Meaghan Ybos, President of Women Against Registry (WAR). 

Meaghan Ybos is a surprising ally and ambassador for our movement: a prominent and outspoken survivor of rape who is dedicated to abolishing the registry, ending systems of perpetual punishment, repealing pre-crime preventative detention laws, and shuttering shadow prisons.

In 2003 at the age of sixteen, Meaghan was raped in Memphis.  She was revictimized by the state when law enforcement did not investigate the case or test her rape kit for more than nine years. Meaghan strategically used the (all-too-common) mishandling of her rape case to raise awareness about needed policy changes. In 2015, Meaghan and a group of lawyers and community organizers formed People for the Enforcement of Rape Laws (PERL), which advocates for criminal justice reform and for several years provided the community’s only peer support for people who experienced sexual violence. She is also a contributing writer at The Appeal, part of the Harvard University School of Law’s Fair Punishment Project. Meaghan holds a BA in English from Rhodes College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi.