New legislation that gives victims of domestic violence assault equal access to comparable forensic exams that sexual assault victims received was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Assembly Bill 2185, authored by Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber codifies the gold standard of forensic medical examination and documentation and brings equal access to all victims of domestic violence in California. Newsom signed the legislation in late September, ahead of Domestic Violence Awareness month, which is observed throughout October.
The new legislation aims to increase access and positive health outcomes for domestic violence survivors, according to the San Diego District Attorney’s office which sponsored the bill. It will also create a funding system to reimburse qualified healthcare professionals for administering these exams.
“This new law can save lives,” Stephan said. “The law provided for sexual assault victims to have access to medical forensic exams and treatment at no cost, but not for domestic violence victims, even though both are at risk for life-threatening injuries. We know that these domestic violence medical evidentiary examinations can be critical, especially in cases of strangulation.”
Strangulation injuries are often internal with no external visible injuries and are easy to miss without proper training for examiners, immediate assessment, accurate diagnosis, and treatment, according to Stephan. The District Attorney’s office emphasized that a victim strangled even one time is 750% more likely to be killed later by their abuser compared to a domestic violence victim who has never been strangled.
A domestic violence victim will be more likely to be killed at the hands of their abuser if there are multiple strangulation assaults or altered consciousness.
“The evidence proved that the exams coupled with early intervention with counseling and resources for women and families resulted in saving lives. This is why I authored AB 2185 to scale the pilot program statewide and expand access to medical evidentiary examinations for survivors of domestic violence assault to all Californians,” Weber said.
The California Hospital Association opposed the bill, requesting an amendment to Assembly Bill 2185 to clarify that government reimbursement for these services must be adequate to cover the costs of providing them.
“The health care professionals who perform these exams must be highly trained and skilled. It is important that they take sufficient time to perform each step of the examination extremely carefully, and they deserve to be paid appropriately for their services,” the California Hospital Association wrote in a statement.
The bill would prohibit the costs incurred for the medical evidentiary portion of the examination from being charged directly or indirectly to the victim. The bill would also permit victims to have a qualified social worker, victim advocate, or a support person of the victim’s choosing be present during the examination, when available.
The costs associated with the medical evidentiary exams will be funded by the state, requiring the Office of Emergency Services to establish a 60-day reimbursement process within one year upon initial appropriation.
San Diego County piloted a program in 2017 as part of Cal OES XC grant that dispatched specially trained forensic nurses to law enforcement scenes to better document domestic violence strangulation cases. The pilot program reached more than 1,000 victims and survivors of abuse across San Diego County.
“The purpose of the pilot was to enhance the collective coordinated community response to victims of abuse-related assault, to provide those victims with evidentiary exams, and to document strangulation and other injuries free of charge to victims,” San Diego County District Attorney’s office wrote in a news release.
These examinations increased access to victims and provided awareness about the medical dangers of strangulation incidents. Since the pilot program went into effect, domestic violence homicides dropped by 15% between 2017 and 2020.
