LANSING – State Rep. Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak) was honored as the Legislator of the Year by the Michigan National Organization for Women (NOW) during its annual State Conference for sponsoring the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) legislation to improve care for sexual assault victims.
"This is a tremendous honor for me, and I am thrilled to be recognized by the Michigan National Organization for Women," Donigan said. "The SANE legislation has been a top priority of mine and I will continue working to ensure that Michigan is known as a state where sexual assault victims receive prompt and compassionate emergency care from highly trained staff that understand and are trained in victimization issues."
The conference was held Saturday at Oakland Community College's Orchard Ridge Campus.
In September, the House of Representatives passed Donigan's Sexual Assault Victims' Medical Forensic Intervention and
Treatment Act with broad bipartisan support. The plan currently awaits Senate approval.
The plan will provide better services and funding for organizations that perform services to treat sexual assault victims for physical and psychological trauma and evidence-gathering for prosecutions.
In communities where SANE programs have been created, specially trained forensic nurses provide round the clock, first-response care to sexual assault patients in either hospital or non-hospital settings way that addresses survivors' emotional and medical needs.
"Michigan NOW is extremely happy to honor Representative Donigan for her work regarding the SANE bills," said Renee Beeker, President of Michigan NOW. "We urge the Senate will act on them."
The National Organization for Women aims to eliminate the roots of sexism in society through lobbying, educating and mobilizing the community on women's rights issues. NOW has 500,000 members and is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States.