Al Franken championed a Minnesota rape survivor's bill. Now she wants a new sponsor.
Source: The Washington Post
By Samantha Schmidt November 17 at 6:41 AM
It was on a November evening in 2014, after a tailgate party on her University of Minnesota campus, that Abby Honold was brutally raped by a fellow student. Despite going to the hospital in an ambulance with bruises and bite marks, despite reporting everything to police, it would take more than a year for Honold to find justice.
In August 2016, her rapist, Daniel Drill-Mellum, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to six years in prison. Honold’s public and agonizing fight to hold Drill-Mellum accountable drew statewide attention, shedding light on the challenges of reporting and prosecuting sexual assaults.
It also led Honold to the offices of Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). Honold’s convicted rapist, it turns out, had interned for the senator.
Franken, moved by Honold’s story, worked with her to draft a Senate bill that would provide federal funding for special law enforcement training on interviewing victims of trauma. He planned to introduce the bill this month.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/17/al-franken-championed-a-minnesota-rape-survivors-bill-now-she-wants-a-new-sponsor/?tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.ce7ceeaff117
Rape survivor no longer wants Franken to sponsor her bill
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 11/17/17 09:42 AM EST
A 22-year-old rape survivor no longer wants Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) to sponsor her bill to train law enforcement on how to interview survivors of sexual assault.
Abby Honold, who was raped at the University of Minnesota in 2014, had been working with Franken to sponsor legislation that would fund special training for officers interviewing trauma victims. But after TV host Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of kissing and groping her without her consent, Honold is now searching for another lawmaker to sponsor the bill, The Washington Post reported.
“It’s really difficult when someone who has been a champion for you turns out to be the exact opposite for someone else,” Honold told The Post.
She and Franken began working on the bill after her attack, and the senator was planning on introducing the legislation this month. Her rapist had been an intern for the senator.
Honold said she learned of Tweeden’s allegations during a meeting, and called Franken’s office afterward.
more
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/360863-rape-survivor-no-longer-wants-franken-to-sponsor-her-bill
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