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SherryLynn Boyles has been named president and CEO of the Joint Initiatives for Youth and Families in Colorado Springs. She had served in the role on an interim basis since July 2019. She also has been CEO of TESSA, the local domestic and sexual violence center, executive director of the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault and a consultant to variety of nonprofits. She has bachelor s and law degrees from the University of Texas.
Bob du Pignac has joined Alphalete Plumbing & Heat of Colorado Springs as a senior HVAC technician. He began his plumbing and HVAC career in Palm Springs, Calif., and he spent several years designing luxury homes in Southern California. He has a bachelor s degree in architecture from California Polytechnic State University.
Texas lawmakers reformed key sexual assault laws in 2019. Advocates hope the progress continues this session despite the pandemic.
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Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune
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On the heels of the #MeToo movement, both Republican and Democratic state lawmakers during the 2019 legislative session championed various reforms to how sexual assaults are investigated and victims are treated.
By the time the session gaveled to a close, legislators had steered millions of dollars toward addressing a rape kit backlog and funding sexual assault exams and rape crisis centers. Advocates specializing in sexual assault prevention praised the session as an unprecedented commitment to helping sexual assault survivors.
Lawmakers and advocates for sexual assault survivors are heading into the 2021 legislative session hoping to expand the definition of sexual assault and keep funding the processing of a rape kit backlog. Credit: Amna Ijaz/The Texas Tribune
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
On the heels of the #MeToo movement, both Republican and Democratic state lawmakers during the 2019 legislative session championed various reforms to how sexual assaults are investigated and victims are treated.
By the time the session gaveled to a close, legislators had steered millions of dollars toward addressing a rape kit backlog and funding sexual assault exams and rape crisis centers. Advocates specializing in sexual assault prevention praised the session as an unprecedented commitment to helping sexual assault survivors.
Julia H. and her mother, Karen (left), joined TLSC attorneys during a press conference in December (Courtesy of Texas Legal Services Center)
Julia wasn t surprised when she was called into her principal s office in 2018. A junior at the time, she had been pulled out of class several times already after reporting a sexual assault by another student, although this was the first time she d spoken directly with
Austin High School Principal
Julia told the
Chronicle that once she d recounted her assault to Taylor, the principal told her, Maybe if you had screamed then this wouldn t have happened to you. Then, as Julia cried, she was told that she couldn t leave the office until she signed a formal stay-away agreement that would bar her from talking to the other student: I m the principal, so I can force you to [sign the agreement].