Understanding the factors that make people more vulnerable to interpersonal violence can also help us identify protective factors that can keep them safe. This is how we begin to understand violence prevention in a more holistic way. It’s not just about addressing restrictive gender roles and educating people about healthy relationships. We also need to look at how various forms of oppression make people more vulnerable to violence, and understand that the struggle to end interpersonal violence is tied to other struggles for justice. Poverty is one such form of…
Earlier this month, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals restored the Texas ban on abortions after six weeks. Dr. Alan Braid of San Antonio is already facing multiple lawsuits under the “bounty hunting” provision of the ban, which allows any private citizen to sue a person who in some way assists or facilitates a patient’s access to abortion services to the tune of $10,000. This law is troubling enough even before noting the lack of exceptions for rape or incest. But this law doesn’t just leave out victims of…
After a legislative session that felt particularly demanding as it juggled the impact of the pandemic in addition to a regular slate of concerns, here are just a few pieces of legislation that passed which are relevant to our work here at Signs of Hope. AB30 This piece of legislation expanded the purpose of the Account for Aid for Victims of Domestic Violence. Previously, funds from this account could only be awarded to non-profit organizations that exclusively served victims of Domestic Violence. Now, organizations that serve victims of sexual violence…
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was passed in 2003 to “provide for the analysis of the incidence and effects of prison rape in Federal, State, and local institutions and to provide information, resources, recommendations and funding to protect individuals from prison rape.” (Prison Rape Elimination Act, 2003) In short, PREA is intended to conduct research to better understand the issue of prison sexual abuse and then take steps to protect people from abuse. Those steps included the creation of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, tasked with setting national…