If people want more information, it would be helpful to spread around how you can help if you want to prevent this bill from being passed.
There are actually two bills which are trying to be passed. HB106 does the above mentioned things, but there is also HB284, which would, “change the term ‘victim’ to ‘complainant’ in sexual assault cases.” The New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence says that HB284 would, “[send] the message that victims of any other crime are to be believed, except for those who are sexually assaulted,” as in no other case is a victim called a “complainant.”
You can read more about the two bills and why they are so dangerous here, on the Coalition’s Action Alert.
From what I can tell, there are a few things you can do. The Coalition is asking in their Action Alert that people, “contact members of the House Criminal Justice & Public Safety Committee and ask them to oppose” HB106 and HB284. They recommend you do this by emailing the committee at this address: [email protected]
You can also check out the Coalition’s Facebook, and share the post they’ve made about it there.
Please share this information so NH residents and sympathetic out-of-staters can put pressure on the legislature to vote against these bills. They are absolutely designed to make it harder for victims to come forward and receive justice; the bills are actually inspired by a case against a man named Foad Afshar. I’m not familiar with the case, but essentially, the jury found this man guilty of molesting a patient of his (he’s a psychotherapist), though he maintains that he’s innocent.
I’m not going to stand around and say that the justice system is all that helpful for victims of sexual violence or for people who are innocent, but regardless of Foad Afshar’s case, this bill is not the way to address this issue, especially since false accusations are rarely ever made. You read more about this here, on WMUR, which also has video of a news report on the subject which has testimony of Angie Semertgakis, a woman who herself faced sexual assault at the hands of her stepfather. She is working hard to get these bills defeated, so please help her. More of her work is talked about in this article by the Concord Monitor.
The police chief of Nashua has said of this bill: “It’s my opinion and long-established practice that a judge and jury are the ones that determine a victim’s credibility, with all due respect, not the Legislature.”
Nobody wants this bill except those who want to make it harder for justice to be achieved. Please spread this information so that the Coalition can achieve a sustained and concentrated campaign.
