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SVPA celebrates big win preventing state-sanctioned sexual violence in Montana

May 19, 2025

SVPA

On May 13th, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte vetoed a bill that would have increased strip searches for those charged with misdemeanors. The Montana House Bill, known as HB 605, would have permitted the searches for individuals housed in state jails or correctional facilities for more than 12 hours, even if they haven’t been convicted of a crime. 

Strip searching is a form of state-sanctioned sexual violence — an act that is sexual in nature, required or permitted by the government regardless of the individual’s consent.  It is a traumatic violation of consent, bodily autonomy, and privacy. 

Supporters of HB 605 claim the purpose of the bill is to address concerns of smuggling drugs, weapons, and other contraband, but the bill would have broadly applied to anyone charged with a misdemeanor, not just drug or weapons-related offenses. 

The current law, passed in 2013, states, “a person arrested or detained for a traffic offense or an offense that is not a felony may not be subjected to a strip search or a body cavity search by a peace officer or law enforcement employee unless there is reasonable suspicion to believe the person is concealing a weapon, contraband, or evidence of the commission of a crime.”  In other words, officers can already strip search someone if they think they have a weapon, drugs, or other contraband.  This law, HB 605, would have made it so they could perform strip searches without any reason or suspicion. 

A high number of individuals who are arrested are survivors. 86% of women in prison have experienced sexual violence at some point in their lives. Many of those who would be forcibly strip searched under this bill are survivors who would have heightened trauma from this experience. 

The Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) took a public stand against the harm HB 605 would have caused by increasing the harmful, traumatic practice of strip searching. We spoke with Montana state senators and representatives, urging them to vote against this unnecessary bill. We advocated for Governor Gianforte to veto the bill, which he did on May 13.

State representatives who voted against the bill cited its violation of civil rights and evidence that strip searching is ineffective for preventing contraband. Sen. Daniel Emrich stated, “unless [the police] have reasonable cause, which is already provided for, I don’t think that anybody should be subjected to a strip search when they haven’t had their constitutional rights adjudicated.”

It is important to recognize that Governor Gianforte’s publicly stated reasons for vetoing the bill were not based on the harms of strip searching or the civil rights violations. Instead, Gianforte claimed his reasoning was based on an amendment that would have required each county to pay a $250 fee to the Department of Justice (DOJ) to develop safety guidelines for conducting these strip searches.  

HB 605 passed in both the Montana Senate and House of Representatives, with many stating their support was to increase safety. Faux calls for safety are the most common justification for increasing state-sanctioned sexual violence. 

Regardless of his reasoning, the Governor’s veto has prevented state-sanctioned sexual violence. Across Montana, thousands of people will not be subjected to strip searching. 

“This is a big win. Sexual violence is already so pervasive without being further signed into law. Individuals deserve to be protected by their lawmakers, not subjected to sexual trauma in the false pursuit of ‘safety.’ It is time to end state-sanctioned sexual violence,” said Omny Miranda Martone, Founder and CEO of the SVPA.

Strip searching is violating and dehumanizing, whether it occurs in prisons, at the border, in emergency rooms, or at psychiatric hospitals. It is against peoples’ rights to subject them to strip searches, especially without probable cause. With HB 605, this would have become common practice. The SVPA opposes strip and cavity searches — safety should not require violation. We are working nationally to advocate against this and all forms of state-sanctioned sexual violence.

If you are interested in learning more about the SVPA and our work preventing state-sanctioned sexual violence, sign up for our newsletter or follow us on social media.

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Since our start in 2021, the Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) has been dedicated to preventing sexual violence systemically. Our advocacy, resources, and institutional actions have had broad impact across the country. Check out our impact report to learn more!