May 25, 2022
Statement made by Hema Sarang-Sieminski, JDI Policy Director
JDI commends the MA Legislature for its thoughtful and survivor-centered approach during today’s House Ways and Means Committee Meeting to address the far too common experience of image based sexual assault (aka revenge porn).
We want to thank Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito for putting this important issue on the radar here in the Commonwealth.
We applaud the House’s leadership in putting forth legislation (H 4498) that includes both accountability and prevention. The proposed legislation would provide immediate protection to survivors of image-based sexual assault seeking civil as well as criminal legal protections from this harm. If passed, this law would allow survivors to seek a restraining order against an individual who shared their images without consent. It also highlights that we cannot only criminalize our way out of these issues but must also invest in education and prevention as foundational to curbing these harmful actions in Massachusetts.
This has been a key priority for JDI this session and on behalf of our 60 member programs and the survivors impacted by image-based assault, we want to thank Speaker Ronald Mariano, Representative Jeffrey Roy, Judiciary Chairs Representative Michael Day and Senator James Eldridge, Representative Tram Nguyen, Representative Natalie Higgins, and so many others who have helped craft a solution.
#supporsurvivors #accountability #prevention #mapoli