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.

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.

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.

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 volunteer program.

Millions of Americans and their families feel the effects of trauma on mental health each year, and a portion of those people are survivors of sexual violence. Mental Health Awareness Month this May is a time to reflect on how to support those in your life who experience difficulties with mental health, reduce stigma around seeking treatment, and advocate for equal access to care.