MCASA is 40 years old! Last month at MCASA’s Call to Action we celebrated our 40th anniversary and reflected on our past, present, and future work for survivors of sexual violence in Maryland. Thank you to everyone who sponsored and recognized this important milestone. Your support is crucial to our work to advocate for survivors statewide, provide comprehensive legal services, and build community connections to offer prevention education.
If you weren’t able to join us, you can check out the recording from our Call to Action here and see messages from Senator Van Hollen, Senator Ben Cardin, Rep. Anthony Brown, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Delegate Ben Barnes, Delegate Luke Clippinger, Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield, Delegate Robin Grammer, Delegate Ariana Kelly, Delegate Brooke Lierman, Delegate Kirill Reznik, Delegate Emily Shetty, Senator Shelly Laskin Hettleman, Delegate J. Sandy Bartlett, DAWN, CASA, Inc., RCIS of Carroll County, Dove Center, Life Crisis Center, HopeWorks, For All Seasons, Victim Assistance and Sexual Assault Program, Office for Victims of Crime, Women's Law Center of Maryland, Maryland Legal Services Corporation, Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, JCADA, the Montgomery County Commission for Women, and the Office On Violence Against Women.
This fall has been busy at MCASA. We hosted our online Sexual Assault Victim Advocate Training and launched our Fall Virtual Campus Training Series. A presentation on digital sexual violence from Adam Dodge at EndTAB was attended by over 100 participants in September, and a presentation on sexual assault forensic exams from MCASA’s SART/PREA Policy Specialist Grace Rupp and Dr. Jessica Volz was attended by over 75 participants in October. Our next virtual campus training will take place in November where we will be joined by college and community preventionists to discuss overlap in comprehensive sexuality education and sexual violence prevention work.
Looking forward, we are very excited for the return of the Maryland Women of Color Network Conference on November 18th at Bowie State University. The 17th annual conference will follow the theme FACES: Forming Alliances with Communities to Empower Survivors. Space is limited so we encourage you to register soon! To learn more please visit the event page here. To learn more about the Maryland Women of Color Network, visit our webpage here.
Election day is also quickly approaching! On November 8th, Marylanders will cast their votes for the 2022 Gubernatorial General Election. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can register to vote in person on election day or at an early voting station. You can learn more about voter registration here and find your polling place here.
This fall also brings the looming weight of policy decisions as we await the release of finalized Title IX regulations from the Department of Education. Our College Consortium article provides an update on the Title IX process and next steps for schools. In our Prevention Corner, we explore safety concerns of ridesharing platforms and offer some strategies for companies to keep their riders and drivers safe. In our Survivor Safety column, we provide an overview of Safe Harbor legislation that will be reintroduced in Maryland’s 2023 legislative session. In addition, we discuss sexual violence against the intersex community and the history of medical mistreatment of intersex folks. Finally, we highlight the amazing work of another of Maryland’s Rape Crisis and Recovery Centers, Rape Crisis Intervention Services of Carroll County, in our Program Spotlight.
MCASA is proud to continue this work to end sexual violence here in Maryland and nationwide and we are so grateful for your support.
You can make a donation and help us serve Maryland survivors. You can also become a member to support survivors in Maryland.
Stay strong,
Lisae
Lisae Jordan, Esq.
Executive Director & Counsel
Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault
