Rapist Accountability Bill To Get a Hearing Tuesday, UltraViolet Applauds Step But Urges Action to Protect All Survivors
Statement from Karin Roland, Campaign Director at UltraViolet, on the announcement late Friday that HB 257 will get a hearing in the Ohio State Senate Tuesday at 10:45am:
“We are thrilled to see that Sen. John Eklund has finally scheduled a hearing for the bill that will end the ability of many rapists to sue survivors for child custody. However, the bill as it currently stands does not include protections for the majority of rape survivors. Only 4% of rapes end in a felony conviction, and this bill only protects survivors who can secure that conviction. We urge Senator Eklund to include this key provision, and we will continue to advocate for this bill to pass because survivors need protection now.
With Ohio’s brutal record on rape over the last year— from Ariel Castro to the Steubenville rape case— we hope that Ohio can lead the way in ending the rights of rapists and fighting back against rape culture.”
Ohio is one of 31 states in which rapists have the ability to sue for custody or visitation rights over children conceived through rape. 32,000 women in America become pregnant through rape every year.
On Wednesday this week, students from the Ohio State University Chapter of Choice USA delivered more than 60,000 petitions from UltraViolet members to State Senator and Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Eklund urging him to advance a bill to protect survivors.
See the petition from UltraViolet:
http://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/ohio_rapist_custody/
Contact the office of John Eklund at
(614) 644-7718.
For more information, or for interviews with UltraViolet, please contact Molly Haigh at
907.750.1999 or
molly@fitzgibbonmedia.com.