The Year of Living Philanthropically

I'm sure she meant "Dear Blottered":

Dear Andrew,

Thank you so much for your recent contribution of $100.00 to Stop Prisoner Rape on March 7, 2008. We would like to keep you updated on our work, but the contact information you provided with your donation only included an email address. If you would like to receive our regular Action Update newsletter, please reply to this email and provide me with your mailing address

Sexual violence continues to plague U.S. prisons and jails, despite the fact that such abuse largely is preventable. While anyone can become the victim of a sexual assault, we know that some inmates are at especially high risk, and that they could be protected without much difficulty.

It’s no mystery who the vulnerable inmates are. They tend to be young, unschooled in the ways of prison life, non-violent, small in stature, or mentally ill. Gay and transgender detainees, or those who are perceived to be gay, are also victimized disproportionately.

Basic measures, such as identifying likely victims and likely perpetrators – and making sure that they don’t get placed in the same cell – could help ensure that thousands of men and women are spared the devastation of a sexual assault.

At SPR, we work hard to combat the systemic causes of prisoner rape, including the routine placement of vulnerable inmates in harm’s way. We believe that better policies and practices are essential, and feasible, and we are working closely with the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission to develop the first-ever national standards addressing sexual violence in detention.

Through your generous contribution, you are helping us to do that work – and to protect every human being’s right to be treated with dignity and to be free from abuse.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Kristin Hall
Program Development Director
Stop Prisoner Rape

You're welcome, Kristin. It's what I do.