Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
03/01/2016 08:30 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| SCR20 | |
| Confirmation Hearings | |
| SB91 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
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| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
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| *+ | SCR 20 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
SCR 20-SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH: APRIL 2016
8:31:57 AM
CHAIR STOLTZE announced the consideration of SCR 20.
8:32:02 AM
SENATOR KEVIN MEYER, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska,
sponsor of SCR 20, provided an overview as follows:
SCR 20 proclaims April 2016 as Sexual Assault
Awareness Month; it's part of a national campaign to
raise the awareness of sexual assault and educate
communities on how to prevent sexual violence. I'm
sure you're going, "We've heard this before," and we
have, we bring this forward every year; but, as you
know, the sexual assaults statistics nationwide and in
Alaska are staggering, they are even worse here in
Alaska, in fact research suggests that 2.5 times the
national rate. The Council on Domestic Violence and
Sexual Assault conducts an annual victimization survey
and they will speak to some of those statistics in
more depth. Mr. Chairman, sexual violence is
preventable, it's a social, public health, criminal
justice, human rights issue. This year, 2016 Sexual
Awareness Month Campaign focuses on the building
blocks of prevention by communicating how individuals,
communities, and the private sector can take action to
promote safety, respect, and equality. We hope that
SCR 20 will help to broaden and strengthen that effort
across the state.
CHAIR STOLTZE stated that the committee was very familiar with
the issue and that Senator Meyer has annually brought the
resolution forward. He remarked that the issue was 12 months and
not 1 month. He added that the 2016 Sexual Awareness Month was
part of a national campaign.
8:34:55 AM
LAUREE MORTON, Executive Director, Council of Domestic Violence
and Sexual Assault (CDVSA), Juneau, Alaska, provided a statement
of support as follows:
In 2010, the Alaska Victimization Survey showed that
58 out of every 100 Alaska women have suffered
intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or both
over the course of their lifetime. In 2015, five years
after, we resurveyed and the news is encouraging, it's
still too high, it's still horrible, but now it is
down to 50 out of every 100 women have suffered these
crimes, particular to sexual assault, it has decreased
by 33 percent: 3072 fewer victims in 2015 than in
2010. So we still have a long way to go, we appreciate
your support. I did want to say that there is hope and
there are communities across our state that are
working very diligently to end sexual violence in our
state, they are doing such with programs like: Green
Dot, Coaching Boys into Men, Girls on the Run, The
Fourth R; they are looking within themselves as
communities to find their strengths and resiliencies
to be able to stand up and say "no more" and we
support those efforts.
8:36:31 AM
CHAIR STOLTZE addressed the handling of sexual assault
information at the University of Alaska as follows:
There was a lot of rumor and thither about how much
cover up there was. I'm trying to think when I first
entered the UAF campus in 1979 until my graduation in
the early 80s about the prevalence of sexual assaults
and domestic violence, stalking, and just basically
violations against women that was, for public
relations matters, covered up by the university
system. Now 35 years later, there was still that issue
and its sending shock waves through.
He asked Ms. Morton if she had a comment on the university
system and inquired how confident a young woman or their parent
should feel in attending there.
MS. MORTON replied as follows:
One of things that we have started to do in offering
our services to assist the university is working with
their Title IX coordinators. Last fall we sent them to
a national conference where the very issue of sexual
assault on university campuses was addressed. We've
also been working with Senator Sullivan at the
congressional area to look at ways in which we can
strengthen support for women on campus who want to
report sexual assaults. We've been working with the
university in Fairbanks to institute Green Dot and to
look at ways in which people can work together to
create safety for women there. We realize it's an
issue, it's on our May calendar to be able to receive
more information from the university and we are very
open to finding ways to work with them to support
that.
8:38:31 AM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the committee meeting.
CHAIR STOLTZE continued to address the university system as
follows:
There's been a lot of talk since I was a student there
and it certainly was kind of a quiet buzz and kind of
a systemically disguised problem at the university and
I haven't seen it, it almost seems in many ways gotten
worse and it's that spill-out. Is this really going to
be solved by another conference and what systemic
things do you see? This is right in our face right
now, even more so. The spill-out has been pretty
obvious and some of the restructuring at the
university.
MS. MORTON noted that CDVSA has suggested to the University of
Alaska that they work through the Office of Violence Against
Women to take advantage of grants that addressed assaults on
university campuses.
CHAIR STOLTZE remarked that he sees why a young woman might risk
expulsion in order to have a gun to protect herself.
MS. MORTON replied that the decision would be up to the
individual.
CHAIR STOLTZE continued to address his concern for the
university system as follows:
I think we have a lot deeper to delve into the
university and it has been a systemic concern back
from when I was a student. My uncles were students,
they said it was the same way and it's the culture of
a university structure wanting to protect its image.
If you're worried about recruitment and trying to
entice Alaskans to stay, you don't want to tell your
dirty secrets.
He summarized that protecting people required awareness.
SENATOR COGHILL asked what a Title IX counselor was and where
does a person in the university go to seek assistance.
8:41:22 AM
MS. MORTON replied as follows:
Title IX is a title in federal statute for protections
in different areas for students. I think most people
associate it with equity in sports programming, but
it's much broader than that; particularly in this
instance, relates to sexual assaults and addressing it
equitably on campuses.
If someone, anyone, is concerned about sexual assault
or they've been sexually assaulted, they are welcomed
to go to any of the funded programs. In Fairbanks it
would be the Interior Alaska Center for Nonviolent
Living. In Anchorage it would be Standing Together
Against Rape (STAR) or Abused Women's Aid in Crisis
(AWAIC). Here in Juneau it would be the Aiding Women
in Abuse and Rape Emergencies (AWARE). For the college
campuses throughout the state, communities such as
Bethel, there's Tender Women's Collation.
So people can go onto our website to find a list of
those service communities or on the Network on
Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault's website; they
are mostly 800 numbers, so it doesn't cost to call,
it's a 24-hour service, you can talk to someone there
who can work through your options and give you support
as you are deciding how best for you to carry forward.
CHAIR STOLTZE noted that a glaring omission was made for either
contacting campus security or the dean's office. He stated that
he would interpret Ms. Morton's omission as, "Not hearing it."
8:43:17 AM
CARMEN LOWRY, Executive Director, Alaska Network on Domestic
Violence and Sexual Assault (ANDVSA), Juneau, Alaska, thanked
the committee for its commitment to all of the prevention work
that is ongoing in the state. She stated that ANDVSA supports
SCR 20.
SENATOR COGHILL addressed Alaska's sex-trade issues as follows:
One of the issues that we struggle with in Alaska is
when somebody gets into a relationship and then ends
up in the sex-trade under duress. I think one of the
struggles they have is the duress then becomes deadly
in many cases. So we've tried to address from a legal
perspective on penalties and everything. But what do
you see from awareness to give young ladies warnings
of risky relationships, things like that that we need
to know from kind of the working level what's going on
in the communities?
8:45:02 AM
MS. LOWRY replied that clear awareness was one of the most
important elements that addressed what Senator Coghill
described. She detailed that local law enforcement must be fully
aware of what constitutes trafficking and exploitation. She
added that ANDVSA's member programs were open and prepared to
receive people. She asserted that getting the message out was
important where local partners address high-risk situations and
make sure that people are aware. She added that getting the
message out also included talking to businesses to make sure
they were following regulations.
SENATOR COGHILL suggested that child related trafficking and
pornography be addressed as follows:
I would suggest to you that in Alaska we have both the
federal government and the state government working on
people who are trafficking children and child
pornography. We want to get a report to kind of
kickoff the month of April just to show that that is
actually happening in Alaska at a much greater level
than any of us understand.
He summarized that children involved in trafficking and
pornography did not have a voice and their plight must be
brought to light.
MS. LOWRY thanked Senator Coghill for his suggestion.
CHAIR STOLTZE thanked Ms. Lowry and noted that her February 29
letter from ANDVSA had been presented to the committee members.
8:47:06 AM
CHAIR STOLTZE announced that public testimony was closed.
8:47:15 AM
SENATOR COGHILL moved to report SCR 20, [29-LS1519\A], from
committee with individual recommendations and attached fiscal
note(s).
8:47:24 AM
CHAIR STOLTZE announced that hearing no objection, SCR 20 is
reported from the Senate State Affairs Standing Committee.