Bipartisan Lukens, Daugherty Bill to Strengthen Civil Rape Shield Law Goes Into Effect
COLORADO - On July 1, 2025, bipartisan legislation sponsored by Representative Meghan Lukens and Senator Lindsey Daugherty goes into effect to strengthen protections for survivors of sexual misconduct by expanding the Civil Rape Shield Law.
“Too many times, victims have been blamed for an assault based on what they wear and how they live their lives,” said Rep. Meghan Lukens, D-Steamboat Springs.“The unfortunate reality is that survivors of sexual misconduct have been hesitant to pursue legal action against their assailant because irrelevant details about their past sexual history, lifestyle, and clothing could be used against them. In Colorado, we stand by victims of sexual assault. With this bipartisan law going into effect, we’re preventing lawyers from using these unrelated details in a civil case to protect survivors so they can hold their stalker, harasser, or assaulter accountable.”
“This legislation ensures that survivors of sexual violence are treated with dignity and fairness in civil court,” said Senator Lindsey Daugherty, D-Arvada. “Survivors who bravely come forward deserve to know that irrelevant details – like their clothing, hair style, or past sexual history – will not be used against them. By preventing the use of these unrelated details in civil cases, we can protect survivors and hold perpetrators accountable.”
HB25-1138, also sponsored by Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, and Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Weld County, will protect victims of sexual assault in civil cases by making hairstyle, speech, lifestyle, and clothing related to an alleged sexual offense inadmissible as evidence of consent, credibility, or harm. Except for the source or origin of semen, pregnancy, disease, or proving someone else committed the assault, past sexual history cannot be discussed unless permitted by a judge after privately reviewing the evidence.
Prior to this law going into effect, Colorado statutes deemed sexual activity as irrelevant and inadmissible in a civil proceeding unless that sexual activity was between a victim and a defendant. HB25-1138 eliminates that exception. This law applies to court proceedings occurring on or after July 1, 2025.
Colorado Democrats passed a 2024 law that expanded the Criminal Rape Shield Law to prohibit the admission of evidence of a victim’s clothing or the victim’s past sexual history with a defendant to prove consent.