Did you know that New York, like the majority of States, lead numerous survivors of sexual assault unprotected due to the "Voluntary Intoxication Exclusion"? Currently the law in NYS only covers survivors who were unwillingly intoxicated at the time of their rape. In practice, this means that an evening of light-hearted fun - maybe you have one too many at a holiday party, office gathering or during a night out with friends - leaves you excluded from the protection of our justice system. Imagine that you have endured one of the most horrific and traumatic events in your life, then you master the courace to step forward and seek justice with the police, only to learn then that due to your actions, you are not deemed a victim worthy of availing yourself of our legal protections? 

This is the current state of the law in NY: it only criminalizes rape by a person who "knows or has reason to know that the complainant is...mentally incapacitated." Many of us would assume that the circumstances of how we came to be mentally incapacitated would be beside the point when determining whether one gave consent or not. Instead, our law requires that mental incapacitation be due to being "under the influence without his or her agreement." And so by enshrining victim-blaming in our statutes, the exclusion of rape survivors who became intoxicated on their own is born. 

A bill to end this exclusion was introduced in the State Senate 6 years ago. While the Senate consistently passed this bill unanimously, we have not seen the same corresponding activity in the Assembly. This year, our Coalition, with your help, is working to ensure that the Codes Committee votes on bill A.101/S.54 so it may be added to the floor agenda where it can receive a vote by the entire Assembly. 

This is our moment to demand that the burden of responsibility for a crime should not fall onto the person who was raped or sexually assaulted. Think about it, in what other case is the survivor of such violence blamed for the harm that befell them? We can do better - our laws can be better and not rob survivors of their dignity and sovereignty over their own bodies.