This new program was authorized in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA 2013) and received its first appropriation in fiscal year 2016. VAWA 2013 recognizes tribes’ inherent power to exercise “special domestic violence criminal jurisdiction” (SDVCJ) over certain defendants, regardless of their Indian or non-Indian status, who…
Postsecondary institutions reported a 34 percent decline in crimes between 2001 and 2013, with decreases in every category except forcible sex crimes, which rose 120 percent over the same period. It is not clear whether sex crimes are occurring more frequently or whether victims have become more willing to report…
Outraged activists and prosecutors in Oklahoma called for changes to a state law on forced oral sex after a court rejected the prosecution of a teenage boy in Tulsa because his 16-year-old accuser had been intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness. “Forcible sodomy cannot occur where a victim is so…
The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women has compiled a number of resource listings about survivors as they reenter their communities after being incarcerated in prison and/or jail. READ MORE
Before she could move into a dormitory at Brigham Young University or sign up for freshman classes, Brooke had to sign the college’s Honor Code. Part moral compass and part contract, the Honor Code is a cornerstone of life for the nearly 30,000 students at Brigham Young, a Mormon-run university.…
Jen Wright It’s so painful to lose colleagues and friends. We lost Jen Wright on March 16th to cancer; she was a great team member who gave so much to her work. Jen was a long-time staff member at Arrowhead Regional Corrections in Duluth, MN. Jen loved training too, she…
The first-of-its-kind study, funded by ACF’s Family & Youth Services Bureau and conducted by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, focused on 873 youth ages 14 to 21 in 11 cities. Respondents included street youth receiving services from ACF’s Street Outreach Program grantees and street youth who were not currently…
#Children and TeensObama created the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument with a presidential proclamation, honoring both Alva Belmont, the National Woman's Party benefactor, and Alice Paul, who founded the party and served as its chief strategist. Obama will deliver remarks Tuesday morning at the house, which served as the party's fifth headquarters,…
In its sixth year, Meet Us on the Street: International Anti-Street Harassment Week (April 10-16) will be observed in more than 30 countries. Tens of thousands of people in countries like Afghanistan, Australia, Cameroon, Chile, Egypt, France, Guatemala, the Maldives, Nepal, and Yemen will participate in actions that challenge the…
The annual call for proposals is open for applications for the 20th cycle of grant giving from the UN Trust Fund. The fund focuses on three priority areas including preventing violence, expanding access to critical services for survivors; and strengtheing the implementation of national laws. This year there is also a…
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Twelve jurors found Cherelle Baldwin not guilty of murder on Thursday in the death of her ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Brown. Baldwin collapsed to the floor in tears as the verdict was announced. “My baby,” she cried. “My baby will have his mommy back.” Police say Baldwin, 24, ran…
A Florida judge who sent a crying domestic violence victim to jail has finally admitted she was wrong. Seminole County Judge Jerri Collins has agreed to a public reprimand in a plea deal with the state, the Orlando Sentinel reported Thursday. Judge Collins had come under fire for berating and imprisoning the woman after she…
In the United States April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The goal of SAAM is to raise public awareness about sexual violence and to educate communities on how to prevent it. READ MORE
Children and teenagers need a variety of resources in order to thrive, grow, and later succeed as adults. They need the support and love of their parents and families, financial resources and economic stability, access to quality education, opportunities for employment, and avenues for contributing in other ways to their…
If Adam slept through the night, he knew, it would be good day. But that didn't happen often, even after a relative stopped raping him. Now 34, Adam says the abuse began when he was 14 and stopped as soon as he turned 18. His relative warned him that if…
“From barriers in education, to a gender-based pay gap that widens with race, to disparities in both diagnoses and outcomes for many diseases, our society forces Black women to clear many hurdles faced by no other group, and asks them to do it with little assistance,” said Congresswoman Watson Coleman.…
People in communities of color who are struggling to achieve economic security often find themselves burdened by court-ordered financial obligations that they have no ability to pay. Frequently, this results in people being incarcerated in local jails due to courts’ unwillingness to examine, or disregard of, each person’s financial circumstances.…
n October 2015, Backpage and its CEO, Carl Ferrer, received a congressional subpoena from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to answer questions regarding the site’s safety protocols for ads, some of which have been connected to sex trafficking involving minors. Both parties,…
Since September, the armed forces have court-martialed or filed sexual-assault charges against four colonels from the Air Force, Army and Marines. In addition, a Navy captain was found guilty of abusive sexual contact during an administrative hearing. Historically, it has been extremely rare for senior military officers to face courts-martial.…
As we increasingly rely on digital assistants like Apple’s Siri or Samsung’s S Voice, many question the extent to which these systems should be programmed to respond to crises like rape or domestic assault. For the time being, a recent study finds, they’re scarcely of any use. The primary objective…
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