The New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs has requested an additional $5 million in the state budget from the legislature in 2022.
The request was made during the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee meeting on Sept. 28 and highlights the importance of the program for individuals who have been affected by sexual assault. As of 2020, New Mexico ranked seventh in the nation for sexual assaults, with 11,500 victims, according to the presentation.
“In 2020, our 13 sexual assault service programs served just over 6,000 survivors of sexual violence and took over 20,000 hotline calls, which is a 20-25% increase from the number of hotlines calls that we served in 2019. Again, as I stated, 41% of reported assaults involve children under the age of 18,” Alexandria Taylor, deputy director of the coalition, said in the committee hearing.
In 2019, 49% of cases dealing with sexual crimes were dismissed in a district court, or 298 out of 608, the coalition reported.
The request for $5 million includes $2 million to increase services and address gaps throughout the state for underserved and rural areas, $1 million for mental health programs, $1.3 million for satellite children advocacy centers, $500,000 for operating the hotline and $200,000 for Indigenous research, according to NM Political Report.
An adult victim will pay out an average of $122,461 for medical costs, lost wages, property loss and other costs after a sexual assault, the coalition reported in their presentation to the committee.