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Report

Report: Taking on Police Response to Sexual Assault

Resources

If You've Been Raped (PA Medical Assistance) (November 2002)

Take Action

The Women's Law Project and other members of Pennsylvanians for Choice are encouraging you to contact your state Senator and Representative to support the Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies (CARE) Act.

Rape and Sexual Assault

WLP Files Amicus Brief with PA Supreme Court on Behalf of Sexual Assault Victims

The Women's Law Project and the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape have filed an amicus brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of 30 non-profit organizations committed to vindicating the legal rights of sexual assault victims. The amici include women's rights organizations, victim's rights organizations, and rape crisis centers. In their brief, filed in C.C.H. v. Philadelphia Phillies, Inc., amici argue that, to protect child victims of sexual assault from physical and psychological harm, the defense of consent should not be available in civil cases stemming from sexual contact with a minor under the age of 13 where the Legislature has precluded such defense by statute in criminal proceedings.

On August 9, 2000, three teenage boys led an 11-year-old girl, lost in Veteran’s Stadium, to a secluded parking lot and raped her. In juvenile delinquency proceedings, two of the teenagers were “adjudicated delinquent” of rape. In the civil suit against the teenagers and The Phillies, the teenagers claimed their sexual contact with the child was not rape because she had consented to the sexual acts. Court of Common Pleas Judge Panepinto permitted testimony alleging the child’s consent, and refused to instruct the jury that a defense of consent to rape or battery could not be sustained because the child was under the age of consent. The Superior Court affirmed this decision. Now, having accepted an appeal by the plaintiff-child, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will decide “[w]hether the defense of consent is available in civil cases stemming from sexual contact with a minor under the age of 13 where the Legislature has precluded such defense by statute in criminal proceedings.”

In the amicus brief, filed on behalf of thirty non-profit organizations committed to advocating the legal rights of sexual assault victims, amici argue that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should bar the defense of consent in civil cases arising from sexual contact with minors under the age of 13 where the Pennsylvania Legislature has already precluded such a defense in criminal cases. Barring the consent defense in civil cases is consistent with the Legislature’s intent behind barring the defense in criminal cases, Pennsylvania’s strong public policy of protecting children from physical and psychological harm, and social science research on child development.

WLP Reviews Philadephia Police Handling of Sexual Assault Complaints

WLP's advocacy to end the Philadelphia Police Department's decades-long practice of refusing to accept or investigate large numbers of sexual assault complaints has accomplished the following:

Opening of a new $2.2 million, 18,000 sq. ft. facility on the Episcopal Hospital campus to house the Special Victims Unit on September 24, 2003.
Hiring of significantly more specially trained investigators and personnel.
Changes in coding and practice.
Annual review of cases by advocates.

Schieber v. City of Philadelphia (3rd Cir. 2001)

WLP submitted an amicus curiae brief on September 28, 2001 in Schieber v. City of Philadelphia No. 01-2312 (3rd Cir. Filed ___) in support of plaintiff’s claim that the Philadelphia Police Department’s conduct violated due process. The brief was filed on behalf of 39 organizations dedicated to improving the response of society and societal institutions to women and children who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Click here for brief.

Commonwealth v. Fischer (PA. Supreme Ct. 1999)

In October, 1999, WLP submitted an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania urging the court, on behalf of 38 organizations, to affirm the conviction of a rapist and refuse to change the law to allow a defendant to assert a mistake of fact as to consent defense.

Letter to FBI on Coding of Rape

In September 2001, the WLP sent a letter signed on by over 80 organizations to the Director of the FBI asking the FBI to change its narrow definition of rape to more accurately reflect societal and legal definitions of serious sexual assault.