WA Legislature working to support sex assault survivors

OLYMPIA — About 70% of Washington’s sexual violence victims assistance funding is pass-through funding from the federal government via the Victims of Crime Act. However, funding under VOCA, which became law in 1984, has dipped dramatically in recent years. Funding totaled $74.7 million in 2018 but has since dropped to about $17.9 million as of 2024.  

Members of the Washington Legislature are working to address that issue and establish other resources that would help victims of sexual assault and other gender-based violence. Some lawmakers like State Sen. Manka Dhingra are working to preserve funding for programs given the state’s budget shortfall.  

“The $21.3 million we’re requesting does not expand services; it simply maintains the lifesaving, evidence based, trauma informed programs that exist today,” said Colleen McIngalls, executive director of the Children’s Justice Center of King County. 

McIngalls and Dhingra were among several speakers addressing preserving programs that assist the victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse during a Friday press conference in Olympia. The funding concern is what would be a reduction in funding from the roughly $12 million the state is proposing in the governor’s current budget as opposed to the more than $21 million needed to keep services in place.  

McIngalls said that, if the budget goes through as presented, many of the victims service providers statewide will have to close their doors.  

“This is about lives,” she said. “We know that our most marginalized women and children are at highest risk when advocacy disappears, when forensic interviews are delayed, when safety planning is unavailable: violence escalates. And when violence escalates, lives are lost at the same time.”  

Speakers noted that Washington has eliminated its backlog of rape kits that needed processed in recent years, with thousands processed leading to more than 20 convictions with additional cases moving through the courts. Their hope, they said, was that funding would continue to ensure justice for victims of sexual violence. With fewer than 10% of such cases prosecuted nationwide, having those kits processed and cases closed is vital to ensuring victims feel heard and get justice, they said.  

In addition to the funding concerns, legislators advocated for changes in how gender based violence cases are addressed. Currently, a suspect defending himself or herself in a courtroom can question a victim directly on the witness stand.  

Senate Bill 5169 would establish criteria for how children’s testimony is handled in a courtroom. This would include having an attorney conduct questioning of victim witnesses, allow formal statements from child victims to be admitted in court, and allow CCTV questioning to reduce traumatic experiences for sex abuse survivors.  

Rep. Jamila Taylor, D-Federal Way, and Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, spoke about House Bill 1591, which they are primary and co-sponsor of, respectively.  

HB 1591, if passed, will allow reduced sentencing, waive mandatory minimums and impose alternative sentences when a survivor can show that their abuse was a significant contributing factor in their offenses. For example, if a victim kills an abusive spouse.  

The pair pointed out that the solutions in HB 1591 receive bipartisan support nationwide with other states, both red and blue, passing similar measures.  

“It's a bill that recognizes that our system has completely failed so many survivors who had no longer had access to services to get them out of the trafficking, out of the domestic violence, and it's led to them engaging in criminal acts where they are held accountable, and so this bill addresses that part of the continuum," Taylor said. 

Because abusers may force their victims to commit crimes and it can be difficult to escape those situations, supporting unwilling victim offenders is important, she said.  

“It is critical that we ensure that they have a way to escape, but also it's critical to understand that it should be a mitigating factor when they are being exploited, especially young people, exploited by abusers who know that they can trap them in the world of criminal activity,” Taylor said.  

According to the FBI, nearly 200 cases of sexual violence were reported in Grant County alone from 2019-2023.  

The Columbia Basin Herald will have follow up coverage on how funding and other programs would impact local victims of sexual violence. Those experiencing abuse or struggling with the aftermath are encouraged to contact the Sexual Abuse Hotline at 800-656-4673 or the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988. The 988 hotline offers text message support.