Tag Archives: Sexual assault
Report: Female Farm Workers Face Sexual Violence, Harassment
On May 16, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report detailing the results of interviews with over 160 farmworkers, police, attorneys, and other members of the agricultural industry about sexual violence and harassment endured by female migrant farmworkers. Women make … Continue reading
Women’s Law Project Releases Through the Lens of Equality: Eliminating Sex Bias to Improve the Health of Pennsylvania’s Women
The Women’s Law Project (WLP) released today a major report, Through the Lens of Equality: Eliminating Sex Bias to Improve the Health of Pennsylvania’s Women, linking sex bias to adverse health outcomes in women. The release of this report coincides … Continue reading
Urge Your Representative in Congress to Oppose H.R. 4970 to Protect the Safety of Domestic and Sexual Violence Victims
As Congress debates the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), domestic and sexual violence victims are in danger of losing important protections under the law. Unlike previous reauthorizations of VAWA, a law originally passed in 1994 and reauthorized … Continue reading
Decades after Reforms Erased Sexual Assault Myths from the Letter of the Law, Pennsylvania’s Criminal Justice System Remains Infected
In the early morning hours in a college dorm room, three young men took turns physically restraining and vaginally, anally, and orally penetrating an eighteen-year-old woman student without her consent. The victim had allowed the three men — who were … Continue reading
Filed under PA Supreme Court, Sexual Assault, Violence Against Women
Women’s Law Project Leads Call for Review of Penn State University’s Handling of Allegations of Sexual Assault and Violence
In the wake of the recent disturbing reports that Penn State University failed to properly respond to allegations of sexual abuse by a former assistant football coach, the Women’s Law Project (WLP) spearheaded a group of civil rights organizations, including … Continue reading
Filed under Sex Discrimination, Sexual Assault, Sexual harassment, Title IX
Increasing Number of Homeless Women Veterans
The number of women veterans who become homeless after returning to civilian life is on the rise. This increasing rate of homelessness among women veterans is due to many factors that affect all genders who have served in the military … Continue reading
Georgia Anti-Sex Trafficking Law a Step in the Right Direction
On July 1, a Georgia bill mandating more compassionate treatment of victims of sex trafficking and harsher punishments for perpetrators will officially become law. The law will increase the penalty for sex trafficking to up to 20 years in prison … Continue reading
Filed under Girls, Government, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rape, Women's health
Don’t Roll Back the Progress on Legal Protections for Rape and Abortion
WLP Executive Director Carol E. Tracy has penned an op-ed for The Crime Report about legislators’ recent attempts to erase hard-fought legal protections for rape victims and women needing abortion care. An excerpt: Societies that have no respect for the … Continue reading
Filed under Abortion, Rape, Reproductive Rights, Women's health
Female Soldiers Sue U.S. Military for Inadequate Response to Sexual Assaults
Jezebel recently reported on a lawsuit filed by former soldiers against Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld. The soldiers state that they created a military culture which protected and enabled their rapists, providing no protection for … Continue reading
Filed under Military, Rape, Women's health
WLP Executive Director to Testify at Senate Hearing About Police Mishandling of Rape Cases
Next Tuesday, September 14, WLP Executive Director Carol E. Tracy will testify at a Senate Judiciary hearing in Washington, DC, about police mishandling rape reports. The Women’s Law Project has been working on this issue since the Philadelphia Inquirer reported … Continue reading
Filed under Government, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Inquirer, Rape, Women's health