Laws on rape kits, child prostitution enacted by Gov. Ige

County police departments have until Sept. 1 to report to the Hawaii attorney general’s office the number of untested rape kits that they have in storage under legislation signed into law Tuesday by Gov. David Ige.

The reporting requirement is the first step in the creation of what advocates for rape victims hope will be a more proactive policy in investigating cases of sexual assault.

Under the new law, the attorney general’s office must submit a report to House and Senate leadership by Dec. 1 that includes new policies for testing “backlogged” rape kits, as well as criteria for testing new kits submitted as part of evidence collection.

The kits, which contain forensic evidence collected from the bodies of alleged sexual assault victims, have been useful tools nationally in helping local law enforcement agencies catch rapists and identify serial offenders. The test results are uploaded to the FBI’s national DNA database, known as CODIS.

Earlier this year the Honolulu Police Department revealed that it had 1,500 rape kits dating back more than a decade that had never been tested. Officials for Maui and Hawaii counties told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in February that they didn’t know how many sexual assault kits they had in storage that had not been tested. Kauai County officials said that they have used federal funds since 2012 to help test all of their rape kits.

Law enforcement agencies will be required to finish testing all of the rape kits that fit the attorney general’s new criteria by July 1, 2018.

The measure is among seven bills that Ige signed into law Tuesday that were backed by the Hawaii Women’s Legislative Caucus, a bipartisan group composed of female legislators in the House and Senate. Several dozen lawmakers, government officials and members of women’s organizations attended the bill-signing ceremony at the YWCA in downtown Honolulu.

“Today is about when women lead, people collaborate and communities win,” said Rep. Della Au Belatti (D, Moiliili-Makiki-Tantalus) before introducing Ige.

The other measures tighten sex trafficking laws, expand health coverage for women, address sexual violence on college campuses, improve data reporting on children’s and women’s deaths, and expand support for female veterans.

Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D, West Maui-South Maui) called it a “banner year” for the women’s caucus.

Described by supporters as a “victim-centered” sex trafficking law, HB 1902 decriminalizes prostitution for those under the age of 18, stiffens penalties for johns and pimps, and makes sex trafficking victims eligible for crime victim compensation to cover medical and psychological care.

Groups such as Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery and Imua Alliance argued that the bill was important, in part, because those under the age of 18 who exchange sex for money are victims, not criminals.

The measure was opposed by Honolulu Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, however. In testimony on the bill, he argued that the bill would “legalize prostitution by minors” and make it more difficult to get prostitutes to cooperate in the prosecution of pimps if law enforcement can’t use protection from prosecution as a bargaining chip.

Ige also signed HB 1897 and SB 2319, which require health insurance companies operating in Hawaii to cover screenings for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, and 12-month supplies of birth control.

Another measure, SB 2317, appropriates funds to the Department of Health to collect information on the deaths of children and women who die during pregnancy, labor or the year following the birth of a child. The information is intended to help policymakers reduce preventable deaths.

Ige signed HB 2772, which requires the University of Hawaii to educate employees and students about sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking policies.

In addition, the university is also required to designate a “confidential advocate” on each of its campuses who students can confide in to discuss incidents of sexual assault or domestic violence.

Ige also signed HB 2489, which provides funding to hire a veterans counselor in the Office of Veterans’ Services, who will assist the needs of all veterans but focus on women who served in active duty.