Reflecting on Commonwealth Senate Bill NO.2

Reflecting on Commonwealth Senate Bill NO.2

By Ryah Aziz – YMCA Arlington-Washington-Lee

  

“A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds,” making child abuse far more prevalent than most people realize (2018).

Senate Bill NO.2 is aiming to reenact section 63.2-1522 and 63.9-1523, which refers to the admission of videotaped evidence of sexual acts and abuse towards children. The current legislation states that children that are the age of 12 or under are protected by this bill. Overall, this bill is hoping to be amended to provide protection to all legal children, not just children 12 and under.

Sexual abuse, and abuse in general is not a light topic. Sexual abuse to children though, is an offense that reaches a new extremity. Any child who is abused deserves all possible consideration and respect going into a trial regarding their abuse. The extension of these protections is detrimental towards their mental stability, and overall well-being.

Additionally, children who are under the age of 18 are in a developmental and fragile time in their lives. At this point in one's life, the brain has not fully developed. This means that abuse at this stage in a child's life can have long-lasting psychological effects that can negatively impact the child for the rest if their life. This point would further justify why children under 18 should not be required to be physically present to testify their abuse in court, where they will be placed not only in front of many random adults, but potentially the abuser as well.

In the senate debate a point did arise regarding people over 18 and how these situations can be extremely sensitive, even for someone who is considered as a legal adult. During the Youth Governor's Press Conference, the question of whether or not there would be a possibility of extending these protections to people over 18 was asked. Youth Governor, Tommy Dannenfelser responded by saying, “There is a certain integrity that comes with an in-person testimony, therefore the amendment will remain limited to minors.” This statement by our Youth Governor was completely valid, seeing as an adult should not be held to the same standard as a minor.

What is relevant to remember regarding this bill is that having a minor be physically present in the courtroom to testify could be extremely harmful to the child. Seeing as many of these cases don't typically get addressed until long after they have occurred, this could result in the loss of progress and healing the child has achieved. A child coming face to face with their abuser can be the avoided trigger in causing horrible, repressed memories to surface.

Lastly, when asked why she felt passionately about this bill, the patron of the bill, Sarah Mayerchak of Faith Christian School, responded by saying “Considering the large portion of children who are involved in these neglect and abuse cases, I feel that it's important to include legislation that will cover these children and protect them.”

References:

“Child Abuse Statistics.” Childhelp, www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/.