NEWS RELEASE
May 12, 2023
Contact: Erinn Robinson
Director of Media Relations
Sexual Exploitation and Child Sexual Abuse Legislation Passes Senate Judiciary Committee After RAINN Speakers Bureau Meets With Members of Both Parties
Washington, D.C. (May 11, 2023) - RAINN released the following statement celebrating the Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage of the SHIELD Act and the Project Safe Childhood Act, days after survivors representing RAINN and ECPAT-USA held meetings on Capitol Hill:
Ahead of yesterday’s markup and passage of landmark sexual exploitation and child sexual abuse legislation, the SHIELD Act and the Project Safe Childhood Act, RAINN partnered with ECPAT-USA to organize meetings of RAINN’s Speakers Bureau and ECPAT-USA’s Survivors’ Council with members of both parties to support efforts to pass these important pieces of legislation.
“We thank the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for passing the SHIELD Act and the Project Safe Childhood Act. These bills will aid survivors pursuing justice for non consensual intimate image sharing and will help rescue children suffering from sexual exploitation and abuse. We look forward to seeing these bills move swiftly to the full Senate for consideration. Finally, we thank the survivors from RAINN’s Speakers Bureau and ECPAT-USA’s Survivors’ Council for coming to Capitol Hill to advocate on behalf of these issues. When survivors' voices are heard, meaningful change occurs.” - Samantha Cadet, Director of Federal Affairs, Appropriations, and National Coalitions, RAINN
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) addressed the group at breakfast.
See this tweet for a photo from the delegation’s visit with Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC-1).
Below are photos from the delegation's visit with Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA-7).
The delegation also met with Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), a sponsor of the EARN IT Act.
The above were part of advocacy efforts that met with 36 offices which included meetings with Members or their staff.
###
About RAINN
RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, help organizations improve their sexual assault prevention and response programs, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, free, confidential help is available 24/7 by calling 800.656.HOPE (4673) or visiting online.rainn.org.