© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Bill Contests The Parental Rights Of Sexual Assault Perpetrators

created using Mapchart.net

Wyoming is one of just five states without laws pertaining to the parental rights of perpetrators of sexual assault. House Bill 107 would change that.

Between 17,000 and 32,000 rape-related pregnancies occur each year in the U.S., according to research from the National Council for State Legislatures. Most states have laws that either terminate or restrict the parental rights of perpetrators.

Aimee Kidd said as the mother of a child conceived in rape, she'll continue to feel unsafe until Wyoming addresses this issue. Without a law, she said, her rapist has rights to her child.

"Everyday I live in fear that he might knock on the door one day and demand his rights," said Kidd. "I can't explain how terrifying that feeling is. It really is a nightmare living in that reality every day."

The bill was approved by the House during initial debate and will be debated two more times.

Tennessee -- despite what the name might make you think -- was born and raised in the Northeast. She most recently called Vermont home. For the last 15 years she's been making radio -- as a youth radio educator, documentary producer, and now reporter. Her work has aired on Reveal, The Heart, LatinoUSA, Across Women's Lives from PRI, and American RadioWorks. One of her ongoing creative projects is co-producing Wage/Working (a jukebox-based oral history project about workers and income inequality). When she's not reporting, Tennessee likes to go on exploratory running adventures with her mutt Murray.
Related Content