News
Retired sex crimes detective says Memphis neglected rape cases
City officials have said many of the untested kits involve older cases from an era before investigators realized the potential of DNA testing. Yet Wilkerson’s testimony provides what might be a watershed moment in the controversy: He says the problem persisted well after DNA testing became standard practice.
Mixed Signals: Memphis offers GPS devices to victims
GPS monitors are usually associated with people suspected or convicted of a crime. Yet, Memphis offers the devices to victims of rape and domestic violence.
Combatting Sex Crimes Requires Changing How We Police
Law enforcement pursue drug crimes instead of rape because civil asset forfeiture incentivizes drug policing, not rape.
No Backlog: Why the Epidemic of Untested Rape Kits Is Not a Symbol of Insufficient Police Budgets But Instead a Failure to Investigate Rape
Untested rape kits show a widespread failure of US police to investigate rape.
Betrayal: MPD sex crimes detective tips off family of rape suspect, keeps job
MPD detective Ouita Knowlton gave the family of a rape suspect sensitive details from investigative files, an internal report says.
Memphis gun violence is the target of new ‘Fed Up’ campaign
Meaghan Ybos, who founded rape victim advocacy group People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws, said she sees the Fed Up campaign as a continuation of a law enforcement culture more interested in glitzy public relations and prosecutions that “don’t equate to safer communities.”
PERL calls on Mayor to improve sex crimes services, disavow Memphis Says NO MORE
Press conference today at 9:15 AM at 125 N. Main St. Memphis, Tennessee -- May 31, 2017 -- The Memphis-based advocacy group People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws (PERL) calls on Mayor Strickland to improve rape policing and remove himself from the problematic...
Survival Guide for Sexual Violence in Memphis
Our new survival guide is here. You can pick up copies from our office at 3573 Southern Ave. Also, you may print them yourself from the electronic file. As always, we provide these materials free of charge. To help us offset printing costs, please click here....
Rape Kits: A Decade and a Billion Dollars Later, Why Can’t We Fix the Backlog?
The National Institute of Justice, the agency charged with overseeing over a billion dollars to test rape kits, is unable to answer rudimentary questions about the functioning of its grant programs.
On the Record: Heather Marlowe, Playwright
By Victoria Garber Source: The Oberlin Review May 5, 2017 Playwright, actor and activist Heather Marlowe graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2009 with a degree in art history before moving to San Francisco, where she dedicated much of her time...
People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws is a program of the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center to monitor law enforcement responses to sexual violence. Our goal is to end the law enforcement and political practices that effectively decriminalize sexual violence. To this end, we connect victims with information about their rights and equip individuals with tools to advocate for themselves and others and advocate for fair criminal justice policies. We urge you to learn more about America’s hidden rape crisis, where it has been exposed, and why it matters. We invite you to take action and support our efforts to make sure law enforcement takes rape seriously.