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It is estimated that nearly 7,000 rape kits sit on LAPD freezer shelves waiting testing with at least 217 of those past the statute of limitations, rendering them useless even if a rapist is identified by the DNA collected. How can these “expired” kits be resuscitated if at all? And is this even an option? Lindsey Horvath, President of Hollywood NOW, and recently appointed to the West Hollywood City Council will explore with us how this could have happened…and the work culminating in a system that will eradicate the backlog of untested rape kits and hold the LAPD accountable for the expenditure of funds allocated.
Support AB 1017, Sexual Assault Crimes This bill relates to the Sexual Assault Victims’ DNA Bill of rights, and requires law enforcement agencies to inform victims if their DNA rape kit evidence is not analyzed within a specified amount of time. It also requires that agencies report to the Department of Justice the total number of sexual assault crimes reported in their jurisdiction.
We will hear a critical interview aired in August 2007, with Rufina Juarez President of the South Central Farmers of Los Angeles and representative of La Red Xicana Indignea. We discussed the Sixth Session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the UN – The primary role was to denounce the injustice and suffering that was imposed on the SCF, families, women and children, as geographically displaced indigenous peoples, by the City of Los Angeles and the same LAPD that rioted on the poor people of Los Angeles on May 1st 2007.” As well as, Ms Juarez’s report form The Continental Network of Indigenous Women a space for the indigenous women that allows for an exchange of experiences and seek alternatives which challenge the Indigenous movement and their own government’s programs. All of which are issues currently as pertinent as they were in 2007. (For more information on the South Central Farm visit South Central Farm on MySpace and Academy Nominated Documentary on the South Central Farm.)
But, first, Jessica Valenti founder and Executive Editor of Feministing.com and author of Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters, and He’s a Stud, She’s A Slut..And 49 Other Double Standards, will be discussing her latest book; The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women. Ms Valenti examines the fallacies of virginity, chastity, and purity in a thoroughly modern context-through the lens of our sexually charged media culture.
(left: Rape Kits; middle: South Central Farmers; right: The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women)