Criminal Justice Content Topic Results

More than half of all American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime; one in three have experienced rape. The US government continues to fail to adequately prevent and respond to such violence. This report details some of the factors that contribute the high rates of sexual violence against Indigenous women, and the barriers to justice that they continue to face.

This report from the Sentencing Project documents the rates of incarceration for white, Black and Latinx Americans in each state, identifies three contributors to racial and ethnic disparities in imprisonment, and provides recommendations for reform. 

The rape and sexual violence laws of the 43 jurisdictions from 35 countries reviewed for this report deny access to justice for many survivors of sexual violence as they provide a number of opportunities for perpetrators to escape justice. This impunity contributes to the continued perpetuation of sexual violence.

By providing U‐visa certifications and T visa declarations, law enforcement and prosecution officials add to their arsenal of crime fighting tools when immigrant victims feel safer coming forward to report crimes. This document provides a wide variety of background information on the U‐visa and T visa programs.

Survivors of police sexual violence are rarely heard from or discussed in either conversation, and their experiences generally do not drive organizing and advocacy in either context. This report is intended to contribute to breaking this silence, to summarize what we know about sexual violence by law enforcement officers, and to offer concrete steps toward prevention of police sexual violence and increased safety, support, and opportunities for healing for survivors.

Amidst a growing national conversation about sexual violence sparked by #MeToo and the ‘me, too.’ movement originated by Tarana Burke, and an ongoing national reckoning around the violence of policing, one form of sexual and police violence remains shrouded in silence: police sexual violence. This is a curriculum for sexual assault service providers intended to accompany Interrupting Criminalization’s report Shrouded in Silence: Police Sexual Violence - What We Know and What We Can Do About It.

While courts may implement general court security best practices, domestic violence cases present uniquely dangerous risks towards courthouse safety, for both litigants and court staff. This document describes specific safety concerns with domestic violence cases, as well as practical strategies and lessons from the field for maintaining a secure courthouse environment.

Going to the courthouse and participating in hearings can be confusing and intimidating for anyone, but domestic violence survivors often face extra barriers. This checklist suggests strategies regarding safety while traveling to/from the courthouse, while inside the courthouse and courtroom, and during virtual hearings.

This piece by the Harvard Gazette discusses the history of racialized policing, highlights current issues with policing and the criminal justice system, and outlines community-based ways forward.

This report shows incarceration disparities state-by-state and how those disparities have changed over the last 10 years. It offers recommendations to confront racism in the juvenile justice system.

As increasing light is shed on the limitations of criminal legal responses to domestic violence, calls for community-based solutions that do not involve the criminal legal system are growing louder. This Teen Dating Violence Awareness & Prevention Month (TDVAM) webinar explores the impact of mandatory reporting on domestic violence survivors, highlighting unique impacts for LGBTQ young people.

This toolkit from the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence and Firearms, a project of the Battered Women's Justice Project, provides advocates with tools for engaging conversations, both locally and on the state level, on the impact of firearms on domestic violence victim-survivors, particularly during periods of wide-spread crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.