Colorado Legislation

The legislature is kicking off this month, meaning lots of work for CCASA. Here are some of the amazing bills/statue changes they are working on:

• Building up state funding to better support victims (COVID money has been providing some support but has run out).

• A bill related to the child sexual assault accountability act regarding removing the statute of limitations for retrospective civil claims.

• Working with dating apps to put disclaimers on their sites/apps regarding the safety measures they have in place (do they do background checks, how do they vet people, etc.). This is supported by the consumer protection act. They hope to include language supporting a victim’s ability to sue for triple damages if the perpetrator was previously reported and no action was taken by the app/company. This a part of a larger technology protection bill that will also include expanding non-consensual pornography laws (to include AI) and texting abuse.

• Increasing consistency in successfully gaining permanent protection orders by removing the term “imminent danger” and replacing it with “continuing harm,” which includes both physical and psychological.

• Restorative justice for people who have been sexually assaulted, impacted by IPV, or who have bee stalked. This will be an option for victims and may impact how the suspect is charged.

• Expansion of the current rape shield statues to include the what the victim was wearing, past/future sexual acts, and a history of “false reporting.” The false reporting piece will state that it has to be a false report to law enforcement, DHS, etc. For example, under the current statute, if a victim tells their roommate that they were assaulted, but chooses not to report, that can be considered false reporting.

• Several bills looking at bodily autonomy, and they are helping with some, such as biometric privacy.

• Updates to the victim compensation statute (no specifics provided).

• Expanding the statute of limitations for adult victims of human trafficking.

• Increasing laws/punishment for child prostitution solicitation.