Reunion Online

All the latest from our blog and magazine by category | all posts

Joyful Heart Groundbreaking Celebrity PSAs Address Myths, Societal Attitudes that Confront Male Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

March 2, 2016
By
Joyful Heart Foundation
The Joyful Heart Foundation and 1in6 – in partnership with Viacom – today launched a new series of print and broadcast public service announcements (PSAs) that speak to the excuses and societal attitudes that male survivors of sexual abuse are confronted with and direct viewers to resources for help.
read more

Ohio tests 10,000 rape kits to clear backlogs, hundreds indicted

February 18, 2016
By
Kim Palmer

An effort Ohio launched about five years ago to manage its backlog of rape kits has resulted in more than 10,000 tests to recover physical evidence and led to at least 445 indictments, the state Attorney General's office said on Thursday.

"This is a tremendous milestone," Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. "The testing of these 10,000 kits has helped identify hundreds of alleged assailants, many of whom repeatedly committed violent attacks."

...

read more

Faced With Staggering Backlogs of Rape Kits, States Change Testing, Investigations

February 17, 2016
By
Rebecca Beitsch

Seeking to secure justice for thousands of rape victims, about 20 states are moving to test a backlog of unexamined rape kits found in storage rooms in police departments across the country — and change the rules for how rape cases are handled in the future.

read more

An Inside Look at our February ENDTHEBACKLOG Newsletter

Today, we're giving an inside look at our most recent ENDTHEBACKLOG newsletter for our email subscribers. Today's topics: a new $41M proposed in the federal budget, what we think belongs in comprehensive rape kit legislation, laws being considered in 18 states and more.
read more

Why One Ohio Court Case Could Be Detrimental for Rape Victims Everywhere

February 8, 2016
By
Lindsay Schrupp
Despite Ohio's extensive initiative to test thousands of previously untested, backlogged rape kits, one Ohio Supreme Court case could affect the ways in which future rape cases are prosecuted.
read more

Why an Ohio Supreme Court case involving rape kits is drawing national attention

February 17, 2016
By
Rachel Dissel

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Cleveland rape case in the hands of the Ohio Supreme Court could result in tougher standards for prosecuting cases reopened after tests on thousands rape kits, some that had been shelved for decades.

State and national victims' advocacy groups are closely watching the case. They've filed legal briefs warning that, if an appeals court decision stands, it could undermine justice for rape survivors and allow serial rapists to evade prosecution.

read more

Joyful Heart Foundation and Partners File Amicus Brief in Ohio Case That Could Undermine Justice for Rape Survivors

January 20, 2016
By
Joyful Heart Foundation
We have just filed an amicus brief on behalf of the State of Ohio, which is appealing the Ohio Court of Appeals’ decision to use the state’s backlog of untested rape kits in part to dismiss rape and kidnapping charges against an alleged serial rapist. Partners AEquitas: The Prosecutors’ Resource on Violence Against Women, Rape Abuse Incest National Network, Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence and National Alliance to End Sexual Violence (NAESV) joined Joyful Heart in the filing.
read more

It’s Not a Backlog, It’s a Lack of Concern for Rape Victims

January 15, 2016
By
Lauren Finley

According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), an American is sexually assaulted every 107 seconds. “Rape kit” is the term used to describe the physical evidence obtained from a victim who reports being sexually assaulted. Victims’ bodies are, in essence, the crime scene. They endure what some might describe as a second sexual violation, being scraped, poked and prodded, only out of hope that their perpetrator can eventually be held accountable. And perhaps not rape again, as so many do.

...

 

read more

New Mexico Audit Finds 5,411 Untested Rape Kits

January 7, 2016
By

SANTA FE, N.M. – Victims' rights advocates are hoping New Mexico officials take steps during the upcoming legislative session to deal with the state's backlog of untested sexual assault evidence kits, or rape kits.

A state audit discovered more than 5,400 kits still sitting in police evidence lockers around the state. 

...

read more

No urgency in testing rape kits amounts to no respect for victims

January 5, 2016
By
Fabiola Santiago

Where’s the urgency, the respect for rape victims?

On Tuesday afternoon, a day after the Florida Department of Law Enforcement released a report revealing the high number of rape-evidence kits that sit untested for DNA in police storage facilities, the police agency with the highest number of them remained mum.

Still working on trying to get information, a spokesman of the Miami-Dade County Police Department told the Miami Herald.

read more

Pages