The CAASE team is thrilled to share our 2024 Year at a Glance! Check out this report for all of the best highlights from our programs last year and to learn more about their notable accomplishments and developments in 2024. We are so proud of our team for all of their hard work in supporting survivors and preventing harm throughout another year. It was truly an expectational year full of new opportunities, growth, and deep dedication to ending sexual exploitation. 

Our Prevention Education team served 1,471 students. The Community Engagement team held 52 events, engaging 198 individuals. Our Public Policy and Advocacy team saw four of our five policy legislative agenda items passed. The Legal Services team served 215 clients with 370 total matters. None of this would be possible without the steadfast support from our incredible community of staff, board, donors, partners, and allies. Read the 2024 Year at a Glance below or click here to view and download the one-pager. 

Innovating Empowerment Through Education  

Our Prevention Education team continues to be in high demand, known for their innovative and empowering content and educators. The team taught in 10 schools in 2024, presenting five professional trainings on the links between sexual harm prevention and healthy technology throughout the year. In total, the team served 1,471 students! Beyond the classroom, the team developed a variety of new and exciting partnerships and opportunities. They partnered with the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) on a state-wide symposium on Moving Prevention Forward. They created and presented a new professional training, Talking Tech with Teens, at the ICASA’s state-wide Rape Prevention Education symposium. They were also selected to serve on the Illinois Sexual Violence Task Force, co-sponsored by the Illinois Department of Public Health and ICASA, for two years. 

“Be mindful online by thinking carefully before I post or share, ensuring my actions align with kindness, accuracy, and respect for others’ privacy.” 

11TH GRADE PREVENTION EDUCATION STUDENT AT JOHN HANCOCK COLLEGE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL, ON HOW YOU CAN BE MORE MINDFUL ONLINE 

Deepening Community Connections 

2024 was a year of connecting deeply for our Community Engagement team. The team held 52 events, engaging 198 individuals! “Let’s Chat Over Lunch” and “Surviving the Mic,” Community Engagement’s monthly virtual offerings continued to be places of connection – creating reliable and brave spaces for writing, discussion, support, collaboration, and community. A big priority for this program in 2024 was becoming more actively engaged with local LGBTQ+ organizations, including Center on Halsted and Center on Cottage Grove, Brave Space Alliance, and Affinity Community Services. Community Engagement also connected CAASE’s legal team with Brave Space Alliance, a Black trans-led organization on Chicago’s South Side, to provide information about survivors’ rights. They also connected with Grapsate, a Black faith-based organization, with Casa Central, a local rape crisis center, to complete a 40-hour sexual assault training. Creating new relationships and strengthening existing ones has led Community Engagement to deeper connections and conversations with survivors throughout the community. 

CAASE Community Engagement Director Anika Sterling Florez participated in a Domestic Violence Awareness Month panel discussion at Governor State University in October 

Advocating For Accountability and Change

Policy had an active and engaged 2024! Our policy work continues to center expanding options for survivors, holding systems and perpetrators accountable, and preventing future violence. In 2024, four of our five policy legislative agenda items of 2024 passed!  

We saw the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) continue to be successfully implemented. The team gave 12 presentations on the new law to end money bond to community partners and organizations, including at the National Sexual Assault Conference in Washington, D.C. In March, Madeleine Behr, CAASE policy & communications director was awarded the Chicago Foundation for Women Impact Award for her work on the PFA. The Policy team was appointed by The Illinois State Board of Education to the Ensuring Success in School Law (ESSL) task force, serving as a subcommittee chair. We look forward to the ESSL being implemented in summer 2025! 

Our Policy team continued to inform the public about our work in ending sexual harm in various media outlets throughout the year. They look forward to spreading more education and awareness about issues that impact survivors in the future. 

CAASE Policy and Communications Director Madeleine Behr (left) presented on the Pretrial Fairness Act at the National Sexual Assault Conference in Washington, D.C. in August 

Survivor Justice and Healing 

Our Legal Services team served 215 clients in 2024, with 370 total matters! They had 19 pro bono clients, and 21 pro bono attorneys working with clients in 2024. It was a record year—the team served more clients than ever before, and their clients received more in financial settlements than ever before. We are honored to be part of our clients’ journeys towards justice and healing. The Legal team attended the National Sexual Assault Conference in August, strengthening and growing their community of allies and partners. The Legal team also added a new endeavor to their work: taking on cases of survivors who are incarcerated in Illinois’ women’s prisons. CAASE’s legal help for criminalized survivors includes criminal records assistance, resentencing and clemency petitions, civil advice and litigation, and assistance with crime victims’ rights. From Title IX matters to employment cases, to cyber sexual abuse, and clearing criminal records for survivors of sex trafficking, the Legal team strives to be a dependable resource to survivors seeking justice. 

“There was never a moment I doubted [my attorney’s] righteous advocacy or her desire to fight on my behalf. For the first time maybe in my entire life, I felt like someone understood me and wanted to genuinely help me. . .  She believed me when no one else did.” 

LEGAL SERVICES CLIENT 

Thank you for supporting CAASE and helping to make 2024 an impactful year. CAASE envisions a community free from all forms of sexual exploitation, including sexual assault and the commercial sex trade. CAASE addresses the culture, institutions, and individuals that perpetrate, profit from, or support sexual exploitation. Our work includes prevention, policy reform, community engagement, and legal services. Click here to learn more about our work. 

This piece was published on March 6, 2025. It was designed and authored by Lizzy Springer with input from CAASE’s program directors and edited by Madeleine Behr. Learn more about our staff here.