In honor of RAINN’s 25th anniversary, each month we’re taking a closer look at the people and programs that are essential in our work to help survivors today and every day. This month, we’re shining a spotlight on RAINN’s technology team. The technology team is crucial in making sure the services RAINN offers to survivors and their loved ones are safe, secure, private, and available around the clock.

It can be hard to know how to help a loved one who is experiencing domestic violence or intimate partner violence. That’s why during domestic violence awareness month this October, RAINN is focusing on sharing information for those who suspect someone in their life might need this support.

RAINN and Netflix have teamed up on Unbelievable, an eight-part limited series released last week and inspired by the true events of a serial rape case in Colorado and Washington State. The series depicts what it’s like for many survivors who choose to report sexual violence and the difficulty of receiving a rape kit and repeatedly describing an assault. Unbelievable focuses on how the first response a survivor hears after disclosing can encourage people to continue to pursue healing and find justice.

RAINN today announced a partnership with Lyft to help them hold drivers and riders accountable for maintaining a culture of safety. RAINN’s consulting services team will work with Lyft to create mandatory Community Safety Education for drivers, strengthen community guidelines, and develop trainings for Lyft team members, riders and drivers. Lyft will also make a donation to support RAINN’s victim service, public education, and public policy programs.

Hispanic Heritage Month starts September 15 and is a time to honor more than 40 million people who are part of the Latinx community in the U.S. This month, RAINN is taking a look at challenges to reporting sexual assault and harassment that members of these communities may face. Since RAINN launched Spanish-language services on the Online Hotline in 2015, Spanish-speaking survivors of sexual assault—and their family and friends—have had access to anonymous support services as well as information about care, service providers, and the reporting process.

In honor of RAINN’s 25th anniversary, each month we’ll be taking a closer look at the people and programs that are essential in our work to help survivors today and every day. This month, we’re shining a spotlight on RAINN’s public policy team. RAINN’s policy team works at federal and state levels to improve the criminal justice system, prevent sexual assault, and ensure justice for survivors.

RAINN’s vice president of victim services, Keeli Sorensen, delivered a keynote address last month at cloud communications company Twilio’s annual conference in San Francisco. In her speech, Sorensen emphasized the role that technological innovation and infrastructure play in RAINN’s everyday work to support survivors of sexual violence and their loved ones.

RAINN and Hulu have partnered up for the release of a new documentary film, Untouchable, in which survivors of Harvey Weinstein share their stories of abuse and its effects on their lives and careers. Before the film's release, RAINN interviewed its director, Ursula Macfarlane, to hear about how she supported the survivors who participated and what she hopes viewers will take away from the documentary. 

Millions of high school and college students in the United States will head to campus for the first time or return for another year this fall. Bystander intervention is a powerful way that individuals of all ages can look out for each other and help create safe and respectful spaces.

As a court weighs Bill Cosby’s appeal of his conviction, RAINN and its pro bono legal team at Hogan Lovells, LLP, have filed a joint amicus brief arguing to uphold the verdict. The brief makes the case that the testimony of five additional victims who testified against Cosby established a pattern of behavior, and that the experiences of the witnesses were strikingly similar to the experience of Andrea Constand.