Advocacy & legislation

Dan and Gil Harrington, the driving forces behind Help Save The Next Girl, both support legislation and social change to make the legal system easier to navigate for victims and their families. The Harrington family has focused the majority of their lobbying efforts on the following pieces of legislation.

HB 659

This bill requires high school family-life education curriculum offered by a local school division to incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective, evidence-based programs on the prevention of dating violence, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and sexual violence. It passed the House on February 15, 2016, and the Senate on February 29, 2016.

HB 1102

HB 1102 requires the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in consultation with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Virginia Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, to develop multidisciplinary curricula on trauma-informed sexual assault investigation. It passed the House on February 16, 2016, the Senate (amended) on March 3, 2016, and the House as amended on March 7, 2016.

HB 655

HB 655 requires the Department of State Police, local law-enforcement agencies, and campus police departments to collect evidence obtained in sexual assault investigations, including physical evidence recovery kits — even where the victim elects at the time of examination not to report the assault. In that case, the kit is retained for a minimum of five years from receipt, or five years after the victim reaches the age of majority, whichever is longer. HB 655 was incorporated into HB 1160, which passed the House on February 16, 2016, the Senate (amended) on March 2, 2016, and the House as amended on March 4, 2016.

Every Child Achieves Act (ECAA)

Dan and Gil Harrington support this bill, designed to help prevent sexual assault by educating students on safe relationships and sexual violence. Passed in the summer of 2015, it requires all schools applying for Title IV funding to report how they educate students on safe relationship behaviors.

VA Crime Commission Study

Dan and Gil Harrington participated in the Virginia Crime Commission study to upgrade and standardize statewide response to missing-persons cases in the Commonwealth. The study is intended to make Virginia's response to missing-persons cases more effective and to use resources more efficiently — a comprehensive attempt to improve service to victims and their families.

HB 1930, SB 712, VA HB 1785

The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate passed multiple bills in March 2015, including HB 1930 and SB 712. These bills require institutions of higher education to report cases involving a felony sexual assault to the local attorney for the Commonwealth. They also require every employee to report acts of sexual violence to the campus Title IX coordinator, who reports to a committee comprising the Title IX coordinator, a student affairs representative, and a law enforcement representative. The committee meets within 72 hours to determine whether immediate disclosure to law enforcement is necessary to protect the survivor and the public.

HB 1617

HB 1617 requires that every person convicted of a Class 1 misdemeanor under Title 18.2 provide a DNA sample. Juveniles convicted of or adjudicated delinquent of any three misdemeanor sex offenses are also required to provide a sample. Introduced by Delegate David J. Toscano, the bill garnered support after the murder of Hannah Graham. Jesse Matthew, forensically linked to both Hannah Graham and Morgan Harrington, could possibly have been apprehended sooner if his DNA had been on file, as he was convicted of a misdemeanor (trespassing) in 2010. Before HB 1617, only those convicted of a felony were required to submit a DNA sample.

The Governor's Child Safety Test

VA HB 965, the Governor's Child Safety Test, would permit each local school board to include the test as part of the physical education program. It would consist of eight yearly hours on how to recognize, avoid, resist, and escape physical, sexual, and online threats. Upon successful completion, the student would receive a certificate signed by the Governor.

In January 2014, Gil and Dan Harrington went to the State Capitol to urge lawmakers to consider adding the Governor's Child Safety Test to Virginia's physical education program.

Katherine's Law

Katherine's Law, VA Bill HB 2490, was introduced in 2011. The bill would require campus police to report the death or alleged rape of any person on campus property to the local or state law enforcement agency in which the institution is located, which would then collaborate with campus police in felony investigations. The Harringtons believe students are entitled to the same investigative support and response as the community where they reside.

Familial DNA Testing

Familial DNA Testing, or Familial Searching, is the deliberate search of a DNA database for matches that are not exact but close enough to constitute a familial relation (sibling, parent, etc.). This process has been used in the UK for years, and is available in Colorado, California, Texas, and now Virginia due to the Harringtons' lobbying efforts. The family believes this forensic test should be available nationwide as a tool for law enforcement.

Kristen's Law

If a missing person is over 18 years of age, the support network collapses. It is not a crime for an adult to be missing, and there is no funding to support families to instigate searches or access media in hopes of recovering a missing loved one. The Harrington family lobbied in Congress in 2009, following Morgan's abduction, to seek funds for missing adults. Named after Kristen Modafferi, an 18-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, who went missing in June of 1997, this bill was started to help create and fund a National Center for Missing Adults (NCMA).