Victims of sexual assault in West Virginia may have an easier time finding health care providers to conduct forensic exams and collect rape kits if a bill passed Monday by the state Senate becomes law.
Currently, some sexual assault victims have to travel hours to find a properly trained provider to perform forensic exams, said Republican Sen. Michael Maroney. There are only a few hospitals in northern West Virginia with staff properly trained to collect evidence from rape victims.
“In my opinion, that adds significantly more trauma to the victim who has already been traumatized,” said Maroney, of Marshall County. “Every mile you drive increases the risk of contamination, so you risk not being convicted.”
Rape kits are used to collect evidence after sexual assaults and can be used to link the assault to a suspect in existing DNA databases or develop a DNA profile that can be used in the future.
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The bill now headed to the state House of Delegates would require all hospitals in the state with an emergency room to have staff available 24 hours a day who are trained to perform forensic examinations for victims of sexual assault. The bill requires providers to receive training from the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Commission by July 2024.
Maroney said the change would be challenging to implement since “it’s a mandate on nurse training during probably the worst nursing shortage in our state’s history.” But he said it’s too important to wait.
The West Virginia Senate will pass a mandate on rape kit training on Monday. This bill heads to the House of Delegates and will require doctors to perform forensic exams for victims of sexual assault.
“The timing is not ideal, but … you know what’s coming, they’re going to ramp up a little bit,” he said of the West Virginia hospitals. “They know it’s the right thing to do and they’re fine.”
Hospitals would have about a year and a half to train and prepare staff before the legislation becomes law, he said.
State officials launched an initiative in 2015 to begin testing their nearly 2,400 archived rape kits. Some of the kits date back to the 1980s.
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In 2020, lawmakers passed a bill requiring rape kits to be sent to the state police forensics lab within 30 days or as soon as possible after collection. That law also allows rape kits to be traced and requires law enforcement to obtain a court order before disposing of the tests.
