New legislation to create a sexual assault kit tracking system in Maine will soon become law.
State Sen. Joe Rafferty of Kennebunk introduced the bill, which creates an online system for victims of sexual violence to access the results of their sexual assault forensic kits and determine where they are in the legal process.
Melissa Martin, Public Policy and Legal Director at the Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault, says it will make an emotional journey simpler for victims.
"We believe that that's really important because we don't want them to have to make a bunch of phone calls during their work day to get this important information," she says. "We want this to be information that they can access at a time and place that's right for them and is accessible."
Martin says the bill would also create an inventory of sexual assault kits in Maine, which doesn't exist now. She says each year, about 14,000 Mainers experience sexual violence, but only a few hundred report the crime.
The Maine Department of Public Safety will apply for federal grants to help fund the system.
Martin is also hopeful a bill to increase base salaries for sexual assault advocates to $45,000 a year gets funded, after a third of statewide staff quit last year, primarily over low pay. That has created a staffing crisis for 24-hour helplines and other services to help victims of sexual violence.
"We don't want to get to a position that we can't staff a 24-hour helpline. When somebody comes forward to disclose sexual assault for the first time and they call and no one picks up, or they need to go a hospital for a forensic exam and there isn't an advocate available. We don't want to get to that place," she says.
Martin says she fears half of the remaining sexual assault services workers in the state will quit this year if low pay is not addressed. She says the job is demanding and being paid in the low $30,000 range is not enough.
