[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 112 (Friday, August 3, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8967-S8968]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SCHUMER (for himself and Mr. DeWine):
  S. 1391. A bill to establish a grant program for Sexual Assault 
Forensic Examiners, and for other purposes; to the Committee on the 
Judiciary.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Sexual 
Assault Forensic Examiners Act of 2001, which is being co-sponsored by 
Senator DeWine. This bill aims to vastly improve the care of victims of 
sexual assault and help see to it that their attackers end up behind 
bars.
  Over 300,000 women are sexually assaulted each year in the United 
States. Unlike all other violent crimes, rape is not declining in 
frequency. When a woman suffers the horrific crime of sexual assault, 
there are two minimal things our system owes her. First, we owe it to 
her to do everything in our power to find and put her assailants behind 
bars. Second, we owe her prompt and caring treatment when she's 
reported the crime, which in itself is often an act of great courage. 
Yet, all too often, we fail in these basic obligations.
  Most rape victims who seek treatment go to hospital emergency rooms, 
where they often wait hours in public waiting rooms. Some leave the 
hospital altogether rather than endure extended delay, decreasing the 
likelihood the offense will ever be reported or prosecuted. Once 
victims are finally attended to, most victims are treated by a series 
of rushed emergency room nurses, doctors and lab technicians who often 
lack specialized training in the particular physical and psychological 
care rape victims need. Emergency room nurses and doctors also 
typically have little training in collecting, correctly handling and 
preserving forensic evidence from rape victims. Moreover, many 
hospitals lack the last forensic tools, such as dye that reveals 
microscopic scratches, and colposcopes, which detect and photograph 
otherwise invisible pelvic injuries. As a result, evidence is 
mishandled or never uncovered in the first place--jeopardizing 
prosecutions. Finally, emergency room personnel, already overworked, 
are sometimes reluctant to cooperate with police and prosecutors in 
sexual assault cases,

[[Page S8968]]

knowing this entails time-consuming interviews, witness preparation and 
court appearances--to say nothing of unpleasant cross-examinations.
  SAFE programs dramatically improve the situation. SAFE examiners are 
specially trained in the latest techniques of forensic evidence 
gathering. They cooperate fully with police and prosecutors, and their 
specialized training and experience makes them better witnesses in 
court. When defendants claim consent, physical evidence of force, which 
can be difficult to uncover and explain to juries--can make all the 
difference. Prosecutors support SAFE programs because they lead to more 
prosecutions and convictions.
  SAFE programs also provide better care to victims. Rather than face a 
long public wait and a revolving door of emergency room care-givers, 
victims treated by SAFEs 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.
  There are now fewer than 750 SAFE programs in the United States, 
serving less than 5 percent of all victims. Our bill aims to expand 
SAFE programs by providing $10 million a year from 2002 to 2006 in 
grants to new or existing SAFE programs. SAFE programs currently have 
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; by contrast, the SAFE Grant Act of 2001 will 
provide a unique and direct source of Federal funding for SAFEs. The 
Department of Justice, which is already responsible for developing 
national standards for SAFE programs, will administer the grants, 
ensure that recipients conform to the national standards, and give 
priority to SAFE programs in currently undeserved areas.
  Being the victims of a sexual assault is bad enough. We have to see 
to it that the system doesn't exacerbate the problem with shoddy care 
and mishandled cases. This bill should provide some help and I'm proud 
to introduce it today.
  Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, today I rise as a cosponsor of the Sexual 
Assault Forensic Examiners Act of 2001, sponsored by my colleague, 
Senator Charles Schumer, to whom I am grateful for introducing this 
important legislation. The purpose of this legislation is to 
appropriate $10 million annually for the support of programs that 
utilize Sexual Assault Forensic Nurses in the treatment and counseling 
of rape victims.
  Somewhere in America, a woman is sexually assaulted every two 
minutes. In the past year alone, 307,000 women were sexually assaulted 
in this country, and unlike other violent crimes, rape is not 
decreasing in frequency. Unfortunately, the treatment that many rape 
victims presently receive is far from adequate. Most victims of sexual 
assault who report their crimes do so in a hospital emergency room, 
where they frequently wait hours for treatment only to see doctors 
without specialized training who lack the proper forensic tools for 
evidence collection. Many victims report that their post-traumatic 
experiences in hospitals constitute another humiliating victimization. 
Victims of sexual assault should not be traumatized twice, especially 
when there are better programs in place that could help them.
  A Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner, often referred to as a SAFE, is a 
registered nurse who has received advanced training and clinical 
preparation in the forensic examination of sexual assault victims. As 
opposed to rape survivors seen by typical emergency room personnel, 
patients seen by these SAFEs rarely wait for treatment, see a single 
specially trained examiner instead of any number of different doctors, 
and receive sensitive, specialized care. The intervention of SAFEs in a 
sex crimes case bolsters the odds of prosecution and conviction of 
offenders, as these nurses are trained in the proper methods to utilize 
``rape kits'' and collect forensic evidence. Furthermore, the expertise 
of SAFE nurses renders them better witnesses than most emergency room 
personnel during trials, which can make the difference between a 
conviction and an acquittal. The Department of Justice reports that in 
areas where SAFE programs have been established for more than 10 years, 
there is a 96 percent rape conviction rate, as opposed to the 4% 
average conviction rate in areas without SAFE facilities.
  Five hundred SAFE programs currently exist in the United States, but 
these programs treat less than 5 percent of all sexual assault victims. 
Financial hurdles hinder the growth of SAFE programs, which frequently 
compete with other law enforcement and victims' programs to obtain the 
limited Federal funds available from existing sources. By creating a 
specific and substantial source of Federal funding for SAFE programs, 
more SAFE programs will be established, improving both the quality of 
care provided to victims and the conviction rate of their assailants.
  In the short time that I have been speaking here, two women became 
victims of sexual violence. By lending your support to the ``Sexual 
Assault Forensic Examiner Grant Act of 2001,'' you can help assure that 
the hundreds of thousands of women who are raped each year receive the 
sensitive medical care that hey both require and deserve.
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