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In South Africa, a Call to Punish Rapists

Joseph Darius Jaafari

August 27, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: South Africa, Diepsloot, Johannesburg

In Diepsloot, South Africa, a small office called Lawyers Against Abuse offers legal support for sexual assault cases in a violent city that traditionally does little to address the issue. The organization offers lawyers, victim advocates, legal counseling, and therapy as they go through the process. Since 2015, they have helped more than 800 women and secured 28 convictions.

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‘If You're Like Me, You Can't Sit By. This Is America.'

Tina Rosenberg

August 20, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

Connecting children with volunteer lawyers can greatly assist immigration cases. Nonprofits like the Safe Passage Project and Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) work to provide children, often separated from their families, with legal defense. Without a lawyer, many children face immigration hearings alone, adding great trauma to a complicated process. A majority of unrepresented children are deported. Nonprofit legal groups across the US are working to create a safety net of legal counsel.

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‘It's Like an Automatic Deportation if You Don't Have a Lawyer'

Mazin Sidahmed

August 13, 2019 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, New York

With the help of legal counsel, immigrants facing deportation are more likely to win their cases and keep their families together. The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project is one of several organizations in New York that provides lawyers free of charge to detained immigrants. The program is also a part of the broader Safety and Fairness for Everyone (SAFE) network, which includes 18 cities that have set up legal defense funds for immigrants.

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4.5 Million Young People Nationwide Are Not Working or in School. How Cities Are Working to Get Them Back on Track — & Avoid the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Bekah McNeel

August 13, 2019 |

The 74 |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Antonio, California

There is a certain population of youth aged 16-24 that are neither in school nor working because of some derailment (oftentimes burdensome responsibilities) along the way. A national organization called Nxt Level helps people get back on track with their goals through a specialized team that helps an individual with things like getting a GED, mental health or legal resources, job training, and food programs. They even work with local businesses to give the kids a chance and hire them upon their completion of the program. Nxt Level now has centers in Baltimore, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and more.

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In Nigeria's overcrowded prisons, Catholic group frees inmates through free legal services

Patrick Egwu

August 12, 2019 |

National Catholic Reporter |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria

Thousands of people incarcerated in Nigeria’s rapidly growing prison system, many of them awaiting trial without lawyers, receive free legal, health, and educational services from an NGO that for decades has paid twice-weekly visits to prisons around the country. Serving the prisoners’ general welfare, the Catholic Institute for Development, Justice, and Peace seeks the release of defendants on bail, advocates for better health care, and delivers aid packages to people held in the overcrowded lockups.

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A Unique Military Program Helps Sexual Assault Survivors. But Not All of Them.

Joseph Darius Jaafari

July 30, 2019 |

The Marshall Project |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Members of the military who are survivors of sexual assault have access to special victims’ counsels to help guide and protect them throughout the legal process. The efforts are still young, and with that comes issues of ill-trained or over-worked legal representation – a criticism that has been made known by advocates. Furthermore, while the existence of such assistance is extremely beneficial to military personnel, the same sort of protection and support isn’t available to civilians who are alleging violent crimes against military members.

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Detroit Bail Project aims to disrupt the process of cash bail and incarceration

Nina Misuraca Ignaczak

July 09, 2019 |

Model D |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

The Bail Project is posting bond for men and women who cannot afford to pay and haven’t been convicted of a crime. Based in Detroit, the nonprofit has locations across the country and uses a revolving fund to bail out individuals, meaning once the bond is recovered, the funding is then available for another person. Its Detroit location has bailed out nearly 200 individuals in an effort to end mass incarceration and prove that holding people – most of whom are people of color or experiencing poverty – does not diminish recidivism.

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Fully fund the state's PILOT program

Matt Pilon

July 08, 2019 |

Hartford Business Journal |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Hartford, Connecticut

Connecticut's PILOT program was created to partially reimburse cities and towns for state-owned, tax-exempt properties and take some financial burden off smaller towns. The PILOT program, however, is voluntary, making it easier for state legislators to disregard the reimbursement requests in tough financial times. Now, state officials are urged to make the PILOT program mandatory to keep the response working for the small individual towns and cities around Connecticut.

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They were raped during Colombia's civil war. Now they want justice for their children.

Megan Janetsky

June 24, 2019 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Colombia

Following the Colombian civil war, the country enacted The Victims’ Law, which centered on providing reparations to those affected by violence and war. But since its creation, the law has only provided reparations to less than 11% of those who have applied, and for women survivors, it’s even less. Women, who are disproportionately affected by war because of the use of sexual assault, are coming together under the National Tablle for Victim’s Participation, are demanding more.

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The Cities Funding Legal Defense for Immigrants

Zoe Sullivan

May 21, 2019 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

As the struggles of refugees and immigrants drudges on, a number of cities across the US are gathering funding for their legal defense. One strategy, a legal counsel program called New York Family Immigrant Unity Project, has proven so successful that it now has 19 other counties in states like Colorado and Georgia participating in their network. Beyond that, these public defense projects often comprise of both public and private dollars and are all working for the right (not guaranteed by the US Constitution) to have access to legal counsel during immigration proceedings.

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