Demand Action! Stop Sexual Violence

Mass NOW and Jane Doe Inc are rallying in solidarity with Jane Doe in her fight against Cornell University and the Chi Phi fraternity. We stand with Jane Doe and all survivors of sexual violence.

No More Sexual Violence

Calls to Action for Campuses

• Require comprehensive and consistent sexual violence prevention trainings for on-campus organizations.

  • Campuses should utilize local survivor advocacy programs like Jane Doe Inc's 

  • member programs to fortify relationships and create trauma-informed, inclusive, and developed training programs.

• Ensure that campus policies and responses center victims of sexual violence.

  • Campus responses to sexual violence reports must prioritize the health, safety, and autonomy of victims, especially victims who are a part of marginalized communties. In addition, survivors must have a central voice in shaping institutional responses that shape the campus climate.

Calls to Action for Healthcare Institutions

• Continue to expand and invest in trauma-informed sexual assault care across Massachusetts.

  • Build on the Commonwealth’s existing hospital networks of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners and survivor advocacy programs to ensure they have the proper resources to provide accessible care statewide.

• Mandate trauma-informed sexual violence training for healthcare providers

  • Health care institutions should support survivors and connect them with community resources through established partnerships with local sexual violence advocacy programs.

Calls to Action for State Leaders

• Increase state funding for sexual and domestic violence services across Massachusetts.

  • Continue to invest in sexual and domestic violence programs that support survivors and their care systems through services like crisis intervention, prevention, financial support, accessibility outlets, and legal pathways.

• Invest in both prevention and response mechanisms.

  • Expand comprehensive, inclusive, and age-appropriate education about healthy relationships, consent, and sexual violence prevention in schools and communities across the commonwealth.

• Remove systemic barriers that prevent survivors from accessing necessary support.

  • Ensure that survivors can access relevant services regardless of language, immigration status, race, income, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability.  

Call to Action for Our Communities 

• Believe survivors. Support one another. Challenge rape culture when you see it.

• Examine the ways violence and rape culture show up in our own relationships and communities, and be willing to have difficult conversations with care.

Turn these calls to action into policy. Mass NOW and Jane Doe Inc. are advocating for legislation that strengthens protections for survivors and advances gender justice across Massachusetts. We urge everyone to build a relationship with your State Representative and State Senator, and ask them to support and pass these bills. By becoming a Mass NOW member or volunteer, you’re not just supporting individual bills; you’re helping build a strong feminist constituency and growing the collective power we need to win lasting change across Massachusetts.

Endorsed Legislation

• Bills from Mass NOW’s Legislative Agenda

  • HB2634 (HD1760) An Act Relative to Sexual Assault by an Officer 

    • Expands the definitions of "control" and "coercion" for specified offenses

    • Sponsor - Natalie Higgins 

  • HB4538 An Act relative to the age of consent in certain criminal prosecutions and civil actions for sexual assault and rape of a child       

    • Details the sentencing and punishment for any school or government official who engages in sexual assault with minors

    • Sponsor - Kenneth Gordon 

  • HB1732 (HD643) An Act amending the statute of limitations relating to civil rights actions and criminal prosecutions for the sexual assault and rape of a child

    • Takes away any statute of limitations for the sexual assault of a minor

    • Sponsors - Rep. Kenneth I. Gordon (D), Rep. John Lawn Jr. (D), Sen. Joan B. Lovely (D)

• Bills from JDI’s Legislative Agenda

  Access to Justice and Safety for Survivors

  • H.1594/S.1205: An Act Relative to Controlling and Abusive Litigation

    • This bill provides courts with a tool to curb abusive litigation and mitigate its harms.

    • Lead Sponsors: Rep. Natalie Blais & Sen. Michael Moore

  • H.2031/S.1281: An Act Relative to Domestic Violence Reports and Confidentiality

    • This bill establishes a task force to study and create recommendations around updating MA’s secrecy law around sexual assault and domestic violence-related police reports.

    • Lead Sponsors: Rep. Andy Vargas & Sen. John Velis

  Housing and Economic Justice

  • H.2466/S.1562: An Act Supporting Survivors Through Financial Assistance

    • This bill establishes the Flexible Assistance for Survivors Grant Program to make unrestricted support available for survivors to access through community-based programs.

    • Lead Sponsors: Rep. Sally Kerans & Sen. Robyn Kennedy

  • H.1694/S.1147: An Act Providing Civil Legal Remedies for Victims of Economic Abuse

    • This bill addresses coerced debt, where survivors of abuse have been forced to acquire debt through threats, forgery, or identity theft. 

    • Lead Sponsors: Rep. Brandy Fluker-Reid & Sen. Robyn Kennedy

  Racial Equity

  • H.1587/S.1256: An Act Relative to Justice for Survivors (Massachusetts Survivors Act)

    • The Massachusetts Survivors Act creates alternative and resentencing avenues for survivors of family violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and human trafficking whose transgressions were connected to their abuse.

    • Lead Sponsors: Reps. Christine Barber and Brandy Fluker-Reid & Sen. Michael Rush

  • H.3422/S.2114: An Act Establishing a Jail and Prison Construction Moratorium

    • This bill will pause the construction of any new prisons or jails in Massachusetts for 5 years, giving the Commonwealth an opportunity to shift spending priorities to invest in communities.

    • Lead Sponsors: Rep. Chynah Tyler & Sen. Joanne Comerford

  • H.3384/S.2125: An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion

    • This bill shines a light on the gaps that currently exist in language access in state institutions and requires state agencies to meet language access needs.

    • Lead Sponsors: Reps. Adrian Madaro and Carlos González & Sen. Sal DiDomenico

  Sexual and Domestic Violence Education and Prevention

  • DESE's Comprehensive Health and Physical Education Framework (https://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/current.html)

  Human Dignity

  • H.1588/S.1122: An Act Relative to Immigration Detention and Collaboration Agreements

    • This bill specifically prohibits state and local entities from entering into or renewing any collaboration or detention agreements that would delegate federal immigration enforcement powers to these entities.

    • Lead Sponsors: Senator Adam Gomez & Reps. Christine Barber and David Rogers

Frequently Asked Questions

• Where and when is the rally?

  Thursday, October 8th, 6pm at the Parkman Bandstand.

• What's happening at the rally?

  Local leaders, legislators, and activists will be speaking about the importance of ending sexual violence and how we can take action in Massachusetts!

• What resources will be available?

  Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARRC), Mass NOW, the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance, and Mass NOW will be sharing resources.

• What can I do?

  • Make posters

  • Tell your friends and peers to show up

  • Wear purple!

Co-Sponsoring Organizations

Boston City Councilor Durkan

State Representative Mike Connolly

State Senator Sal DiDomenico

State Senator Patricia Jehlen