Women Against Registry (W.A.R.) is a U.S. non-profit organization, based in

Arnold, Missouri Arnold is the largest city in Jefferson County, Missouri, United States and is also a suburb of St. Louis. The population was 20,850, at the 2020 United States Census. History The first European settler in Arnold was Jean Baptiste Gamache, wh ...

, which works to obtain changes in laws affecting

sex offenders A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crime ...

. Most W.A.R. members are mothers, wives, girlfriends, and other family members of persons convicted of a sexual offense. W.A.R. advocates the abolition of sex offender registries altogether, but also wants officials to be more judicious in deciding who poses a risk, instead of the current policies applied to all offenders indiscriminately.

Purpose

Child_protesting_against_hardship_caused_by_strict_sex_offender_policies

The organization is focused on fostering awareness of the collateral damage suffered by the families of registrants. It asserts that while there is no evidence to support the

effectiveness of public sex offender registries Effectiveness is the capability of producing a desired result or the ability to produce desired output. When something is deemed effective, it means it has an intended or expected outcome, or produces a deep, vivid impression. Etymology The ori ...

in deterring sexual crime, the registrants, their children, spouses, and other family members, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, suffer daily harassment, social exclusion, depression, anxiety, and even

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

attacks; this contributes to the destruction of families. W.A.R. opposes current mandatory laws governing sex offender registration and monitoring, which take away

judicial discretion Judicial discretion is the power of the judiciary to make some legal decisions according to their discretion. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the ability of judges to exercise discretion is an aspect of judicial independence. Where ...

of courts as to whether an offender must register. W.A.R. believes that monitoring should happen only when found appropriate by a judge as part of the sentencing process. W.A.R. opposes public disclosure of registrants' information, arguing that after the offender has served his or her sentence and is leading a law-abiding life, his information should not be displayed on public websites. It notes that a public registry serves as a "hit-list" for vigilante attacks, and subject the children of even the most petty offenders to serious adverse consequences. W.A.R. aims to educate lawmakers and society about the discrimination that family members of registered offenders face, through press releases, peaceful demonstrations, and attending the

National Conference of State Legislatures The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

Federal class action lawsuits

In April 2015 Women Against Registry announced that it has begun gathering information and participants for two class action lawsuits to be filed in

United States federal court The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...

. One of the lawsuits is intended to be on behalf of registered sex offenders, and the second on behalf of families of registered sex offenders. According to W.A.R., both suits are to be filed in the United States 8th District Federal Court.

Support Hotline

Women Against Registry operates a support hotline in collaboration with

National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) is a national civil rights and justice reform organization headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina with operations based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and with affiliated organizati ...

and SOSEN to provide hope and support to registrants, their family members, and friends affected by the collateral damage caused by the sex offender registry. It is staffed by volunteers. The support hotline was originally an initiative of RSOL, but it is currently funded and operated by W.A.R..

References

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External links

Women Against Registry official website
Sex offender registration Non-profit organizations based in Missouri Civil liberties advocacy groups in the United States Women's political advocacy groups in the United States Sex offender registries in the United States History of women in Missouri

Purpose

Federal class action lawsuits

Support Hotline

See also

References

External links