Legislation to guarantee teen victims of sexual assault the right to a forensic rape exam without parental consent failed in the Tennessee Legislature last week, despite drawing strong bipartisan support.
The legislation was brought as a technical fix to the 2024 “Families’ Rights and Responsibilities Act,” which established a parent’s right to “make all physical and mental healthcare decisions for the child and consent to all physical and mental health care on the child’s behalf.” The act was among a series of laws brought in response to COVID vaccine requirements.
But forensic rape exams, which include collecting evidence for law enforcement and providing medical care and support to victims, were not explicitly made an exception to the 2024 parental consent law, which adds hefty penalties for healthcare providers who fail to comply: parents have the right to sue doctors and nurses who fail to get their consent, and healthcare providers may face professional discipline, including the loss of their licenses.
As a result, some sexual assault centers in Tennessee are interpreting the law as tying their hands in serving teens without a parent’s permission and have turned young victims away to avoid legal repercussions, victim advocates in Tennessee said this week.
“We have ended up with programs across the state interpreting this law differently,” said Jennifer Escue, CEO of the Tennessee Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence. At least one sexual assault center in East Tennessee has told her it has been unable to serve teen victims on the advice of its attorneys, she said.
“The consequences of this are potentially devastating,” Escue said. “It takes so much courage, so much bravery, to seek out an exam. To be denied that…they could very well decide they don’t want to go through with reporting the crime. It denies an opportunity for collecting evidence, and it might be that someone who is sexually assaulting a minor goes free.”
Most teenagers do inform their parents, Escue said. But others may feel reluctant or afraid.
Teens are far more likely to have been victimized by someone inside their home or within their family circle, including a parent. A 2024 Tennessee law allowing the death penalty for child rape convictions may add to the reluctance by even nonoffending adults to consent to a teen’s rape exam if the perpetrator is known to them, she noted.
The Sexual Assault Center in Nashville continues to provide forensic exams to teens 14 and older, a practice it has opted not to change with the passage of the 2024 law, said Rachel Freeman, president of the Sexual Assault Center in Nashville.
“We’ve had legal counsel saying they can interpret this either way,” she said. “We’ve decided it’s worth the risk, and the right thing to do is provide exams to minors who need them.”
“This is time sensitive,” Freeman said. “It cannot be done after 96 hours. That’s a very short period of time to try and convince, let’s say a mother, to try and get a rape kit.”
The bill by Sen. Heidi Campbell and Rep. Bob Freeman, both Nashville Democrats, would have explicitly ensured that the “consent of a parent or guardian is not required for the victim to receive a forensic medical examination” for minors who are victims of sex crimes.
The measure easily sailed through legislative committees and received a rare unanimous vote on the House floor.
Then it stalled on the Senate floor last week after Sen. Adam Lowe, a Republican from Calhoun, raised the spectre of children as young as his elementary school-aged daughter undergoing a rape exam over allegations that did not involve a parent as perpetrator.
“Someone could take my daughter for an examination without notifying me,” Lowe said. “That would be a very potent and traumatizing experience.”
Sen. Brent Taylor, a Memphis Republican who previously voted in favor of the bill in committee, then moved to send the bill back for further committee debate, citing “serious concerns” raised by Lowe and effectively killing the measure for the year.
Victim advocates said Lowe’s concerns are based on a misunderstanding of systems in place to address child rape and sexual abuse.
The Sexual Assault Center in Nashville does not provide rape exams to elementary-school-aged children. The agency serves victims starting at age 16, Freeman said.
Child sex abuse victims 13 and younger are typically referred to Child Advocacy Centers and undergo a separate pediatric forensic process, Law enforcement and the Department of Children’s Services are notified.
“The reality is a five year old is not going to get a medical legal rape kit,” Freeman said.
Like all sexual assault centers, Freeman’s agency is a mandatory reporter of child abuse: the assault on any victim under the age of 18 who visits the center is reported to the Department of Children’s Services and law enforcement, which, in turn, contact non-offending parents.
“They certainly pull in parents when that happens,” Freeman said. “The reality is that the people who need to know will end up knowing.
Freeman worries that teens in Tennessee will be discouraged from seeking out help after being sexually assaulted but stressed that sexual assault centers will help them.
A statewide crisis line can direct teens and other victims to available services and resources. The Tennessee Statewide Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 to provide support and information to sexual assault survivors: 866-811-7473.
