We are committed to ensuring that all girls are free from gender violence and sexual assault, and to eliminating injustice in our justice system.Legal Momentum is helping to lead the national discussion on the culture of complacency surrounding rape and campus sexual assault. Lynn Hecht Schafran, who directs Legal Momentum’s National Judicial Education Program, spoke on NPR’s “The Takeaway” on June 7 about the slap-on-the-wrist sentence given to the Stanford University athlete and rapist Brock Turner.
Sexual Assault
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Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued groundbreaking Guidance to law enforcement, aimed at combating gender discrimination in how police address crimes of sexual assault and domestic violence.
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Esta guía proporciona una descripción general de las opciones disponibles para los estudiantes víctimas de agresión sexual perpetrados por un compañero de estudios u otro afiliado universitario, incluidos los derechos del Título IX.
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This flyer describes available NJEP training materials and resources on adult victim sexual assault.
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This guide tracks legislation or government initiatives requiring or encouraging public and/or private employers to adopt domestic and sexual violence policies.
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Lynn Hecht Schafran, director of the National Judicial Education Program (NJEP), which trains law enforcement officials to properly handle sexual assault cases, tells me that testing all rape kits is crucial, but it’s only a first step. “Even when a kit is tested, law enforcement often fails to forward the case for prosecution, and prosecutors often fail to go forward with the few cases referred to them,” she said.
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A medical forensic sexual assault examination cannot determine whether or not a sexual assault was perpetrated. However, it can provide objective documentation of examination findings that, when considered in the context of all the evidence, will assist the judge and jury in reconstructing the events in question and determining whether or not there was a sexual assault. The limitation on how much a medical forensic sexual assault examination can tell the court is not only due to the fact that “rape” and “sexual assault” are legal conclusions, not medical diagnoses.
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As the technology becomes more common, the supposed need for statutes of limitations lessens. Lynn Hecht Schafran, director of the National Judicial Education Program at the women's legal defense and education fund Legal Momentum, tells Bustle:"Being able to have tangible evidence that carries forward through the years is a very important step toward making it reasonable to lift these statutes of limitations."Of course, not every rape victim is given a rape kit, so DNA evidence isn't present in every case.
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This guide provides an overview of options available to student victims of sexual assault perpetrated by a fellow student or other university affiliate, including rights under Title IX.
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Legal Momentum's Senior Vice President and Director of the National Judicial Education Program, Lynn Hecht Schafran, commented on the Bill Cosby rape allegations in this WPIX evening news story.“I’m very glad that this is finally coming out in such a graphic form that it will smack people in the face,” said Lynn Hecht Schafran, executive Vice President of Legal Momentum, the women’s legal defense fund.
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A college rape prevention program sounds like a good idea. Everyone’s heard about the sexual assault epidemic plaguing college campuses; this type of program seems like the right response to an issue that has long gone ignored. A rape prevention program that is effective and that decreases the likelihood of rape and sexual assault is a welcome step forward. But a rape prevention program that is specifically for women takes the wrong approach.
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