We do not advise anyone to use an at-home rape kit as a viable alternative to a forensic exam. We also do not advise that any college or university encourage students to use this product or make it available for use. Me Too Kit has provided no information to explain how these kits will be admissible in court and how the proper chain of custody will be followed.
State and national sexual assault coalitions across the country are united in condemning the separation of children from family members as well as the violence and dehumanizing conditions faced by people being held in detention. The treatment of adults and children while detained in U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) migrant detention centers under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is dehumanizing and therefore unacceptable.
The continuing abhorrent separation of children from family members and incarceration of children is appalling and a human rights violation. The crisis on our U.S. Border is exacerbated by these cruel policies steeped in hatred of immigrants from Latin American countries and Black and Brown immigrants coming via Latin American countries. The camps have been affirmed by Holocaust scholars as parallel to concentration camps.
We recognize that we have not sent out any follow-up since Andrea’s resignation announcement and want to take this opportunity to update you. We want to provide transparency into our process as much as we are able.
The Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs (WCSAP) is a non-profit organization that strives to unite agencies engaged in the elimination of sexual violence. WCSAP provides information, training and expertise to program and individual members who support victims, family and friends, the general public, and all those whose lives have been affected by sexual assault.
The new website is launched!
What have we done? Many things, some of them obvious, others a bit more hidden.
Here is a list of the major changes:
Like many of you, here at WCSAP we spent much of yesterday and this morning watching the judicial committee hearings. Unfortunately, what we have watched is members of our government systematically fail survivors, again. It is unacceptable that we still live in a culture where survivors have their motives questioned, are accused of lying, and shamefully put on trial to defend themselves.
When #MeToo first went viral in Fall of 2017, many of us questioned if it would lead to meaningful change. Since then, we have witnessed a developing national conversation on the role that sexual violence plays in our lives and social interactions. The trial of Bill Cosby has shown us that survivor’s voices are powerful. His sentencing marks the end of the first celebrity trial since the beginning of #MeToo movement.
While his friend watched, she said, Kavanaugh pinned her to a bed on her back and groped her over her clothes, grinding his body against hers and clumsily attempting to pull off her one-piece bathing suit and the clothing she wore over it. When she tried to scream, she said, he put his hand over her mouth.
On June 26th, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled to uphold the Administration’s travel ban from Muslim majority countries. The past several months of anti-immigrant rhetoric emboldens microagressions, discrimination, sexual violence, and hate crime against Latinx and Muslim communities. It invigorates white supremacist ideals and endangers all Communities of Color.
We are deeply disappointed, angry, frustrated, and saddened by the court decision.
