Article here. Excerpt:

'The Atlantic Ballet's latest production is an effort to raise awareness about domestic abuse.

Susan Chalmers-Gauvin, CEO of the Moncton, N.B.-based ballet company, says Ghosts of Violence will be on tour across the country.

"The most shocking statistic, I think, is the fact that the largest number of women killed are under the age of 25 years, so we really would like to be able to reach out to that younger demographic," said Chalmers-Gauvin.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'It's time for those of us who are good men to start acknowledging the role that male socialization plays in domestic and sexual violence. As good men, we must begin to acknowledge and own our responsibility to be part of the solution to ending violence against women and girls.

What is a good man?

A good man is a man who believes women should be respected. A good man would not assault a woman. A good man believes in equality for women. A good man honors the women in his life. A good man, for all practical purposes, is a nice guy. We believe this to be the majority of men.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In a recent interview, Julian Assange joined defenders who have blamed feminism, writ large, for his recent sexual assault charges, saying that he "fell into a hornets' nest of revolutionary feminism." He added that one of the women who claims that she was sexually assaulted by him took a "trophy photo" of him lying naked in her bed (so clearly, she's a liar).
...
It doesn't take a "revolutionary feminist" (who clearly want to castrate all men, starting with Assange) to see that there is a difference between flirting and wearing a revealing sweater and consenting to unprotected sex, or even between enthusiastically participating in protected sex the night before and objecting to being forced into a much riskier form of intercourse in the morning. Assange claims that the two women became angry when one contacted the other and found out that he had slept with both of them, but their anger is justified, since he had had unprotected sex with both of them.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Indianapolis — Teen Mom Amber Portwood is out of jail but not out of trouble. The MTV reality star spent Monday night in the Madison County Jail and faces charges of domestic battery and child neglect.

Anderson police started investigating 20-year-old Portwood after video of her hitting her boyfriend aired on MTV. The network handed over raw footage to Anderson Police as part of the investigation. The video shows Portwood hitting Gary Shirley, the baby's father, several times.

Police arrested Portwood Monday in Anderson on two counts of felony domestic battery and one count of felony child neglect, because one of the alleged attacks happened in front of their daughter Leah.'

Related: Teen Mom Amber Portwood: MTV Made Me Hit Gary!

Story here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON — When Adele Freeman fired five .38-caliber bullets into her boyfriend in 2000, she contributed to an often-overlooked statistic within the sometimes-deadly world of partner abuse: namely, that more than one-third of all homicides each year connected to domestic violence are perpetrated by women.
...
The fact of female abusers and male victims is often lost in the discussion of domestic violence. In fact, women's advocates have used selective statistics — the same federally funded survey that found women are equally as abusive to men — to bolster their plea for funding and services.

That absence of attention to the men's side of the coin has contributed to an imbalance of services for men who are victimized in abusive relationships.'

List here, courtesy of Marc Rudov. Bookmark and send it around!

This story is amazing! Excerpt:

'A US man who says he learned of his wife's affair by reading her e-mail on their computer faces trial on felony computer misuse charges. Leon Walker, 33, of Michigan, used his wife's password to get into her Gmail account. Clara Walker filed for a divorce, which was granted this month.
...
Mr Walker told The Oakland Press of Pontiac that he was trying to protect the couple's children from neglect and calls the case a "miscarriage of justice." Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Sydney Turner says the charge is justified and the case will go ahead on February 7.
...
Privacy law writer Frederick Lane told the Detroit Free Press the law typically is used to prosecute identity theft and stealing trade secrets. He says he questions if a wife can expect privacy on a computer she shares with her husband.'

Link here. Excerpt:

'The new report from AVAC and ATHENA Network’s Women’s HIV Prevention Tracking Project is an unprecedented collection of voices from Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Uganda, documents women’s perspectives on male circumcision for HIV prevention.

The report is based on the input of approximately 500 women in HIV-affected communities who were reached by WHiPT country teams with questionnaires and focus groups designed to elicit knowledge, opinions and recommendations. The teams worked in urban and rural settings and sought out communities with and without traditional circumcision practices. There was a specific focus on perceptions in settings where female genital mutilation is also practiced.

The report provides reason for the cautious rollout of medical male circumcision (MMC) while offering recommendations on how to program its scale-up to ensure MMC is safe and beneficial to whole communities—including men and women.'

Here is an article reporting on a recent study by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the University of Texas at Austin. I found this article interesting as it purports that a father's environmental history impacts the health of his offspring, and seems to be an evolutionary adaptive strategy.

Based on animal studies and limited human studies it appears that fathers are passing on environmental information to their offspring and that this is impacting the expression of their child's genes. Most talks about environmental experiences of the parent having a direct impact of the child's health have revolved around pregnant mothers. In short, fathers pass on more than just their genes at conception and this should be taken into account when considering people's health. It will be interesting to see what future research yields and the possibilities of health-related interventions with fathers-to-be. Typically, I only see them being targeted at mothers, which I believe has larger societal implications.

Article here. Excerpt:

HOLLYWOOD film-makers have been recruited by the Royal Marines to attract more young men to the elite fighting corps. Two successful big-screen ­talents have produced a series of advertisements to sell the excitement and adventure of wearing the Marines’ Green Beret. Shane Hurlbut, the director of photography on last year’s ­Terminator Salvation, has teamed up with Nanny McPhee director Susanna White to shoot the four 30-second commercials which are being screened on ­television and in cinemas.
...
A senior source said: “We have seen a lot of young men, both Marines and officers, quit in the past couple of years and the pressure to maintain manpower within the units has increased. In addition, we went through a phase this year when every week we were looking for men to replace injured soldiers with 40 Commando in Helmand.

“These men are known as Battle Casualty Replacements and are vital to any operation.

I was surprised to see a good article article about some of the bad lessons unilateral (I mean, "no-fault") divorce teaches children written by a woman. However, if in college educated households 90% of all divorces are initiated by women, that means there are still 10% of them where the woman did not initiate. I guess the author is one of those 10%. Regardless, it's refreshing to see an article that examines the harm no-fault divorce is causing and why it needs to be reformed.

See this story here on the Sydney Morning Herald, and further footage for anyone not following this story.

This is an interesting story, mostly for the way the worm has turned. A couple of days ago a story blew up that seemed relatively normal (for Australia, at least) - nude photos turn up of a pro footballer, in this case released by a teenager. At first the stories were what you'd normally expect here - gee, another footballer messing up, why can't they keep it in their pants, etc.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Single fathers lose more than the stereotypical house, car and bank account.

They lose their families, their confidence, and in some cases, even their means of making a living. What's more, any success they have is garnished without prejudice.

The stigma of the deadbeat dad, the father that is never there for his kids, still remains as strong as ever, though a large part of what perpetuates it is a social justice system that assumes fathers as providers, breadwinners and supporters, without needing support themselves.

But what happens when, in order to meet those obligations, the father's standard of living suffers greatly? What happens when failing to meet those obligations results in not only punitive family law measures, but the degradation of the individual who is suffering to make ends meet?'

Story here.

'UTICA — Suspended Utica attorney Leon Koziol filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday asking it to hear his case challenging New York’s custody and support laws.

The case, if heard, will address the constitutional limits affecting domestic relations litigation, whether the state promotes “institutional discrimination on account of gender” in custody cases, and whether the state has retaliated against Koziol for his criticism of the custody system, a news release stated.

Koziol, an outspoken advocate for fathers’ rights, had his law license suspended indefinitely earlier this year for failure to pay child support. He also recently filed a civil lawsuit against the New York State Unified Court System and more than 20 other defendants relating to his ongoing custody battle.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country and hears only a fraction of the cases submitted each year.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'The European Court of Human Rights granted a Nigerian man access to his children on Tuesday, overturning a series of German court rulings and potentially strengthening unmarried fathers’ rights.

The court, based in Strasbourg, France, was ruling on a case in which successive German courts had denied the man the right to see his twin daughters, who were born after the man had a relationship with a married German woman.

It found that the decisions by the courts had breached the man’s rights. Germany must now pay the man €5,000 for damages and a further €4,000 in legal costs. The ruling also establishes a precedent that unmarried fathers in Germany have a right to see their children even after a relationship breaks down.

While the father had not established a relationship with the girls, he had nevertheless shown a “serious interest” in them, the court decided.'