Category: News

R. Kelly’s conviction offers hope, at last, to survivors, but only after decades of abuse and judicial failure

Alyssa Henderson September 28, 2021 0 Comments
TW: Mentions of sexual abuse and trafficking In a bittersweet ruling, R. Kelly was convicted on all charges for the sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering, and sex trafficking in Brooklyn earlier this week, facing a possible 10 years to life in prison. While this justice is a relief, especially for the survivors who boldly stepped forward to share their stories, the fact that...

From Small Town Mayors to Trump: Are We Holding Our Political Leaders Accountable for Sexual Assault?

Alyssa Henderson June 24, 2021 0 Comments
My local newspaper recently ran a week-long investigation into the sexual assault allegations made against the mayor of the small town, Windsor. While I initially found it odd that the San Francisco Chronicle would give the front page to this story while we’re still knee-deep in the middle of a pandemic, the more I thought about it, the more I understood and appreciated the Chronicle’s...

A Response to the Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling on Intoxication and Sexual Violence

Anna Schwartz May 18, 2021 0 Comments
A recent ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court states that a person who voluntarily consumes alcohol cannot be considered mentally incapacitated by law. To that end, any person who is sexually assaulted while under the influence cannot claim this mental incapacity. The offender cannot be charged with felony rape and will not be recorded on the Minnesota Predatory Offender Registry (Star...

More Thoughts from Survivors to Superheroes About AOC

Jenni Pantoja February 11, 2021 3 Comments
Earlier in the week, we shared our president’s thank you to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Today, we share the response from another member of our team, Jenn Pantoja. If you read these two responses, you will see how remarkably similar they are. While ordinarily, we wouldn’t publish two such similar articles, we thought it was important to show how deeply AOC’s courage has resonated with two...

Instagram’s New Community Guidelines Silence Survivors of Sexual Violence

Ilana Slavit December 16, 2020 0 Comments
In the United States, survivors must report sexual violence to law enforcement in order to press charges against their assailant. According to the Sex Workers Project, sex workers “are reluctant to go to the police because of potential arrest or further assault,” and this sentiment also applies to undocumented, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+  survivors of sexual violence. Social media can be one of...