Every Voice - New Hampshire
Est 2019
Every Voice New Hampshire began in the fall of 2019 when the Massachusetts team reached out to a small group of students in NH. The New Hampshire team worked quickly that fall to find a primary sponsor for the Every Voice NH Bill for the 2020 legislative session and were lucky to work with State Senator Martha Hennessey who filed the bill in December 2019.
Over the next several months, as our movement expanded across the state, students turned their attention to legislative outreach in order to build support for the bill. In February, after a hearing at which Every Voice members presented powerful testimony, the bill was unanimously approved in a State Senate vote, and the path to Governor Sununu’s desk seemed clear. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, normal legislative schedules were disrupted, and it became unclear when the Every Voice bill might be able to return to the floor.
But, thanks to the unwavering dedication of Every Voice NH students and legislative supporters, the bill was included in a special legislative session in late spring and was eventually passed and signed into law in July 2020 becoming the first Every Voice law!
On June 20, 2020 Governor Sununu signed “Sexual Misconduct on Higher Education Campuses” into law, marking the first Every Voice bill to become law- RSA 188:H.
What does the New Hampshire Every Voice Law do?
The Every Voice NH Bill (RSA 188:H) enacts comprehensive measures to combat sexual violence and support survivors studying at all Institutions of Higher Education in New Hampshire. Specifically, the legislation will ensure:
Access to free medical and legal support services
Anti-retaliation protections for reporting parties from being punished for breaking school code of conduct at the time of an assault
Confidential advising services that clarify survivors' rights & options
Transparent data on sexual violence, gathered anonymously and published publicly
Universal, evidence-based annual prevention and response training for employees and students
The New Hampshire team is currently working on the implementation of this law with continued close collaboration with the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, the New Hampshire Campus Consortium Against Sexual and Interpersonal Violence, Prevention Innovation Research Center, and more.
