A proposed law dubbed Anna’s Law has passed the Illinois House and Senate which aims to require police to complete a trauma informed sexual assault training. If signed into law by the governor, police officers will “take part in trauma-informed programs, procedures, and practices that are intended to “minimize traumatization of the victim” before being sworn in as an officer.”
The current law in Illinois requires officers attend a number of training programs before being sworn in such as education on cultural perception and common myths of sexual assault and sexual abuse. Anna’s Law seeks to expand this program to include education on identifying and addressing conflicts of interest such as instances when an officer knows either the victim or perpetrator.
Anna Williams is a 23-year-old resident of Illinois who lobbied state lawmakers for change due to her experiences with police insensitivity to victims. She was sexually assaulted in 2021 and was being treated in the hospital when police interviewed her about the assault. When she named her perpetrator the officer said, “oh, I know him, He’s a great guy.” Anna requested a new officer be assigned to her case, but had her requests denied. The officer repeatedly questioned the validity of her story frequently asking if she was sure that the assault “wasn’t consensual.” She said as the case continued, “I gave him like a list of people who I told (about the assault),” Williams said. “When he called them, he asked everyone if I cried when I told them and was just being very invalidating and discrediting the whole time and asked them, like, if they believed what I said.” Prosecutors declined multiple times to bring any charges against the perpetrator.
Anna filed a Freedom of Information act against the officer and was given access to her files. She found the statements were incorrect claiming the encounter was consensual. When she brought this fact up, her concerns were not taken seriously.
After the assault, Anna went to NIU and joined the National Society of Leadership and Success. Her admission project was to act on an issue they were passionate about. “I was talking to my mom and I was explaining how, like, I can’t just make a law and she said ‘yes you can,’” Williams said. “And I said no, there’s no way, I’m just a normal little person. And she was like no, anyone can make a law, you can do that.” After this conversation, she began to draft language for a bill and compiled a list of any state laws pertaining to sexual assault that “didn’t sit right” with her. She brought this information to a town hall meeting and got enough support to testify to lawmakers at the Senate Criminal Law Committee. After passing in the House and Senate, the bill now goes to the governor to be signed into law.
Resources:
Bill would require police training for sexual assault, conflicts of interest | Capitol News Illinois
Written by: Paul Benson
Edited by: Kirsti McNeece
