With a flurry of laws signed April 11, Gov. Scott Walker did an incredibly good thing — he helped victims of crimes.

Ranging from helping victims of sexual assault and abuse to simply allowing to transfer and terminate phone contracts, the only intention of this legislation was to help those victimized, which is a worthy goal.

The major legislation signed was a bill allowing for abuse victims to obtain confidential mailing addresses from the state. This is important because it gives victims of domestic abuse a place to go, a support network and a place to escape the abuser, all of which are major reasons why victims stay with abusers.

In the same vein, a different bill allows for a victim of sexual assault, child sexual abuse or human trafficking to have an advocate accompany them through criminal justice proceedings. This is essential to help victims of sexual assault share their stories and hold perpetrators accountable.

Victims feel a loss of control; they feel powerless, embarrassed and isolated. Only 68 percent of sexual assaults are reported to the police. Hopefully showing a more supportive attitude towards those victims in the courtroom will help increase reporting.

The other major bill worthy of being highlighted is one that allows a parent of a child killed by homicide to receive compensation of up to $3,000 for economic losses and mental health treatment.

It is important for parents to seek therapy after losing a child. A study conducted among Wisconsin parents compared the long-term psychological effects of losing a child versus not losing a child. It found that parents who lost a child “reported more depressive symptoms, poorer well-being and more health problems and were more likely to have experienced a depressive episode and marital disruption than were comparison parents.”

All of these pieces of legislation are important to victims and the victim’s family. This is how the legislative process is supposed to work; a governor approving well-crafted bills that benefit society. This gives me hope that our Legislature can tackle issues facing Wisconsin.

Aaron Reilly ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in comparative literature and Russian.