University of Wisconsin-Madison
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Thursday, April 11, 2019
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1 in 3 women
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WISCONSIN FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW
Celebrating the Earth in Madison: Inclusively appreciating the planet By Aylin Merve Arikan SENIOR STAFF WRITER
report being victims of
sexual assault
crime victims’ rights week MAX HOMSTAD/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Legislators and grassroots organizers held a press conference advocating to re-center the justice system around the needs of survivors by increasing their protections and rights to privacy in the Senate Chambers Tuesday.
Assault survivors feel re-victimized in court By Jessica Lipaz and Molly Davis THE DAILY CARDINAL
“There is no better thing to talk about this week than Marsy’s Law,” Todd Novak, R-Dodgeville, said during a National Crime Victims’ Rights week press conference in the Senate Chambers Tuesday. With increased state recognition after Gov. Tony Evers proclaimed April as Sexual Assault Awareness month — noting one in three women and one in six men will experience sexual assault — crime survivors worked with grassroots organizations to urge legislators to constitutionally ensure greater protections and a more victim-centric approach to the justice system. Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin organizers, authors of Assembly Joint Resolution 1 and Senate Joint Resolution 2, the Wisconsin Court Appointed Special Advocates and Attorney General Josh Kaul spoke out in support of survivors to help push the bills onto the legislative floor during Tuesday’s press conference. The proposed legislation would protect crime victims by keeping information like their names, phone numbers and addresses private, as well as improving transparency about their perpetrators’ sentencing status and allowing them to refuse interview requests by the accused.
“At Marsy’s Law what we are trying to do is even the playing ground — we are not looking for any special treatment. We are just looking for equal treatment for victims,” Marsy’s Law chair and survivor Teri Jendusa Nicolai said. “Our rights right now are statutory, we need to make them constitutional.” Marsy’s Law is a coalition that builds communities for crime victims and legislators alike, aiming to give survivors equal rights as the ones accused throughout the justice system process.
“I started this journey as a powerless child and it ended in being a powerless adult with nowhere left to turn. Victimized and forgotten by the justice system.” Gabrielle Stathus Advocate for Marsy’s Law
Survivors shared their stories and explained how current laws made them feel victimized by the justice system for allowing the accused to have power over them once again. “I was granted a no contact order, but to get it I had to give the man that had violated me all of my personal information. He had everything,” Gabrielle Stathus said about her sexual
assault trial against her 8th grade teacher. “When I was hospitalized with a chronic mental illness, his defense attorney would call to check on my status.” Gabrielle’s perpetrator was given a plea deal, lowering his initial sentencing from 40 years to six months. In the end, without the say of Gabrielle who was only allowed to enter the courtroom on one occasion since the trial never happened, he served only 90 days in prison. “I started this journey as a powerless child and it ended in being a powerless adult with nowhere left to turn,” Gabrielle said. “Victimized and forgotten by the justice system.” Survivors like Gabrielle are connected to Marsy’s Law through various outreach programs and events. Survivor and advocate Christina Traub said that organizing for Marsy’s Law can help victims get on the path to become survivors. “Giving victims a voice seemed like some insurmountable task when we started,” Traub said. “In the two years that I’ve been involved, any time that I share my story, along the way someone stops me and says, ‘Thank you. Thank you for speaking up when we couldn’t.’” Affiliates of Marsy’s Law
The campus that started a tradition of celebrating planet Earth is connecting back to its environmentalist spirits, while integrating its most recent mission: inclusion. Earth Day founder and former Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson was widely known for his efforts in socioeconomic equality and environmentalist activism. Nelson first proposed Earth Day on April 22, 1970, to create a platform for the public to express its concerns of the environment to political figures. “An estimated 20 million people nationwide attended festivities that day,” America’s Library website said. “It was a truly astonishing grassroots explosion, leading eventually to national legislation such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.” UW-Madison will be dedicating a entire week to celebrating planet Earth, April 15 through April 22, with at least three events each day — ranging from free breakfast at the top of Bascom Hill to teaching students how to fix bike chains. The Associated Students of Mad i s o n and the Office o f
Sustainability will collaborate with many student organizations to celebrate and educate on sustainability. The events this year range from social media campaigns to campus workshops. “Sustainability is inherently intersectional. It does not exist in a vacuum, it can speak to everyone so Earth Week is a great opportunity to celebrate Earth and get civically engaged,” ASM Sustainability Chair Katie Piel said. The UW-Madison senior has pioneered relationships with organizations on campus to keep sustainability a priority even after Earth Week and encourage collaboration. “Campus operates in silos much of the time; very independently, we have our event for our own audiences and rarely do we cross over,” Piel said. Organizations like ASM have been making notable strides in overcoming this challenge and have been successful through meatless Monday efforts, a collaboration between the Equity and Inclusion Committee and the Sustainability Committee. On Tuesday, the Latinx Cultural Center will kickstart a trash pick-up thread on Twitter. The Office of Sustainability has partnered up with the Multicultural Student Center to host a environmental justice workshop, which will highlight how issues like climate change has widely different impacts on dif-
Earth Week page 3
Marsy’s Law page 3 PHOTO COURTESY OF ASM SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”