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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah legislature passed the Dating Violence bill HB50, and Human Trafficking bill HB163 earlier this year.
On Friday, the groups who pushed hard for the legislation attended a special signing ceremony. There were dozens of people there who fought hard to see this day.
And for Jon Bambrough, it represents the pain of a father watching his daughter in a dating violence situation.
"He held her captive in his truck and beat her unconscious and then threw her out of his vehicle at 65 mph and left her on the side of the road to die," Bambrough said.
It took a long time to be able to balance the rights of parties that would be involved and that was quite an endeavor.
–Rep. Jennifer Seelig, D-Salt Lake City
Bambrough says he spent at least 100 hours on Capitol Hill testifying before lawmakers about the importance of a law to provide protection against violence in a dating relationship. Previously, the law only protected couples who were married or had lived together.
Bambrough says in his daughter's case, she had only lived with her boyfriend less than a week— but was granted a protective order against her boyfriend.
"If not for that short week that they lived together, we would not have been afforded this luxury," Bambrough said.
Rep. Jennifer Seelig, D-Salt Lake City, sponsored both bills. She says the Dating Violence bill is ten years in the making and had challenges.
"It took a long time to be able to balance the rights of parties that would be involved and that was quite an endeavor," Seelig said.
Those who work with survivors of dating violence say the protections the bill affords their clients opens a new world to them.
So I think if they know they have the force of the law and the force of society in general behind them and the power of that, that's going to go a long way in helping them heal.
–Holly Mullen, Rape Recovery Center
"So I think if they know they have the force of the law and the force of society in general behind them and the power of that, that's going to go a long way in helping them heal," said Holly Mullen from the Rape Recovery Center.
As for those celebrating the second bill that now stiffens penalties for child sex traffickers, they say the law will help better prosecute perpetrators.
"I think it allows law enforcement to act quicker," said Utah Assistant Attorney General Gregory Ferbrache. "I think it allows law enforcement to protect the children better."
Those that attended the bill signing ceremony want more Utahns need to be aware of the realities of domestic violence and human trafficking here in the state and then help to do what they can to prevent these crimes from happening.
