Top headlines of the week

1. Cassie After Sean Combs Footage: ‘Open Your Heart to Believing Victims’
2. For the Women Who Accused the Trump Campaign of Harassment, It’s Been More Harassment
3. Survivors of Prison Staff Abuse Say Transfer to New Facilities Hasn’t Ended Harm
4. The Gender Pay Gap Is a Culture Problem

5. Australia’s ‘National Crisis’ of Domestic Abuse

    

Legal consequences and a public reckoning for abusers can look something like justice – but the most important thing we can do for survivors is simple: believe them. 

Last week, the singer Cassie took to social media and urged the world to do exactly that. “My only ask is that EVERYONE open your heart to believing victims the first time,” she wrote. Her message comes after CNN released disturbing footage earlier this month that shows Cassie’s then-boyfriend and hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs violently assaulting her.

Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, sued Combs last year for rape and abuse in case that was very quickly settled. Since she filed her suit, there have been seven more lawsuits that allege misconduct by the Combs, including one filed in New York last week. Combs is now accused of a truly horribly array of crimes – including rape, sexual assault and human trafficking. He is also under federal investigation. 

Will this firestorm take him down for good? It’s hard to see how it wouldn’t, though he has successfully reformed his image with PR spin in the past.

In other sad – but unsurprising news – ProPublica is out with a new story detailing how Donald Trump’s campaign has used “bullying tactics” against women who have sued his campaign for workplace harassment.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons appeared to sidestep implementing much needed reforms at FCI Dublin, the abuse-ridden women’s prison in the Bay Area, when it instead chose to abruptly close the facility last month. But the closure was not the end of the trauma for women who were previously incarcerated there. The news site Truthout obtained harrowing messages from women who were transferred from FCI Dublin to other prisons around the country. One woman recounted that she and others were denied medication and menstrual products and spent over 29 hours in “chains” during the relocation process. 

Opinion writer Jessica Grose is out with a piece where she looks at research which suggests that culture, rather than family policy, is the bigger driver behind the United States’ persistent gender pay gap. “Until we reconcile our cultural ambivalence toward working mothers, I don’t think the gap is going to get any better,” she writes.

And in international news, The New York Times has a dispatch from its Australia bureau about the country’s “national crisis” of domestic abuse. Read more about it here.

Weekly nonprofit news

NEWS

NEWS is looking for a fund development and marketing director to join their team. This is a key leadership hire who will work on donor engagement, marketing, and communications initiatives. Click here for more details. 

Center for Domestic Peace

If you’re interested in helping domestic violence survivors and passionate about making a difference, consider signing up for C4PD’s 40-hour training session to become a Domestic Violence Advocate. The training is virtual and will run from July 17 to July 31.

Tri-Valley Haven For Women

Mark your calendar for Tri-Valley Haven’s annual Backpack Distribution Event, which will take place on July 30 between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. at 444 Black Avenue in Pleasanton. The organization will be providing backpacks pre-filled with school supplies for children residing in the following locations: Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore and Sunol.