This is my final Beyond the Campus post. I want to take this time to say thank you to the entire SAFER team for allowing me this space, and for their guidance, passion and relentless activism. And I’d like to thank YOU, dear readers, for your conversation, linking and sharing, and general involvement with SAFER [...]

The Huffington Post reported on Illinois’ new rape kit law, which would require investigating law enforcement agencies to submit all evidence of sexual assault to the crime lab within 10 days of receiving it from a hospital. However, the New York Times points out a loophole in the law language (“if sufficient staffing and resources [...]

This was the week of high-profile rape accusations. By now I’m sure you’ve heard about the sexual assault allegation against Al Gore (as if his divorce wasn’t shock enough, or the rumor of an affair with Larry David’s ex-wife). Of the charge, Feministing reminds us that liberal, progressive men can assault women too: “Now, there’s no [...]

Hi there! I’m Amanda of the blog The Undomestic Goddess (@TheUndomestic on Twitter), and I’ll be bringing you a weekly wrap-up of  news on sexual assault that extends beyond the campus. First, (trigger warning) this heartbreaking story of a 7-year-old girl in NJ who was gang raped by up to 7 men while her 15-year-old [...]

As a leading organizer against sexual assault on your campus, you will, invariably, become the point person for students to first divulge their assault.  It is imperative that your approach be inclusive, supportive, and informed.  I am writing this from the perspective of an organizer who, during my experiences with anti-rape work, was rather impotent [...]

I’ve never thought much about this, but I heard about a colleague at a rape crisis center who has renamed their “rape kits” to “SAFE kits” (Sexual Assault Forensic Examination). I’d always taken the term “rape kit” without question, and this colleague pointed out that the term “rape kit” does nothing to imply treatment, and [...]

Last week, my congresswoman US Rep Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and US Rep Dean Heller (R-NV) along with over 20 House colleagues introduced H.R. 4114, the “Justice for Survivors of Sexual Assault Act of 2009.” The legislation would help reduce the national backlog of over 180,000 untested rape kits currently on police shelves by creating incentives [...]

A NY Times editorial questions why, despite federal funding for DNA kits, thousands of rape kits go untested. It’s no surprise that the more rape kits that are tested, the higher chance there is of capturing a rapist. And yet: … last March, Human Rights Watch found more than 12,500 rape kits in the Los [...]

(triggering, as is linked story) I just started reading Joanna Bourke’s Rape: Sex, Violence, History and so far I am really impressed with it. The book is focused on exploring why people commit sex crimes, but in the first chapter she explores the history of rape myths (in England, Australia, and the US), giving you [...]

Just to keep ya’ll updated, this is the fourth in a series of blogified articles on intersectionality and how it relates to rape and anti-rape organizing. Class is a difficult subject for me because in my life it is (perhaps the only) site of privilege.  Being born into a mixed-class family, though I was raised in [...]