AUSTIN (KXAN) — Travis County says it’s set to make big changes in how sexual assault cases are handled — saying survivors of assault will always be the priority in investigations.
On Tuesday, Travis County officials said the changes are coming about due to a lawsuit filed last year against the City of Austin, which claimed that Austin Police Department mishandled several sexual assault cases.
While a similar lawsuit against APD was dismissed in 2018, the open case featured four women who say their cases were not investigated properly due to several factors, including their gender.
Hanna Senko is one of the women who filed the lawsuit. Last year, she and her attorney spoke to KXAN’s Jacqulyn Powell about why they’re suing the city and county.
“I experienced what I consider a very typical date rape experience,” Senko said. “Where my perpetrator slipped a drug into my drink and basically took my choices from me.”
Senko said her case wasn’t investigated — she said detectives were assigned slowly, witnesses weren’t contacted and the crime site wasn’t visited.
This lawsuit blames understaffing in the Austin Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit, a lack of thorough investigating, and a culture that discriminates against the women telling their stories — who often feel they aren’t believed or taken seriously.
Brown said on Tuesday: “In Travis County, we believe survivors. We respect survivors and we are here for them.”
KXAN will update this story with more information as it becomes available.
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