Rape survivor nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

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Amanda Nguyen testifying in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

A RAPE SURVIVOR who authored the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights and founded a national civil rights organization for fellow survivors has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

In a rare bipartisan action, Amanda Nguyen was nominated for the prestigious honor by Rep Mimi Walters, R-CA. and Zoe Lofgren, D-CA, according to a press release from Rise, the advocacy group founded by the 27-year old Nguyen.

The two California lawmakers nominated Nguyen for her “unprecedented efforts in bringing equal protection under the law and basic human rights to all survivors of sexual assault, regardless of geography.”

Nguyen felt “powerless, invisible and betrayed” when, after a four-hour forensic sexual assault examination for evidence extraction following her rape in 2013 while attending college in Massachusetts, law enforcement officials proceeded to attempt to destroy her rape kit before the statute of limitations had expired. In response, she wrote the Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act, which was added to the federal criminal code by President Obama and approved by unanimous vote in Congress in 2016.

The Survivors’ Bill of Rights specifically and explicitly states that survivors have the right for their rape kit to be preserved for the length of the case’s statute of limitations, the right to be notified if an evidence kit is set for destruction and the right to be notified of the results of their rape kit.

“Up until [the Sexual Assault Survivor’s Bill of Rights] was passed, every six months, I had to try to save my rape kit from destruction,” Nguyen told WomensHealthMag.com in an earlier interview.

Rape kits have been used to identify DNA from suspects and have been credited with leading to prosecutions. Despite their importance, many law enforcement agencies are years behind collecting data from these rape kits. Some had even destroyed them as soon as six months after the crime. The law impacts nearly 25 million estimated rape survivors in the United States

Because most sexual assault cases are handled by state law enforcement, the federal bill of rights is more of a guideline and an attempt to raise awareness on the issues affecting survivors.

“The problem is that the Act applies only in federal sexual assault cases, and not in state cases where the vast majority of sexual assaults occur—that is, unless the individual state has passed the Act,” Adrienne Lawrence, a California attorney and victim advocate, told Ms.

“Just 14 states have passed the Act so far, which means a number of sexual assault victims across the nation do not and will not have guaranteed rights. Failing to ensure survivors have adequate rights undermines the notion that our justice system is as committed to ending the crime of sexual assault as it is to ending other forms of crime. The Act is necessary because, in a number of states, victims are not informed about what will happen with their rape kits and the kits get destroyed, which basically destroys evidence of a crime and limits the victim’s ability to get justice.”

In a hearing last week before the Senate Judicial Committee to discuss the law's implementation, Nguyen noted her Nobel Peace Prize nomination:

"Yesterday, I had the incredible honor of being formally nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. When most people think about peace, the work that my team is engaged in may not be the first thing that comes to mind. But the truth is for the estimated 35 percent of women on Earth who are survivors of sexual violence, access to justice is a necessary prerequisite to true peace. Their lives are the invisible war zones that corrode human potential and hold back the promise of a just world. Their powerlessness is our shame.

"This is a peace that we all - Senator, citizen, advocate from any corner of the globe - can help deliver. We can hold a light up to this darkest corner of human experience, and allow survivors at last to be seen, to be heard, to be believed, to be empowered.”

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Auli'i Carvalho continues to rise with new TV show

Alui'i Cravalho's character in 'Rise' auditions for a part in a high school production.

ADD ONE MORE name to the short list of AAPI actors to keep an eye on as American television continues its slow march to make the small screen look like the real America.
Auli'i Cravalho, 17, who did Moana's voice in the movie, gets to be in front of the cameraa in TV series Rise, which debuts tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13. In this NBC drama, she is a student actor, who gets to sing live and in person in a high school production of the rock musical Spring Awakening.

The series is a show within a show and follows the production of Spring Awakening from auditions, rehearsals and perhaps the actual debut of the  musical.

The trailer highlights Cravalho as Lillette Suarez, a working class student who joins the drama club. Seven other teenagers will be introduced in the group as well and each one struggles with personal problems like school pressure, unconcerned or sick parents, extra-curricular demands and underage drinking.

"It's about a normal town and normal high schoolers who rise above their particular circumstances," the Hawaii/American Cravalho told The Knockturnal. "I also get to have an incredible cast with me as well. So, not only do I get to sing, but also get to hear their great voices, too."

“There were certainly many similarities and differences between Lilette and I. She’s not one who goes looking for the spotlight certainly, and she’s one that is perhaps more of an introvert, quite unlike myself,” Cravalho told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I think I’ve found my spot in the spotlight. But in many ways we are similar. She grows up in a single-parent household, as I have. She has big dreams but grows up in a small town.

“For me, it was on a small island. For her, it’s in a small, tiny place that also kind of resembles a small mind-set, which is something that she doesn’t want for herself but something that she’s used to other people putting on her. She works very hard and works to rise above her circumstances, so to speak.”

Rise is actually inspired from a true story of an English teacher Lou Volpe in Pennsylvania who helped change the lives of the kids in his high school theater group.Journalist Michael Sokolove wrote the best seller book "Drama High" from his observations of Volpe, whose students become successful in the entertainment industry.

Comparisons to Glee are unavoidable since Glee is based on the book "Drama High."

"Rise" also stars "How I Met Your Mother" actor Josh Radnor as the teacher Lou Mazzuchelli. Rosie Perez (Tracy), Damon J. Gillespie (Robbie Thorne), Ted Sutherland (Simon), Shannon Purser (Annabelle) and Joe Tippett (Coach Doug Strickland) are also in the series.

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Last week, the network Monday announced the 50 recipients, chosen from 1,000 school applicants around the country, that will receive NBC’s $10,000 R.I.S.E. (Recognizing and Inspiring Student Expression) America Grants, designed to assist theater programs with production expenses, technical equipment, master classes and other needs. NBC is partnering with the non-profit Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF) on the program.

To qualify for a grant, high schools were required to have a theater program or champion of theater arts on the teaching staff, and a program endangered due to budget constraints. Each school submitted a video about its program and a 500-word essay on why it deserved the money.

“Rise” debuts at 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, on NBC and then will move into its regular time slot of 8 p.m. Tuesdays starting March 20.
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