House Bill 52, the House companion bill to Senate Bill 35, closes the “loophole” that allowed strangling someone unconscious and ejaculating on them not sexual assault, eliminates marriage as a defense against sexual assault charges, and generally brings Alaska’s sexual crimes statutes a little bit out of the dark ages. There’s one thing that belongs in HB52/SB35 that hasn’t yet been added: making it illegal for police to have sexual contact or sexual penetration during an investigation. The Anchorage Police Department has actively defended this practice, saying that prostitution stings are the primary way they identify sex trafficking victims. In the rape capital of the US, it is unacceptable for police to use fraudulent means to gain consent for sexual activities with people they believe to be (underage?) sex trafficking victims.
At 1:30 on Friday, March 15th
call 1-844-586-9085
You will be asked for your name and city and then placed in the que to testify.
When it’s your turn:
1. Introduce yourself with your name, city, and say that you’re calling to ask legislators to amend HB 52 to make it 3rd and 4th degree sexual assault for police to sexually contact or penetrate a people during active criminal investigation.
2. Explain why.
3. Thank them for their hard work on this bill.
4. Close your testimony by repeating that you’re asking them to amend HB 52 to make it 3rd and 4th degree sexual assault for police to sexually contact or penetrate people during active criminal investigations.
For example: “Hi, my name is Susie Smith and I’m calling from Kenai to ask you to amend HB 52 to make it 3rd and 4th degree sexual assault for police to sexually contact or penetrate people during active criminal investigations. This behavior is completely unacceptable in our ongoing sexual assault epidemic. It damages the integrity of the badge and makes sexual assault and sex trafficking victims less likely to look to police for help and justice. We are relying on you to draw this clear line in the sand and clarify that this is criminal behavior and it’s unacceptable. Thank you for all of your hard work on this bill and to address Alaska’s sexual assault epidemic. Please amend HB 52 to make it sexual assault for police to sexually contact or penetrate people during active criminal investigations.”
House Bill 52: http://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/31?Root=hb++52
Everything about police sexual contact and penetration during criminal investigations: https://sextraffickingalaska.com/press-kit-for-hb-112sb-73