2012 Legislative Agenda

During the 2012 legislative session, FCASV will be prioritizing funding for rape crisis centers in Legal Affairs and through the rape crisis program trust fund and championing legislation to respond to those most vulnerable to sexual violence. Additionally, FCASV will be supporting, tracking and monitoring various legislation relating to parole interviews, sex offender management, video voyeurism, sexual exploitation and bullying.

Funding for Rape Crisis Centers
Funding Background
Priority Legislation
Priority Legislation Background
Additional Legislation FCASV will Support and/or Monitor

Funding Priorities for Rape Crisis Centers:
Preserve the Rape Crisis Program Trust Fund
Maintain FCASV and sexual assault issue independence in STOP funding at DCF.
Secure recurring general revenue in Legal Affairs for rape crisis services ($250,000 in FY 11).

Background:
The following services were provided by Florida’s 30 certified rape crisis centers to 10,157 new (not previously served) victims of sexual violence and thousands of victims first seen in previous years during SFY 2010/2011:

Advocacy and accompaniment: 40,587 units
Crisis Intervention: 29,598 units
Hotline calls: 11,872 units
Information/Referral: 29,779 units
Medical/Forensic Exams: 2,486 units
Support Groups: 2,448 units

Rape Crisis Programs are experiencing waiting lists, severe staffing shortages and layoffs, and cannot meet the state’s need with current resources. Here are some examples:

Another Way, Lake City:  
Victims of sexual violence are usually forced to wait in the hospital emergency room, sometimes for over eight hours, to be seen and treated by a SANE nurse.

Bridgeway Center, Ft. Walton:
Every week we have victims who are frantic to speak to a therapist and need to be seen immediately. As an advocate, I do not like having to tell someone in tears that we are trying to get her an appointment, but that it may not be right away.  

Broward County Sexual Assault Treatment Center, Ft. Lauderdale:
In the last year, our waiting list has been as long as 45 people which meant a 3+ month wait for an evening or weekend appointment.

Lakeview Center, Pensacola:
The reality is the victim is waiting four to five weeks for an appointment with the trauma recovery therapist.

Sexual Assault Response Team, Daytona Beach:
We have a waiting list that gets as high as 20 some months for counseling services. The average wait list time for individual therapy is 30 days.

Victims of sexual assault who do not receive services are in danger of increased substance abuse, mental health problems including major depression, suicide, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Victims of sexual violence are also at greater risk of job loss and lower educational attainment. Early intervention mitigates these effects and makes it more likely that the victim will participate in the criminal just system to help get the offender off the street.

Rape crisis centers play a key role in survivor recovery. Here is just one of many success stories from Florida’s certified rape crisis centers (this story is from Project Help in Naples):
A call came into the crisis hotline, a quivering voice on the end of the phone whispered, “I was raped”.   This was the beginning of the 46-year-old female nurse’s healing journey after being raped by a stranger.  The sexual assault team members responded quickly to the hospital.  The client had fractured facial bones, her teeth were badly damaged, and her body was black and blue. The victim was offered crisis counseling and agreed to make an appointment.  Sitting in the counseling room, tears streamed down the victims face, she stated, “I’m a nurse, I take care of people”. She had multiple injuries that led to weeks of medical attention. The alleged perpetrator was arrested and a long drawn out court case began.  Unfortunately the sexual assault caused many physical and psychological problems that led to difficulties in the client’s work environment.  She ended up leaving the hospital she worked at for over 20 years.  The victim continued to attend weekly counseling sessions.  She grew stronger and healthier as she worked through the trauma.  She decided to focus on a private practice nursing business, which became very successful.   

Priority Legislation:

HB 1355 by Rep. Chris Doworth (R-Heathrow)
SB 1816 by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-Wellington)

The Florida Legislature has taken great strides toward protecting children and adults from sexual violence and supporting those who have already been victimized.  During the 2012 legislative session, FCASV will be prioritizing legislation by Rep. Chris Dorworth (R-Heathrow) and Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-Wellington) and House Judiciary Committee legislation that takes the necessary next steps by protecting some of the most vulnerable victims of sexual violence in our state: child victims of sexual abuse; those violated in their homes without the means to re-locate; commercially sexually exploited children; adult victims of sex trafficking; and those otherwise coerced into prostitution. These legislative initiatives contain various provisions including the following:

Strengthen Child Abuse Reporting Laws:
Recent national events have shone the spotlight on the need to strengthen child abuse reporting laws to ensure that all adults are mandated to protect the safety of children. Current law mandates all adults-regardless of profession-to report child abuse, including child sexual abuse, to the Florida Child Abuse Hotline when the abuse is committed by the child’s caregiver.  Current law also requires that members of certain professions give their names when reporting.  The additional requirement to give one’s name has led to confusion about whether or not all adults are required to report, while it is the legal responsibility of all adults to safeguard the welfare of children.  This new legislation would clarify the requirement that all adults report child abuse and would also require that child abuse at the hands of any adult, not just a caregiver, be reported. Provisions of the legislation strengthen accountability for colleges and universities related to child abuse reporting by their employees and ensure that reports to campus law enforcement are forwarded to state attorneys. A $100,000 penalty is added for failure to follow abuse reporting and follow-up guidelines.

Provide Re-location Assistance for Victims of Sexual Crimes:
Florida’s Victim Compensation Program allows victims of domestic violence who provide clear documentation of need to receive up to $1500 from the victim compensation trust fund to move for safety reasons (FS 960.198). Victims of sexual assault also need access to re-location assistance. Some victims of sexual assault, especially in cases where the offender has not been identified and/or apprehended, are terrified to remain in their homes because of the real risk of re-victimization. It is impossible for victims to regain any sense of psychological safety if they have a reasonable fear about their physical safety. Victims would have to obtain a certification of need from a certified rape crisis center to qualify for such assistance. States that currently offer re-location assistance for sexual assault victims include Alabama, California, Illinois,  Kansas, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and West Virginia.

Get Tough on Child Sexual Exploitation and Sex Trafficking:
Research has shown that dealing with the demand for sexually exploited, trafficked and prostituted youth and adults has the most impact on curbing the crime. This legislation gives law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to hold traffickers accountable for their crimes and develop guidelines for services and intervention for children forced into prostitution.

This legislation recognizes that children are at an increased risk of being exploited because they are psychologically less developed than adults.  Children may perceive the persons who exploit them for purposes of prostitution as protectors, parental surrogates, or boyfriends. 

The legislation:

• Includes findings related to sex trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children.
• Provides liability for persons who knowingly or in reckless disregard are engaged in sex trafficking or benefit financially or receive anything of value from trafficking.  
• Defines commercial sexual activity to include the production of pornography and sexual performance.
• Clarifies that providing controlled substances is a method by which traffickers force victims to participate in sex trafficking and other forced labor.
• Increases trafficking from a second to a first degree felony, clarifies that each instance of trafficking can be prosecuted as a separate crime, and makes trafficking of a child under 15 a life felony.
• Creates a life felony for any parent who sells or transfers a child for commercial sexual activity.
• Excludes evidence of the sexual history of a victim of trafficking in certain circumstances.
• Increases the penalty for purchasing the services of any minor engaged in prostitution by one degree to a first degree misdemeanor for a first offense, a third degree felony for second offense, and a second degree felony for the third offense
• Clarifies that a lack of knowledge of the age of the child trafficked for prostitution is not a defense to the crime.
• Allows a victim of trafficking to petition to have a conviction of prostitution vacated.
• Directs the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to establish standards for basic and advanced training related to methods by which the victimization of children by human traffickers occurs .
• Clarifies that all real and personal property used for or derived from trafficking is subject to forfeiture to the state.
• Directs the Department of Children and Families to develop guidelines and a plan for serving children who have been the victims of human trafficking by June 2013 including assessing the problem and addressing needs for services including residential services and coordination.

Background:

Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking:
Shared Hope International completed assessments of domestic minor sex trafficking in the Tampa Bay and South Florida regions of Florida with the following key findings (retrieved from www.sharedhope.org):

• Domestic minor sex trafficking victims are rarely identified and often misidentified.
• Estimates suggest that more than 400 victims have had contact with professionals in

Florida in the past six years but were not identified as victims of sex trafficking.

• Victims in Florida are viewed as victims and not criminals, but a lack of alternative placement results in their continued criminalization and detention.
• Victims identified in prostitution are encouraged to plead “guilty.”
• Victims are often blamed for their uncooperative attitudes or unwillingness to assist with the investigation of their pimp.
• Prosecution has been limited primarily to traffickers involved in pornography and should be broadened to include other types of traffickers.
• Gaps in how minors are processed in the detention system may be exploited by traffickers/pimps familiar with the system.
• Law enforcement does not give sufficient priority to preventing the sexual exploitation of minors using false identification documents within the adult sex industry.
• The special needs of victims are incompatible with current procedures regarding child witnesses in criminal cases.
• There is a critical lack of safe and appropriate services and programs for victims of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.

The Harm of Prostitution:
78% of 55 women who sought help from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives in 1991 reported being raped an average of 16 times a year by pimps, and were raped 33 times a year by johns. (Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives Annual Report, 1991, Portland, Oregon). 

• “Pimps target girls or women who seem naive, lonely, homeless, and rebellious. At first, the attention and feigned affection from the pimp convinces her to "be his woman." Pimps ultimately keep prostituted women in virtual captivity by verbal abuse - making a woman feel that she is utterly worthless: a toilet, a piece of trash; and by physical coercion - beatings and the threat of torture. 80% to 95% of all prostitution is pimp-controlled.” (Kathleen Barry, The Prostitution of Sexuality, 1995, New York, New York University Press)
• Estimates of the prevalence of child sexual abuse among prostitutes range from 65% to 90%.The Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, Oregon Annual Report in 1991 stated that: 85% of prostitute/clients reported history of sexual abuse in childhood; 70% reported incest. The higher percentages (80%-90%) of reports of incest and childhood sexual assaults of prostitutes come from anecdotal reports and from clinicians working with prostitutes (interviews with Nevada psychologists cited by Patricia Murphy, Making the Connections: women, work, and abuse, 1993, Paul M. Deutsch Press, Orlando, Florida; see also Rita Belton, "Prostitution as Traumatic Reenactment," 1992, International Society for Traumatic Stress Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes," Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133; C. Bagley and L Young, 1987, "Juvenile Prostitution and child sexual abuse: a controlled study," Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, Vol 6: 5-26).

Additional Legislation:

SB 506 by Sen. Greg Evers (R-Crestview)/ HB 329 by Rep. Carlos Trujillo (R-Miami)
Parole Interview Dates for Certain Inmates
Extending from 2 years to 7 years the period between parole interview dates for inmates convicted of committing certain specified crimes especially when there is an underlying sexual offense. This legislation is intended the frequency that victims must be present at parole interviews.

FCASV will be tracking and working on several pieces of legislation related to strengthening sex offender management, strengthening video voyeurism statutes and protecting minors from sexual exploitation, bullying and stalking including:

HB 437 by Rep. Eric Eisnaugle (R-Orlando)/ SB 964 by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-Wellington) relating to protection of minors
HB 455 by Rep. Rich Glorioso (R-Plant City) relating to criminal offenders
HB 215 by Rep. Dana Young (R-Tampa) /SB 436 by Sen. Ronda Storms (R-Brandon) relating to video voyeurism
HB 257 by Rep. Cynthia Stafford (D-Miami) /SB 296 by Sen. Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) relating to video voyeurism
HB 99 by Rep. Erik Fresen (R-Miami)/SB 202 by Sen. Anitere Flores (R-Miami)  relating to sexual exploitation
HB 731 by Rep. Janet Cruz (D-Tampa)/SB 1004 by Sen. Maria Lorts Sachs (D-Delray) relating to sexual  offenders and sexual predators
HB 627 by Rep. Dwight Bullard (D-Miami) /SB 622 by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff (R-Ft. Lauderdale) relating to bullying
SB 950 by Sen. David Simmons (R-Altamonte Springs) relating to stalking and aggravated stalking