Latest news with #SummerWillis
CNN
29-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
She helped Texas close a loophole preventing sexual assault survivors from getting justice. Why can't more states get it done?
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article contains discussion of sexual assault that may be distressing for some readers. Summer Willis looked down at her bloody hands and knees after crawling for 22 hours on her way to the Texas Capitol to advocate for a change in state sexual assault law. She had set out at 4 a.m. on that cold February day to crawl the length of the entire Austin Marathon, a melding of performance art and activism, but this was the most agonizing physical pain the mother of two had ever experienced. She made it an excruciating 13 miles. Exhausted, she looked across the street and realized she was standing directly across from the site where she said she was raped 10 years ago at a University of Texas at Austin fraternity party. Prosecutors say what happened to her would likely not legally have been considered sexual assault because of a state loophole: she accepted the drink she was handed at that party – which she believes was laced – before she was raped by another person. At issue was how Texas sexual assault law outlined lack of consent. It did not specifically include victims who have been voluntarily intoxicated, making their cases nearly impossible to prosecute. 'After 10 years, I finally gave myself permission to stand up,' Willis said, deciding to run the remainder of the marathon. 'I stood up and I said, I'm not going to finish this how I anticipated it, but I am going to finish it.' And she did. The long-standing loophole that prevented Willis and other sexual assault survivors from getting justice in court was closed with the passage of the Summer Willis Act, which Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed on June 20. The law expands the definition of consent and clearly outlines sexual assault to include cases in which a victim 'cannot consent because of intoxication or impairment by any substance.' 'I'll never get justice from this bill. It's not retroactive, but I know that every victim from the day of the signing … won't have to be told it doesn't count,' Willis said. Two years before she crawled to the Capitol, Willis decided to start running marathons – some with a mattress on her back – not to change laws, but to bolster her own healing after years of living with the long shadow of trauma the attack cast on her life. 'I was looking at my beautiful boys' faces, and I was like, 'I want to be the woman that I used to believe I could be for you guys, someone who's strong, and confident and whole.'' Her organization, Strength Through Strides, has now raised tens of thousands of dollars for sexual assault survivors, she says. 'I know that every victim from the day of the signing … won't have to be told it doesn't count.' Summer Willis Her success has captured attention, along with high-profile cases of survivors seeking justice. This month alone, the trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, continues. Meanwhile, disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein and President Donald Trump have been contending with the legal fallout from sexual assault allegations. Trump has denied all claims. Advocates hope these stories will encourage survivors to come forward. But even if they do, many people still live in a state where rape statutes don't protect victims who were unable to consent after becoming voluntarily intoxicated. Experts say some form of the intoxication loophole still exists in more than 20 states. A 2022 analysis of sexual assault laws from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. found nearly half of those jurisdictions 'require that a victim must be involuntarily intoxicated to be considered incapacitated or impaired.' 'State laws have enshrined victim blaming in our legal system when it comes to sexual assault,' said Mollie Montague, director of state legislative affairs with the nation's largest anti-sexual violence group, RAINN. Policy change may require a cultural shift, she says. 'Changing these laws really forces us to confront long-held beliefs – and laws that do that are hard to pass,' Montague said. 'People fear changing the status quo, and right now the status quo is protecting predators.' It can take time, she says, citing New York, where lawmakers have been trying to pass legislation to close the state's intoxication loophole for at least six years. And it isn't always due to opposition to the policies themselves or lack of lawmaker support. Advocates in the state said they've seen sexual assault bills with bipartisan support die again and again simply because they were not called to a vote. But after the Minnesota Supreme Court overturned a felony rape conviction in 2021, citing that the victim had voluntarily consumed several shots of alcohol and a prescription narcotic pill before the alleged assault, outrage ensued and state lawmakers passed a new law within months. A group of lawmakers, including Texas state Rep. Ann Johnson, met Willis at the finish line. 'More than 30 years ago, I had somebody disclose to me that they were intoxicated at a fraternity party, taken to a space and sexually assaulted. It is something that I have carried with me,' Johnson told CNN. That personal story drove Johnson's decision to build a career working with assault survivors. As a former human trafficking prosecutor, she said she knows how difficult it can be to prosecute sexual assault cases, especially when alcohol is involved. Johnson said she and her colleagues with the state's Sexual Assault Survivors' Task Force have been workshopping legislation to close the intoxication loophole for at least the last six years, but each time it's been derailed, previously passing in the House but not the Senate. On that February day after the race, Willis 'was just physically devastated,' Johnson said. Ravenous, Willis snacked as the lawmakers talked to her about the legislation they had in the works and pitched her an idea. 'Would you be willing to let us name this the Summer Willis Act? Would you be willing to come back and testify to get it passed?' Johnson asked. Three months later, Willis was back at home in Houston, nursing a 102-degree fever and taking care of a 2-year-old and 4-year-old. The family was glued to the projector they set up specially for the night's entertainment: the last vote of the state's legislative session. 'He kept yelling at the projector, 'Talk about my mamma!'' Willis said of her older son. She had been telling and retelling the story of her rape to lawmakers, advocates and reporters over the past few months. 'I had to be willing to be the story,' Willis said. She anxiously waited to see if the bill, which now bore her name, would be called for a vote before the end of the night. With dozens of bills on the docket yet to be called, the hours ticked on. 'We're starting to realize, they're not getting through all of these. Will they choose ours?' Willis said. A text message from one senator's chief of staff came in, she said, saying, 'Prayers are needed right now.' When someone announced the session was ending for the night, Willis was in tears. 'And then they called our bill, when all hope was lost, when we already thought we lost,' Willis said. Texas Rep. Donna Howard authored the bill, which passed unanimously that night. 'When preparing for this legislative session, we knew we needed storytellers who could help thread the needle for lawmakers,' Howard told CNN in a statement. 'Summer was, in some ways, the missing piece to our puzzle.' Howard said Willis represents the thousands of survivors who have been turned away by law enforcement due to the state's previous consent laws. 'Our latest statistics show that 9% of survivors in Texas report their assault; of those, less than 3% will proceed to trial and even fewer will see their rapists behind bars. This will change after September 1,' she added. Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, who carried the bill through the Senate, says the new law closes the gap that long allowed predators to escape accountability. 'Survivors will finally have the clarity and recognition in the law that their experiences are real, that what happened to them was criminal, and that our justice system will stand with them,' she told CNN in a statement. 'Prosecutors will be better equipped to hold offenders accountable, and potential perpetrators will know that these loopholes no longer exist.' In May, the state Senate passed a special resolution recognizing Willis for her advocacy on behalf of sexual assault survivors. When Willis heard advocates and lawmakers in New York were also trying to push through legislation to close their state's intoxication loophole, she booked a ticket. If people could see someone who took on the legislative machine and won, maybe they could do the same. Forty-eight hours later, and just weeks after the bill passed in the Texas Senate, Willis stood in the middle of New York City's Bryant Park as light rain misted over the busy professionals rushing by on their lunch breaks – and once again, she told the story of her rape. Her voice strained as she tried to speak over the din of the city in June, but she wasn't alone. Standing behind her were supporters from dozens of advocacy organizations, including Sky and Amanda Roberts, the brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Giuffre, a prominent sex abuse survivor of Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre died by suicide in April. Giuffre's advocacy for survivors was an inspiration for Willis, who wore a dress with a butterfly pattern that day, a symbol that came to represent freedom for Giuffre. When the bill passed in Texas, Willis says one of the first calls she received was from Sky and Amanda. The couple brought their two young children to the gathering in Bryant Park. 'I think it's important to let them know who their aunt was and what she fought for, and how important – at whatever age – it is to fight for what's right,' Amanda said. 'My sister – if she could be here today, she would have,' Sky added. Advocates for all kinds of causes are vying for the attention of the same pool of lawmakers who hold the power to turn a hot-button issue into tangible policy change. Having a face attached to an issue can mean the difference between a bill getting called for a vote or collecting dust for another year. 'Will people pay attention to sexual assault if someone's not crawling, or running with a mattress…?' Summer Willis But it's important to consult survivors when shaping these laws, not just when they're needed to promote them, Christian Nunes, president of women's grassroots group National Organization for Women, told CNN. 'A lot of times we see gaps in bills because survivors, or those people with lived experience who the bill is meant for, are not included in shaping the conversation, or the shaping of the bill,' said Nunes, who worked as a trauma therapist for years. Advocates in New York were heavily involved in shaping the bill, which had broad bipartisan support, Emily Miles, executive director of New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, told CNN. But that's not always enough, she noted. The bill was not called for a vote by the deadline and died. Four months, six pairs of knee pads and one small media blitz after her crawl to the state Capitol, Willis is sitting in her home in Houston on a hot afternoon in late June. She's been on a victory lap since the governor signed the Summer Willis Act, smiling wide for photo ops and media interviews. She just has one interview left for the day before she takes a full month off. She needs a break. 'I don't think people realize how hard it was,' Willis says through tears. 'Everyone can think about the worst thing that ever happened to them, but are they willing to stand on the steps of the Capitol, or crawl for 22 hours or tell the 'Today' show about it?' 'It takes so much,' she says. Despite her victory in Texas, she's disheartened by what happened with the bill in New York. No one ran. No one bled. But advocates there shared their experiences, just as she had. Is it enough for assault survivors to simply tell their stories and ask for help? 'That's a great question. Will people pay attention to sexual assault if someone's not crawling, or running with a mattress or doing these crazy things? Do we as a society care enough?' Willis says. 'I don't know, because this is the way that I did it.' She's planning on using her downtime to take a five-year anniversary trip with her husband, Andrew. He's been there for every step. Andrew says he's proud of what his wife has accomplished, and she's still the same person he met years ago back in the Peace Corps. He recalls an orientation they attended in Mexico. When the leaders reviewed information about sexual assault, one of their colleagues ran out of the room, visibly shaken. Summer rushed out to comfort her. 'I remember hours later seeing Summer and that woman, and maybe three or four other women, who were all sitting together and sharing stories,' he says. 'This was years before she ever thought about running marathons.' 'I forgot about the Peace Corps thing,' Willis says, recounting the night she told those women her story of sexual assault, and in turn they shared their own – one of them for the very first time. She considers the question again: Is it enough just to share your story? It turns out, sometimes it is. If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you are not alone. Visit RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline for help. Call (4673), chat at or text 'HOPE' to 64673.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill named for UT Austin student passes, closes sexual assault loophole
Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault. Please return to the homepage if you are not comfortable with the topic. If you are in distress and need to speak with someone, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas will close a loophole in its sexual assault laws after the Texas Senate passed House Bill 3073 on Wednesday, which makes it a crime in Texas to have sex with a person who is voluntarily intoxicated. Sexual assault survivors testify to Senate committee on bill to close loophole Previously, in order to convict someone for a sexual assault, prosecutors had to prove that a defendant had 'intentionally impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by administering any substance without the other person's knowledge.' For survivors like bill namesake Summer Willis, this wording prevented her from pressing charges. The new Texas' Penal code language will instead read: 'A sexual assault … is without the consent of the other person if the actor knows that the other person is intoxicated or impaired by any substance to the extent that the other person is incapable of consenting' The sexual assault statutes would now cite an already enrolled definition of consent — 'assent in fact, whether express or apparent.' The bill came out of Gov. Greg Abbott's Sexual Assault Survivors Task Force and supporters said that it had his support. Unless Abbott issues a surprise veto, the bill goes into law on Sept. 1. HB 3073 narrowly avoided multiple deadlines near the end of the session. Willis and other organizers told KXAN that they've been pushing for the change for over 10 years. Previous: Survivors urge Texas lawmakers to close sexual assault loophole before bill dies The delayed start of the new law means that it will not cover assaults of intoxicated people occurring prior to September. HB 3073 was authored by Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin; Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway; Ann Johnson, D-Houston; David Cook, R-Mansfield; and Nichole Collier, D-Fort Worth. Its Senate sponsor was Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Summer Willis Act' passes Texas House, needs Senate vote
The Brief Summer Willis Act passed Texas House, needs Senate vote scheduled Act is named for Summer Willis, a sexual assault survivor and activist Act clarifies that sex without clear, ongoing and informed consent is sexual assault AUSTIN, Texas - A sexual assault survivor is fighting for legislation to clarify the definition of consent. The bill has passed in the House but still needs to be scheduled for a vote in the Senate, or it will die this session. What we know House Bill 3073, also known as the Summer Willis Act, clarifies that sex without clear, ongoing, and informed consent, especially when someone is intoxicated or unable to resist, is sexual assault. The bill has passed in the House but needs to be heard in the Criminal Justice Committee and voted on before heading to the Senate. If it does make it to the Governor's desk, and he signs it, it will go into effect Sept. 1. What they're saying "Right now, Texas is saying the worst thing that ever happened to me does not count and to hear that, I have chills all over my body," sexual assault survivor and activist Summer Willis said. "None of us would think that it would make sense to engage in a contract with someone who was impaired. We would know that. And so this really is just common-sense legislation," state Sen. Angela Paxton said. "I've been making calls and connections, connecting with survivors, doing anything I can to make sure that for the first time in ten years that I can have justice, but so can survivors across Texas," Willis said. The backstory About 10 years ago, Summer Willis said she was at a frat party at UT Austin, was drugged by one person and raped by another. The case was never prosecuted. About two years ago, Willis started running. "This was for me to finally stop running away from the shadow of sexual assault and run towards healing," Willis said. She ran 29 marathons in a year. One marathon she ran with a mattress on her back. "Survivors are forced to carry an invisible weight every single day. The weight of what was done to us. In a world that too often refuses to believe us," Willis said. Willis said when she started telling her story, many other survivors shared theirs. "In the aftermath, I felt broken," survivor Sophia-Rose Centurioni said. "We must call this what it is and we must protect those too vulnerable to protect themselves in that moment," survivor Dr. Lavinia Masters said. "I started thinking, how can I actually help them? What can I change to make this better? Willis said. The Source Information in this report comes from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Survivors urge Texas lawmakers to close sexual assault loophole before bill dies
Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault. Please return to the homepage if you are not comfortable with the topic. If you are in distress and need to speak with someone, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sexual assault survivors and advocates said they would rally at the Texas Capitol Monday around 12:30 p.m. to voice support for a bill that could close a loop in the state's sex crime laws, according to a press release. House Bill 3073, named the 'Summer Willis Act,' passed in the House on May 1 with only four representatives voting against it, according to legislative records. It would add language to the Texas' sexual assault statute to include offenses while a victim is voluntarily intoxicated. 'Because of gaps in Texas law, Summer Willis was denied justice,' the release states. 'This bill strengthens our laws and moves Texas closer to ensuring that every sexual assault case is met with the seriousness and justice it deserves.' The rally will feature other sexual assault survivors and advocates, including Dr. Lavinia Masters and the family of Jeffery Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, according to the release. The bill is now before the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee, which is led by Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, and Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound. That committee has held three meetings since the bill was referred to it. According to the release, Willis and other advocates are worried that the bill will die in committee. As of Monday morning, the bill is not listed on the committee's Tuesday agenda. Willis, a sexual assault survivor, is scheduled to speak at the rally to 'urge Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to overrule Flores and schedule the vote.' 'Texas, I can't begin to describe what survivors go through after we survive,' said Willis in the release. 'And I don't have words strong enough to describe what it feels like to know our state offers loopholes to rapists and locked doors to us.' Willis was honored in the Senate Monday morning While not an official deadline, time is running out on the 89th legislative session; the last day for the Senate to consider HB 3073 is May 28. The committee does not have any other meetings scheduled ahead of that deadline, according to legislative records. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Yahoo
52 Laps, 13 Hours, and 6 Knee Pads: She Crawled a Half Marathon Around a Track
Summer Willis is on the ground, crawling the track at Austin High School. Since 4:50 a.m on Saturday, February 15, the mom of two has inched her way through the marathon distance on her hands and knees. In the afternoon sun, you can see the scrapes on her knee pads and holes in her shoes, already worn down from dragging across the track for almost 10 hours. Her shirt, which says, 'There is strength in crawling. There is hope in standing tall. There will be change,' is drenched in sweat. Even though her knees are throbbing and her hands are bleeding, Willis is still smiling while making steady progress. On the track and beyond, it's been a grueling process to get here for Willis. During her sophomore year at the University of Texas, Willis was drugged and raped at a fraternity party by someone she considered a friend, she told Runner's World in November. Though the Houston-based runner has returned to Austin in the 10 years since (she ran the city's marathon last year), being here is understandably painful. But this time, Willis has come with a greater purpose—to reclaim her story. Last fall, Willis decided to crawl 26.2 as a way to symbolize the painful process of recovery for survivors of sexual assault while also pushing for new legislation aimed to support them. '19-year-old Summer after the rape believed that I was worthless, weak, and stupid, and that it was my fault,' Willis, 30, said. 'Coming back to Austin and being able to inspire people like me, who have been crawling for a long time, and share the worst thing that ever happened to me in order to amplify the voices of survivors, it means so much.' After the sexual assault, Willis went into a deep depression and later suffered in an abusive relationship while trying to hide the trauma for several years. Eventually, she got into teaching, which is how she met her husband, Andrew Willis. They have two boys, who are now 2 and 4. Inspired by the 2023 Runner's World article about Julie Weiss, a marathoner who raised $1 million for pancreatic cancer research, Willis started running as a way to heal. In one year, she ran 29 marathons to raise awareness for survivors of sexual assault, ending her campaign at the 2024 Chicago Marathon. She also started the nonprofit Strength Through Strides, an organization dedicated to helping women overcome trauma through health and wellness. The idea to crawl 26.2 came to Willis after she completed the 29 marathons last fall. She started looking at legislation in Texas and realized she could do more to help people in her home state. For Willis, the crawl symbolizes the slow, agonizing process of recovery and receiving support for survivors. 'This [crawl] is an opportunity to be angry and vulnerable and to say, this was not easy. This was really hard, and I'm going to do something about it,' Willis said. This spring, Willis will testify for bills aimed to change the laws around sexual assault and consent in the state of Texas. In partnership with Texas state representatives and congressmen, they hope to 'clarify the definition of consent with respect to sexual violence,' make it so that 'sexual assault is without consent if the actor knows or reasonably should know that the other person is intoxicated or impaired by any substance and cannot give consent' (current Texas law states the actor must intentionally impair the other person by administering a substance), and clarify that 'consent can be withdrawn once an act has been initiated,' among other protections for victims. Willis also used the crawl to fundraise for the SAFE Alliance, a domestic abuse treatment center in Austin. To prepare for the feat, Willis hired a strength training coach and focused on long stints of exercise to train herself physically and mentally. When she started the buildup in October, Willis could only do five push-ups at a time. Now, she can do 100. She also did ultra-distance training sessions, like eight-hour runs and crawls and six-hour swims in the pool. Initially, Willis planned to crawl the entire Austin Marathon course, but safety concerns—avoiding traffic on city streets in the dark—initiated a change in plans. Instead, she started the challenge on the Austin High School track, where she and Andrew set up a fuel station and took short nap breaks in an Airstream trailer. At 2 a.m. on Sunday, February 16, Willis finished the first 13.1 miles (52 laps) on the track, wearing down six pairs of knee pads in the process. She completed the half marathon in 13 hours and 30 minutes. If the effort is ratified by Guinness World Records, she could become the record-holder for the fastest half marathon crawling. But the experience was excruciating. 'Cuts, bruises, and what feels like stress fractures made continuing impossible,' she said. A few hours later, Willis was dropped off at the 13.1 mark on the Austin Marathon course, which happened to be located across the street from the building where her sexual assault took place. Instead of crawling the remaining miles, she ran with the rest of the field—determined to finish the challenge while 'standing tall' in the place where she once felt broken. Willis said she approached the change as a failure at first, but that feeling shifted when she acknowledged the progress she's made in the 10 years since. 'I get to run and have a smile on my face with these amazing women at the finish line,' she thought. Around 1 p.m., Willis was joined by state representatives Donna Howard, Ann Johnson, and Vikki Goodwin for the final 0.3 miles of the race. Together, they ran arm-in-arm into the finish line on Congress Avenue. Thirty minutes later, Congressman Lloyd Doggett joined them outside the gates of the Texas state capitol for a press conference to share their plans for policy changes and appreciation for Willis's advocacy. 'She's doing it for every other victim who hasn't had the courage to speak up, and I know that they're going to see this,' Johnson told the crowd. 'They are going to know everything about you, and they're going to see themselves in you and the fact that you would stand here in front of this capitol and demand from every elected official in this state that we can do better and we must do better.' After the crowd left, Willis took a seat on the steps of the capitol gate, her knees covered in bandages after swelling to twice their normal size. While race organizers dismantled the barriers directing runners to the finish line, she reflected on the struggles she experienced in the last 35 hours. The bruises. The blood. The self-doubt. And the tears. But none of it stopped her from finding a way to complete 26.2 for those who've suffered for far too long. Though the crawl didn't end in the way she envisioned, Willis said it was better. She found joy, running for a purpose with leaders who are working to create change with her. 'I felt like nobody,' Willis said. 'And they showed up and they're fighting for people like me, and that just means the world.' You Might Also Like What's the Deal With Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss? The Best Trail Running Gear Is Running on an Empty Stomach Best or Should You Eat Breakfast First?
