Media Coverage of Rape survivor being incarcerated in Sacramento to force testimony.

Update: 4/16/12:  She was released!
~~~~~~
CALCASA has received a number of calls and emails from Rape Crisis Centers and Media outlets regarding a current case in which a 17-year old rape victim in Sacramento is being detained in Juvenile Hall for failure to appear to testify against her rapist. Media coverage on the case sites the reasons given for her detention as: The need to "balance protecting the community... it's important that we try to prevent another victim from being harmed."

How the Right’s Using Women of Color to Shame Abuse Survivors

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/04/the_problem_with_vawa.html

Supreme Court Ruling Allows Strip-Searches for Any Arrest

 The Supreme Court on Monday ruled by a 5-to-4 vote that officials may strip-search people arrested for any offense, however minor, before admitting them to jails even if the officials have no reason to suspect the presence of contraband.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/us/justices-approve-strip-searches-for-any-offense.html?_r=3

Civil Justice for Victims of Crime in California

The National Center for Victims of Crime, in conjunction with the
Office of the Attorney General: Victims' Services Unit, the California
Emergency Management Agency, and the California Coalition Against Sexual
Assault, will be offering a free training seminar for criminal justice
practitioners, victim advocates, mental health therapists and other
allied professionals.

In the News

Senate judiciary committee endorses controversial contraceptive bill
http://www.statepress.com/2012/03/12/senate-judiciary-committee-endorses-controversial-contraceptive-bill/

How Can We Help Kids Define What Is and Isn’t Healthy Sexuality?
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/03/i_had_one_of_my.html

Film Reveals “The Invisible War” on Women in Our Military
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/01/film_reveals_the_invisible_war_on_women_in_our_military.html

Anti-Abortion Bill Could Tax Rape Victims
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/08/kansas-abortion-bill-sales-tax_n_1327301.html?ref=womens-health

Press Release: Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces End to Backlog that Slowed DNA Analysis at Justice Department Labs

Wednesday, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced the end to the rape kit backlog that had previously delayed the analysis of evidence collected through forensic examinations. As you know, Atty. Gen. Harris has made the issue of the rape kit backlog one of her priorities.  In her statement, Harris stated that the California Department of Justice will now be able to analyze routine DNA evidence in only 30 days, which is up to four times faster than before the backlog had been eliminated.

See Press Release Here:
http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/print_release.php?id=2615

CalEMA Informational Bulletin: Sexual Assault FAQs

Full FAQ here: http://www.californiapolicechiefs.org/files/legislative/VAWA_Information_Bulletin.pdf


New California Law To Implement Federal Violence Against Women Act (Vawa) Requirements:

All victims of sexual assault who request a sexual assault forensic medical examination shall be provided one,
and the cost of the examination cannot be charged directly or indirectly to the victim.

No victim of sexual assault shall be required to participate or agree to participate with the local law
enforcement agency or the criminal justice system, either prior to the examination, or at any other time.

Revisions to Uniform Crime Report's definition of rape

Attorney General Eric Holder announced revisions to the Uniform Crime Report’s definition of rape! CALCASA has been following this process closely, and this is exciting news about national statistical reporting of rape.

For more info, see here:
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/January/12-ag-018.html

http://calcasa.org/publicaffairs/fbi-rape-definition/

Can an Advocate be excluded from a SART interview?

Here are the bullets of CALCASA's response:

- When a victim elects to have a 'victim advocate' present, that person cannot be excluded from the interview. A 'victim advocate' is specifically defined as a sexual assault counselor, as defined in Section 1035.2 of the Evidence Code, or a victim advocate working in a center established under Article 2 (commencing with Section 13835) of Chapter 4 of Title 6 of Part 4. 

- 'Victim advocates' are 1) trained in assisting and counseling victims of sexual assault and 2) are engaged in the work of providing guidance and assistance to such victims, either at rape crisis centers of through nonprofit agencies dedicated to helping victims and witnesses of crime.

- A 'support person' CAN be excluded if officials determine that the support person's presence "would be detrimental to the purpose of the interview". This is support person is NOT a certified 'victim advocate'. On page 5 of this document, 'support person' is defined in depth but essentially, a 'support person' is neither required nor expected to bring any special training, credentials, or expertise to the proceeding.

- A 'support person' could be excluded if their "presence operates either to further traumatize the victim or to other side disrupt the interview process, thereby impeding law enforcement efforts to identify and apprehend wrong doers".

http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/opinions/pdfs/o594_11-203.pdf

Sexual Assaults in the Mission

http://www.missionstation.org/sexual-assault-update.html

SFPD has updates at this link. Please direct all inquiries to the link above.

SOUL Sunday School: ¡Alto Arizona!

SOUL (School of Unity & Liberation) & Causa Justa::Just Cause present:

SOUL Sunday School:
¡Alto Arizona!
Solidarity with Immigrant Communities Now!!!

Sunday, July 25th, 2010 | 3-5PM
1904 Franklin Street, Suite 904 (@ 19th), Oakland

SOUL, the School of Unity & Liberation, and Causa Justa::Just Cause,
invite you to a Sunday School on the current wave of legalized anti-immigrant racism
in Arizona, and the growing resistance movement which has ignited in response.

SB1070, passed in April, empowers local police authorities in Arizona to racially profile
residents, harass immigrants and people of color for proof of citizenship, and expand their
powers as agents of state repression. Immigrant communities in Arizona are organizing to
actively resist the implementation of SB1070, and their call for solidarity has been
answered by communities all over the US. A boycott of the state of Arizona is underway,
delegations from organizations near and far have arrived to support local organizing efforts,
and actions have been planned inside and outside the state. The next national Day of Action,
July 29th, the day the legislation is scheduled to take effect, has been declared a
Day of Non-Compliance. No complicity with racist laws, anti-immigrant hate, and
criminalization of our communities!

Join us for a presentation & discussion on the growing movement to resist
repression and cultivate solidarity-- among people of color, working-class communities,
immigrants & non-immigrants. We'll hear reports from recent delegations to Arizona
and plans for the upcoming Day of Action, and discuss the possibilities for building a
movement for true liberation from the Bay to Arizona and beyond.

The event will feature a panel with speakers from

Causa Justa::Just Cause, Oakland
Causa Justa::Just Cause, San Francisco
Community Justice Network for Youth
U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel

This event will be presented in English & Spanish. Translation will be provided. Please RSVP to us at 510.451.5466 x 300 or info@schoolofunityandliberation.org

Article: City Changes Policy in Wake of CBS Report

In response to a CBS News investigation that found 20,000 untested kits nationwide, the San Antonio Police Department made a major announcement: it will now test all rape kits in stranger cases and will also go back and test all untested stranger rape kits in storage.

Read More Here

Survivor of Rape Confronts David Vitter

Vitter Town Hall, Baton Rouge, 10/31/09
A rape victim in Baton Rouge asks David Vitter why he supported big corporations over sexual assault victims when he was one of only 30 senators who opposed a Senate amendment to make sure assault victims get their day in court.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6YZ1wP1978&feature=player_embedded