montgomery, Delaware, Genesee, Livingston, Herkimer, Cortland, Schoharie and Sullivan. Cortland county has trained SAFE nurses and is negotiating with Cortland Memorial Hospital to establish a location for the program. Schoharie county has completed preliminary planning for a local SAFE program that has included training nurses and setting program protocols.
Most rape victims who seek treatment go to hospital emergency rooms, where they often wait for hours in public waiting rooms. To make matters worse, most emergency room nurses and doctors have little training in properly treating victims of sexual assaults or in collecting, correctly handling and preserving forensic evidence from rape victims. Most hospitals also lack the latest forensic tools, meaning crucial evidence is often mishandled or never uncovered in the first place. Because of the long delays in stressful, emergency waiting room conditions, some sexual assault victims leave the hospital altogether, never to receive treatment or supply the evidence needed to arrest and convict their assailants.

Schumer's bill would address these problems by providing $30 million a year from 2003 to 2007 – $150 million in total – in grants to help set up new or existing SAFE programs and other ones like it. In total, these grants will pay for 150,000 new exams a year and 750,000 exams over the life of the bill. Schumer said that these programs are currently forced to compete against a myriad of other law enforcement and victims' programs for federal funding under the Violence Against Women Act and the Victims of Crime Act. The Justice Department, which is already responsible for developing national standards for SAFE programs, would administer the grants, ensure that recipients conform to the national standards, and give priority to programs in currently underserved areas. Schumer co-sponsored the bill with Delaware Senator Joseph Biden.

Schumer said that expanding the SAFE program will lead to better care for sexual assault victims and more convictions, putting more rapists behind bars. Specifically:

More convictions: SAFE examiners are specially trained in the latest techniques of forensic evidence gathering, cooperating fully with police and prosecutors. Their specialized training and experience also makes them better witnesses in court. In many rape trials, defendants claim that the victim consented to intercourse, forcing prosecutors to offer physical evidence of force. SAFE programs are far more capable of immediately gathering evidence of force, allowing prosecutors to rebut claims of consent and win convictions.

Better Care: Rather than face a long public wait and a revolving door of emergency room care-givers, victims treated by SAFE examiners are seen immediately in private, tell their story to and receive care from a single attendant, and are treated with greater sensitivity by examiners with specialized psychological training.

The bill also includes other provisions to aid in the prosecution of rapists, including:

• $50,000,000 in grants available to State and Local law enforcement to train first responders to the crime scene in collecting evidence, prosecuters in the use of DNA as forensic evidence and law enforcement personnel to recognize, detect, report, and respond to drug-facilitated sexual assaults.

• $75,000,000 in available grant money for inputting DNA analyses of sample from crime scenes into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for every fiscal year, from 2003 to 2006 and $25,000,000 in 2007.

• $15,000,000 in available grant money for analysis of DNA samples from convicted offenders and crime scenes every fiscal year, from 2003 to 2007.

Schumer has long been involved in the issue. In December 2000, Schumer and Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) helped pass the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (DABEA), legislation that provides over $125 million in new federal funding over four years to test thousands of rape kits.

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