College Sexual Assault Rally

On Monday, May 12, the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault joined NYC Public Advocate Hon. Letitia James for a press conference, which addressed the mishandling of sexual assault cases at 55 colleges and universities nationwide. Citizens and officials, including CADV CEO Judith Kahan, supported James as she called for a few important changes:

- The NYPD must establish a department liaison to higher education campuses within NYC to improve response to sexual assault.

- All colleges and universities must report the number and nature of sexual assaults on their campus each month.

- All colleges and universities must work with a local rape crisis center to ensure that victims have access to care and resources.

Mary Haviland, Executive director of the Alliance Against Sexual Assault, stated before the rally:

"I am heartened to see more attention and resources go to this issue. I applaud the Public Advocate for taking this issue seriously and calling for concrete improvements in assistance for students who suffer sexual violence."

See more photos of the sexual assault rally, as well as of other events, on our Facebook page.

Public Advocate Letitia James

Rally supporters holding signs

CADV CEO Judith Kahan

Mary Haviland, Executive Director of NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault

Funding for RAPP Will End in July - We Must Again SAVE RAPP

Mayor Bloomberg has eliminated Teen RAPP! (Relationship Abuse Prevention Program) from his preliminary budget for the next fiscal year. If RAPP’s funding is not restored, this highly successful and cost-effective relationship violence prevention and anti-bullying program—reaching over 40,000 public middle and high school students—will cease to exist in July.

Therefore, once again we must mobilize our supporters—RAPP students, teachers, principals, parents, social service providers, interested citizens—to join in our effort. We must send a clear message to the Mayor and City Council that RAPP works—and that they must restore the $3 million in funding that will allow Teen RAPP to continue to provide information and tools to help current and future generations of NYC youth break dangerous cycles of violence.

With your help over the past two years, we have been extremely successful in gaining the support of our local Councilmembers—resulting in the reinstatement of funding for Teen RAPP. We urge you to please join with us again by logging on to www.SaveTeenRAPP.org where you can instantly send a letter to the Mayor, City Council Speaker and your local elected officials.

Thank you in advance. Together we can save Teen RAPP!