By Patricia Negrón

Who pays to treat sexual assault victims when they go to the hospital? That may not usually cross people’s minds, maybe because we don’t like to think that it could happen to us. But the truth is that most people wouldn’t expect a victim to have to pay for some of the expensive treatments.

In Louisiana, some rape victims are being billed for the care they need after such a traumatic experience, including (but not limited to) medicines, and fees for being admitted into the emergency room, according to time.com.

Billing victims for these costs is unethical. They shouldn’t have to worry about inability to pay, and they shouldn’t have to consider opting out of the tests and treatments that they might truly need.

In 1994, Congress passed the Violence Against Women Act, which was made up of various reforms to improve a victim’s protection under federal laws, according to a White House fact sheet on the VAWA. The most important point on the fact sheet is that “… victims, no matter their income levels, are not forced to bear the expense of their own rape exams or for service of a protection order.”

VAWA was amended in 2005, yet the only things granted to victims by law were basic SANE exams or rape kits. Because technology and medicine are continually advancing, there is currently a huge gap in the act that leaves the door open for victims to be billed for basic tests, like pregnancy or HIV tests, and medications to prevent pregnancy and various STDs, amongst them HIV.

Regardless of their financial status, victims should not have to pay for the procedures to prevent pregnancy, HIV, or STDs. In the midst of a traumatic event such as rape, the economical burden definitely shouldn’t be placed on the victim’s shoulder.

According to time.com, Louisiana isn’t alone: most states don’t pay for these types of tests or medications. Merely 10 states cover the costs of being admitted into the emergency room and only five cover the treatment of all the victims’ injuries.

As the Louisiana Crime Victims Reparations Board notes on its website, the board can refund the victims. However, there are certain conditions that restrict it, like requiring victims to file charges or declaring victims who were involved in illegal activity at the time of the crime, (which could be used against underage victims who were drinking).

Other measures employed by the board include requiring a clean record for the past five years, so victims on probation for a victimless crime would also be denied reimbursement for their medical costs, according to the Board’s website.

The tricky wordplay in the next measure, however, seems to be the most dangerous: “A victim whose own behavior contributed to the crime (in those cases, benefits may be reduced or denied).” This measure is very dangerous because it is clearly a victim-blaming stance, one that can be used against the survivors. Being told by the board that you are not eligible to receive compensation for your medical costs because you contributed to the crime is not only objectionable, it could disrupt the emotional process because you’re being told that you asked for it, that you somehow deserved it.

According to The Times-Picayune, many victims are simply denied their applications, and some claim that this process is not only unfair, but that the board meets once a month so that the process can become very tedious and long.

The measures employed by the board probably affect the decision that different victims make to not report such a traumatic experience, but the bigger problem is that it could lead to victims’ deciding to not seek the important medical attention that they need.

Though it is clear that the Louisiana Crime Victims Reparation Board needs to review their requirements to be eligible for reimbursement for these tests and medicines, it is even clearer that VAWA needs some changes. Maybe the language that was employed in the act mistakenly leaves a loophole in its midst, but a clearer stance is necessary to legally remove all costs for a victim.

Rape victims need tests and medicines to prevent pregnancy, HIV, and other STDs. Medicine has advanced enough to help women in the aftermath of such a traumatic and dangerous experience, but the VAWA has to evolve and catch up to it.