Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs

The following were supported by WCSAP in the 2022 Legislative Session. We engaged in lobbying, provided written/spoken testimony, and/or sign-on support. We worked collaboratively with many stakeholders and partners in our legislative work. To see more about how we decide what bills to support, check out WCSAP Guiding Policy Values.

State Budget Proviso

Our legislative priority was to ensure continuity of crime victim services impacted by reductions in federal victims of crime act funding and help address increased demand for crime victim services attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Exceeding our request of $7.5M, this has been funded at $6.8M for FY 2022 and $15.7M for FY 2023.

HB 1916 (Orwall)

This was an important comprehensive sexual assault bill that did not pass. However, there are aspects of this bill found in the budget:

Maddesyn George is a young Native mother, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, and a survivor of sexual and domestic violence. She has been incarcerated since July 2020 for defending herself against her attacker. Instead of receiving support after suffering a traumatic experience, Maddesyn was incarcerated and denied bail, and separated from her infant daughter and community. She is being prosecuted by the U.S. federal government. Maddesyn has accepted a plea deal and is currently awaiting her sentencing hearing, which has been rescheduled for November 17. She faces up to seventeen years in prison.

Maddesyn’s story is emblematic of the ways U.S. criminal legal systems all too often neglect or exacerbate harm against Indigenous victims and survivors of violence. The targeting of Native women for violence is a fundamental aspect of settler colonialism both historically and today. Visit the full campaign website here.