Thanks in part to the work of advocacy groups, at least seven states are rethinking child marriage entirely — with Virginia becoming the first Southern state to pass a total ban on child marriage early in April. These states have pending legislation in the past year that would ban marriage forRead More

Washington State will take an important step to improve the treatment of substance use disorder (SUD) as Governor Jay Inslee signs SB 6228 into law. Sponsored by Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond) the bill aims to increase access to inpatient treatment and treatment medications.Read More

"This legislation rewrites our state’s laws to provide a truly victim-centered, trauma-informed response to survivors of sexual assault and child trafficking,” said Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond), prime sponsor of both bills. "Too often, the victims of gender-based violence are forgotten byRead More

Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, said they sent the governor “common sense measures” that build on “the work we’ve been doing the last few years that I think has really made a difference.”Read More

“We have to make sure that we have that balance between making sure it’s a fair trial where all of the defendant’s rights are preserved, but also being victim-centered,” said Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, the bill’s lead sponsor. “I think we can have that balance.”Read More

Prior to being elected to the state Senate in 2017, when she won a special election that gave Democrats full control of both legislative chambers in Olympia, Dhingra worked as a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County. She leaned into that experience on Saturday, mentioning that she'sRead More

House Bill 1455, prime sponsored by Representative Monica Stonier (D‑49th District: Clark County) and championed on the other side of the rotunda by Senator Derek Stanford (D‑1st District: King and Snohomish counties) requires that both parties in a civil marriage be at least eighteen yearsRead More

Sponsored by Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, and Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, the bill specifically targets rural and underserved areas, which have been hit hardest by these challenges. By directing state agencies to set up internship programs and provide essential training, the legislation aims toRead More

Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond and lead sponsor of SB 6006, said the bill is about prosecuting the trafficker, not the victim. “If people weren’t paying for abuse, we would just be calling it straight statutory rape. But because their abuses are paid for, we think [the victims] areRead More

“If we want to end child marriage in Washington, we should end child marriage in Washington, period,” said Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond. “No exceptions.”Read More