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Christine Blasey Ford and a Survivor’s Choice
Editor’s note: A survivor’s decision to seek help or report a rape is a personal choice that belongs only to the survivor. Survivors’ bravery and credibility are not dependent on whether they choose to report an assault to authorities or not. All survivors are courageous; their reasons to share their experiences or keep it to themselves are their own. When a high-profile survivor story dominates news headlines, survivors’ accounts get called into question and are heavily scrutinized.
Senate bill requiring prompt rape kit tests heads to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk
A bill requiring law enforcement agencies and laboratories to promptly analyze all newly collected rape kit evidence advanced to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk Friday.
The state Senate and Assembly unanimously approved SB 1449 authored by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, according to a press release provided by Leyva’s office.
Under the legislation, newly collected rape kits would have to be sent to a lab within 20 days and tested no later than 120 days after receipt in order to prevent backlogs of forensic evidence.
DA pledged to test 1,000 rape kits, but lab’s pace is testing critics’ patience
In late April, at the height of her successful campaign for district attorney, interim DA Summer Stephan announced she would spend $1 million to test 1,000 rape kits.
By the end of August, only 200 kits will have been tested by Bode Cellmark Forensics, a private lab in Virginia, said a spokesman for LabCorp, Bode’s corporate parent.
California bill to count rape kit backlog won’t impact SFPD
Through public records requests, End the Backlog estimates that more than 13,000 kits are sitting untested on the shelves of California law enforcement—but it still won’t have a complete number unless jurisdictions are mandated to have them.
Blogger Beth Manos Brickey on Food, Wellness, and Her #MeToo Moment
Beth Manos Brickey is a Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, a yoga instructor, and a blogger with a love for food and wellness. She was chosen as one of four bloggers to compete in the Canyon Bakehouse Sammie Smackdown, a challenge to create the tastiest gluten-free sandwich. Canyon Bakehouse will donate $10,000 to the winning blogger’s charity of choice, and Beth is competing for Joyful Heart.
The Me Too movement has changed our culture. Now it’s changing our laws.
The Me Too movement has touched almost every industry in the past year, and state legislatures have been under growing pressure to curb sexual assault and harassment in private workplaces and within their own chambers. But has the reckoning had an impact on the law?
Early signs point to yes.
New State Laws To End The Untested Rape Kit Backlog
During its second year, Joyful Heart’s national campaign to pass comprehensive rape kit reform continued to build momentum. Since January, an exceptional 46 rape kit reform bills were introduced in 24 states. We worked with partners in 11 states and helped lawmakers amend several drafts of legislation. As a result, we celebrate 15 states passing 14 rape kit reform laws that include one or more of our six pillars.
Working With LGBTQ Survivors of Sexual Violence
Lyzanne Malfitano has been a hotline shift supervisor at the Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline for five years. She is the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning) staff trainer for the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago 40-Hour Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Training. She is also a mental health counselor and provides counseling to women and LGBTQ adults at the Chicago Women’s Health Center, focusing on feminist-relational, trauma-informed counseling.
5 Facts About Sexual and Domestic Violence in LGBTQ Communities
June is LGBTQ Pride Month, when lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning people and their allies celebrate diversity, progress, and pride. This month Joyful Heart reaffirms our support for survivors of all sexual orientations and gender identities or expressions.
Sexual and domestic violence can happen in all different relationships and to anyone, and respecting survivors’ diverse identities and experiences is essential. We support healing practices that recognize and affirm different aspects of survivors’ lives, including whether they identify as LGBTQ.
Pair of bills to tackle California's rape kit backlog pass legislature
California legislators this week set aside partisanship to move toward reducing the state’s backlog of untested rape kits, with both houses passing separate bills targeting the problem.
While California may have a reputation for progressive policies and a history of tough-on-crime laws, Los Angeles and L.A. County at one point had 12,000 untested rape kits, which law enforcement only caught up on in 2011.
