These past few months have been especially busy for MCASA as we’ve done essential advocacy during Maryland’s legislative session. Your support helps ensure that MCASA can bring the voices of survivors and the programs who serve them to our state legislators in Annapolis. We appreciate all those who called, emailed, testified, and reached out to their elected officials. This year’s legislative priorities centered on funding for sexual assault survivor services, access to justice, and prevention. Working together, we stopped proposed cuts to victim services and rape kit testing, shored up efforts to end the rape kit backlog, renewed funding for community based rape crisis centers, and more. Particular thanks goes to our legislative champions who kept their eye on the ball and refused to let budgetary pressures result in funding cuts. Learn about the legislators who helped us and read the full final report on MCASA’s 2025 Legislative Priorities & Bills of Interest on our website.
MCASA spent April amplifying the importance of sexual violence prevention and response during Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). MCASA participated in 20 community events statewide, sharing the resources available to survivors and service providers through the Sexual Assault Legal Institute and Maryland’s 17 Rape Crisis and Recovery Centers. You can check out our social media to see where we’ve been!
MCASA also held several important webinars including a Virtual Campus Training Session: Everything You Need to Know About the Stop Campus Hazing Act: Connections to Sexual Violence Prevention. Led by the Clery Center, this webinar covered the details of the national legislation’s requirements and promising practices to engage with campus partners to accurately address both hazing and sexual violence.
In this edition of Frontline, we talk about the importance of strengthening rural prevention efforts against sexual violence in our Prevention Corner. Our College Consortium article brings attention to sexual assaults within military academies and how these academies can change policies and social norms to better support survivors. We then discuss the challenges survivors in juvenile correctional facilities face when trying to bring attention to sexual abuse. In our Survivor Safety column, we explain the importance of digital apps designed to help survivors in need of immediate support following their abuse. Finally, MCASA is glad to highlight the work of the Dove Center, the Rape Crisis and Recovery Center serving Garrett County, in our Program Spotlight.
We need your support to continue to fight to end sexual violence. You can make a donation and help us serve Maryland survivors. You can also become a member to support survivors in Maryland. As funding for services and government support for survivors face challenges, your individual giving means more than ever. Help us continue to fight.
Stay strong,
Lisae
Lisae Jordan, Esq.
Executive Director & Counsel
Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault
