By Casey Gwinn, President – Alliance for HOPE International

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback today signed SB 112 into law, making strangulation in a domestic relationship a felony for the first time in Kansas! Congratulations to Professor Jackie Asherman, the amazing nursing students of University of Saint Mary, the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence (KCSDV), and many others for advocating for this new law and saying No More! It will save lives and hold rage-filled men in Kansas accountable when they strangle a woman in an intimate relationship. The statute includes reckless conduct as well as intentional conduct. It also includes pressure applied to the chest of the victim — pointing the way forward for states across the country. Alliance for HOPE International and our Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention has now successfully advocated for new felony strangulation statutes in 44 states. The link below is the video created by University of Saint Mary nursing students to advocate with the Kansas Legislature for this new felony statute. Their advocacy was powerful, relentless, and effective.

You can read the language of the statute below:

“(i) This section shall take effect on and after July 1, 2017. Sec. 2. On and after July 1, 2017, K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-5414 is hereby amended to read as follows: 21-5414. (a) Domestic battery is: (1) Knowingly or recklessly causing bodily harm by to a person with whom the offender is involved or has been involved in a dating relationship or a family or household member against a family or household member; or (2) knowingly causing physical contact with a person with whom the offender is involved or has been involved in a dating relationship or a family or household member by a family or household member, when done in a rude, insulting or angry manner. (b) Aggravated domestic battery is: (1) Knowingly impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood by applying pressure on the throat, neck or chest of a person with whom the offender is involved or has been involved in a dating relationship or a family or household member, when done in a rude, insulting or angry manner; or (2) knowingly impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood by blocking the nose or mouth of a person with whom the offender is involved or has been involved in a dating relationship or a family or household member, when done in a rude, insulting or angry manner.” NO MORE Campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQjOYbRdSbw