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...
Statement on Lt. Ouita Knowlton
As an organization comprised of people who have been impacted by sexual violence, PERL is very concerned by revelations that Lt. Ouita Knowlton, the award-winning supervisor of the MPD's DNA Unit, was relieved of duty April 3 and now faces a criminal investigation. We...
DNA Unit supervisor under criminal investigation
Award-winning supervisor of unit handling cold rape cases has been relieved of duty and is now under criminal investigation.
Why is the NFL Giving More Super Bowl Ad Time to Its Favorite Sham Domestic-Violence Group?
There are several local No More campaigns now, including those in California, Pennsylvania, and Illinois. But one campaign that caught my attention this year was in Memphis. It shows how the No More toolkit can be used to try and plaster over a bad situation with symbols and empty rhetoric.
PERL releases new palm cards with resources for victims
These palm cards contain practical resources for people who have been sexually assaulted and need help.
What backlog?
Neglected Testing
Contrary to the popular narrative, untested rape kits are not the problem. They are just one symptom of larger problems with policing rape.
Neglected Data
Police departments have a strong incentive to manipulate crime data because lower crime rates make public officials look more successful.