How the NYPD’s Troubled Sex Crimes Unit Is Set Up To Fail Victims Former top cops say a culture of neglect at the NYPD has left inexperienced and poorly trained officers in charge of some of the department’s most sensitive cases. Meg O'Connor
‘No Choice But To Do It’ Many of the 230,000 women and girls in U.S. jails and prisons were abuse survivors before they entered the system. Research for The Appeal shows that at least 30 percent of those serving time on murder or manslaughter charges were protecting themselves or a loved one from physical or sexual violence. Justine van der Leun
How COVID-19 Is Affecting Assault Survivors Seeking Care In New York, fewer people who have experienced sexual assault or rape have sought forensic exams at hospitals during the pandemic. But advocates suggest that’s not evidence of declining sexual violence. Aviva Stahl
The Defund Movement Aims to Change the Policing and Prosecution of Domestic Violence Though domestic violence is often cited as a reason to maintain the carceral status quo, advocates say there are more humane—and effective—alternatives. Jessica Pishko
Internal Affairs Investigators Raid NYPD’s Special Victims Division for Third Time Logbooks were seized as part of an inquiry into misconduct allegations against high-ranking officers in the division that investigates sex crimes. Meg O'Connor
New Lawsuit Claims Texas Prison Guards Sexually Assaulted Female Guard Guards at the Mark Stiles Unit in Beaumont are alleged to have led the victim to a hallway where there were no security cameras. , Roxanna Asgarian
Sexual Assault Survivors Who Want Restorative Justice Have Limited Options Alternative approaches to rehabilitation and healing still face resistance, even though the criminal legal system’s reliance on punishment has done little to move the needle on addressing sexual violence. Tyler Kingkade
The Crisis Of Murdered And Missing Indigenous Women And Why Tribes Need The Power To Address It Vaidya Gullapalli
I Was Sexually Assaulted. And I Believe Incarcerating Rapists Doesn’t Help Victims Like Me. The carceral system fails to heal victims and perpetuates trauma by caging human beings. It‘s time to try something else. Stefanie Mundhenk
‘It Was Almost Worse Than The Incident Itself’ New NYPD data show that in 2018 the department closed nearly 500 rape cases due to an alleged lack of participation from victims and had a declining clearance rate for rape, raising questions over its handling of sexual assault. Meg O'Connor
Incarcerated Transgender Women’s Lives Must Matter As Kamala Harris begins her presidential run, her move to block gender affirming surgery for an incarcerated transgender woman deserves scrutiny, especially as new cases highlighting the struggle for the rights of imprisoned trans women emerge. Zoé Samudzi
In One Pennsylvania County, Rape Victims Rarely Find Justice Since 2015, police in Adams County have taken dozens of reports of rape, yet charges were filed in just two cases. Joshua Vaughn
Why Sex Offender Registries Keep Growing Even as Sexual Violence Rates Fall Lists that include out-of-state visitors are inflating the numbers and keeping fear at a boil. Steven Yoder
