California college students will now have wider access to rape kits following a new bill that will provide anonymous assistance in cases of sexual assault.
Assembly Bill 1138 was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday. It is one of the many bills signed by the California governor this week.
Taking effect in the 2025-26 school year, the bill will require public universities to partner with relevant existing on-campus organizations. The legislation does not specify what organizations. Together, they will provide free assistance “in a manner that protects student confidentiality” and gives access to “transportation to and from a local Sexual Assault Forensic Examination (SAFE) or Sexual Abuse Response Team (SART) exam center[s],” according to the legislation.
These new protocols are similar to ones already in place at USC.
USC Student Health Center offers a Confidential Advocate Program that provides students with 24/7 support services to survivors of sexual assault and gender-based harm at no cost.
They began offering services in 2019 and have since been financially supported by the Student Health Fee. Since the services are free, they do not bill insurance, ensuring privacy to those who use them.
“Arrangement for transportation to and from an SART center for a forensic exam, with the accompaniment of a Confidential Advocate, is part of the established services for students,” said the USC Health Center.
In addition to assisting with treatment center visits, the program’s Confidential Advocates also “walk clients through reporting options, including to EEO-TIX and law enforcement, and accommodation arrangements on campus, including with academic programs and housing arrangements,” said the USC Health Center in an email to Annenberg Media.
As public colleges and universities begin to adopt similar practices under the new bill, the anonymous drivers to and from centers may consist of campus student health center employees, according to the legislation.
Sanaiya Bhatt, a senior studying global health and Student Health Center ambassador, feels that all college students should have access to sexual assault treatment resources.
“It helps students have a voice,” she said. “Oftentimes people are scared to reach out and find somewhere to go for help. So just offering that transportation access to go to [treatment] centers would be beneficial for all students.”
Eliminating the obstacles of cost and fear is what Assemblymember Akilah Weber envisioned when she wrote Assembly Bill 1138.
In an interview with the LA Times, Weber said, “College campuses are often miles away from the nearest center and for students without a reliable or quick method of transportation, that distance can be insurmountable…The last thing a victim of sexual assault should worry about is the transportation to the local exam center.”
According to Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, 26.4 percent of female students, 6.8 percent of male students and 23.1 percent of TGQN (transgender, genderqueer, nonconforming) students are raped or sexually assaulted in Americam universities every year.
Their reports indicate the wide population of college students in need of the resources that Assembly Bill 1138 can help provide.
Forensic exam costs and transportation aren’t the only two services offered to students through this bill. According to the legislation, Services including “...counseling, health, mental health, victim advocacy, and legal assistance, including resources for the accused” will also be made available.