Article here. Excerpt:

'This month, the Ontario Court of Appeal will decide if a mother on trial for killing her infant child can employ a defence of post-partum depression, and be sentenced to the lesser crime of infanticide as a result. Regardless how the case is decided, it raises the troubling question of why, under Canadian criminal law, infanticide is defined as a lesser crime than murder.

Article here. Excerpt:

'About two in five of all victims of domestic violence are men, contradicting the widespread impression that it is almost always women who are left battered and bruised, a new report claims.

Men assaulted by their partners are often ignored by police, see their attacker go free and have far fewer refuges to flee to than women, says a study by the men's rights campaign group Parity.

The charity's analysis of statistics on domestic violence shows the number of men attacked by wives or girlfriends is much higher than thought. Its report, Domestic Violence: The Male Perspective, states: "Domestic violence is often seen as a female victim/male perpetrator problem, but the evidence demonstrates that this is a false picture."

Article here. Excerpt:

'Oregon students' SAT scores remained steady this year in reading and writing, according to data released by The College Board on Monday.

Math scores dropped slightly overall, but among public school students – who make up 88 percent of Oregon test takers – the news was a little brighter. Public school students in the class of 2010 scored two points higher in reading and writing than in 2009.

At the same time, the scores for Oregon public students revealed a decline in the number of boys taking the college entrance exam. Overall, more Oregon students took the SAT than ever before. But, a nearly three percent jump in test-taking by girls overshadowed a one percent drop among boys.

Susanne Smith, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Education, said the decline is alarming when coupled with the other indicators that show boys are struggling academically.

Article here.

'TROTWOOD, Ohio -- A man was hurt in a Sunday morning shooting in Trotwood.

Police responded to a domestic violence call around 10 a.m. at 7667 Old Dayton Road.

Sgt. Joseph McCrary told the Dayton Daily News that while officers were on their way, "the female grabbed the gun and shot the man. The wound is in the upper right leg. We're still investigating whether the shooting was intentional, or an accident."

The man was taken to Miami Valley Hospital for treatment.

Police have not released the names of the two people involved.

The woman was being questioned at Trotwood Police headquarters.'

Story here. Excerpt:

"Three Missouri women convicted of murdering their husbands years ago learned today that they will be released from prison on parole because of claims of spousal abuse.

Vicky Williams, 55, and Roberta Carlene Borden, 65, will be released on Oct. 15, according to their lawyers and relatives. Ruby Jamerson, 57, will be released in 2013. All were serving life sentences from cases that date to the 1970s or 1980s.

For a decade, a group of attorneys called the Missouri Battered Women's Clemency Coalition has argued for the women's release, claiming they were driven to kill after suffering abuse at the hands of their husbands.

At the time the women were arrested, the group argues, there were few resources for battered women, domestic violence was poorly understood and evidence of abuse was not routinely presented at trials.
...
Many relatives of the slain spouses have disputed the claims of abuse and argued that the women were only conning their way to freedom.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Concerned that police departments nationwide fail to fully investigate rapes, a congressional committee will examine the issue next week at a hearing spurred partly by a Baltimore Sun examination of the systemic underreporting of sex crimes.

The Senate Crime and Drugs subcommittee has asked representatives of the Office of Violence Against Women to appear in Washington to discuss the problem, as well as a Pennsylvania woman jailed by police who erroneously accused her of making a false rape report.

The Sun reported in July that Baltimore for years led the nation in the percentage of rape cases in which police concluded that the victim was lying, with more than 3 in 10 cases determined to be "unfounded." Other cities have seen disturbingly high percentages of uninvestigated or dropped race cases in years past, and a women's advocate in Philadelphia pushed for the congressional hearing after the Sun's investigation reignited concerns.'

Story here.

'HUGHSONVILLE — A 22-year-old woman was arrested on Saturday for falsely reporting that she was raped in her ground floor apartment last week, according to State Police.

The woman contacted police on Sept. 2., claiming that she was sexually assaulted by a masked man, dressed all in black, who broke into her apartment on Route 9D in the early hours that day, said police.

The woman provided police with a detailed description of her alleged attacker. A brief on the attack appeared in the Journal on Sept. 3.

Police said within days of reporting the incident, the woman admitted that she fabricated the story.

The Hughsonville woman was charged with third degree false reporting of an incident and making a punishable false written statement, both misdemeanors. She was issued a ticket to appear in Town of Wappinger Court at a later date.

The Journal does typically print the names of individuals charged with misdemeanors.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Elizabeth Wilkinson was jailed for 12 months for wrongly claiming David Lord raped her four times, as revenge for him spurning her advances.

After he refused to take a one-night stand further, Wilkinson bombarded him with more than 80 threatening text messages before telling police that he raped her four times.

Mr Lord, a 23-year-old father-of-two, last night spoke of his relief as Wilkinson began her jail term.

He revealed he twice tried to kill himself, once by hanging, as he struggled with the stigma of being an alleged rapist.

‘I just couldn’t handle it. Mud sticks,’ he said. ‘All I want now is closure and to rebuild my life.

‘I think she thoroughly deserved to go to prison for what she put my children through.’

Wilkinson, a 21-year-old from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, pleaded guilty at Burnley crown court of perverting the course of justice. She had sent Mr Lord a Facebook message in September, telling him he looked ‘sexy’, after he had been into her shop.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Madrid (dpa) - Women's rights need to be defended, most Spaniards agree - but do men need their own liberation movement as well?

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's progressive women's rights policies have sparked a debate on whether his campaign for the equality of the sexes has gone too far.

Spain's gender legislation 'discriminates against men,' who are not protected adequately from female violence against them, men's rights activist Domingo Gonzalez Alonso claims.
...
Zapatero, a self-confessed feminist, took a strong stance in favour of gender equality by appointing Spain's first half-female cabinet after his election victory in 2004.

After winning a second term in 2008, Zapatero created Spain's first Equality Ministry.

Legislation adopted in 2004 turned Spain into one of the most progressive European countries regarding women's rights, the government says.

Story here. Excerpt:

'UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- During the upcoming UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon will announce a new plan for improving the health of women and children in developing countries, he told reporters here Monday.

Ban will launch a new Global Strategy for Women's and Children' s Health on Sept. 22 at a special event featuring leaders from both private and public sectors.

Ban said that the UN has chosen to focus on women's and children's health because it is important to "put our resources where they will have the greatest impact."
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The UN estimates that the new plan could save 16 million lives by 2015.'

Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Judges have been told to treat female criminals more leniently than men when deciding sentences.

New guidelines declare that women suffer disadvantages and courts should ‘bear these matters in mind’.

The rules say women criminals often have poor mental health or are poorly educated, have not committed violence and have children to look after.

‘Women’s experiences as victims, witnesses and offenders are in many respects different to those of men,’ according to the Equal Treatment Bench Book.

‘These differences highlight the importance of the need for sentencers to bear these matters in mind when sentencing.’'

Article here. Excerpt:

"Mario Viera is just four weeks old. When he was born, his mom says she told doctors at South Miami Hospital several times that she did not want Mario circumcised.

"It's a big hospital," said Vera Delgado, Mario's mother. "It's a good hospital, and I thought he's safe, he's good there."

But eight days after his birth, without his mother even present, doctors performed the surgery.

"I was crying. I spent that day and the next day crying," Delgado told CBS4's Gio Benitez exclusively.

It turns out every man in Mario's family is uncircumcised. It's a family tradition.'"

Also covered here. Excerpt:

Article here. So, she knew she had anxiety issues and flew in a plane without medicating herself anyway. She forgot to. Well, no matter, she almost brought the plane down while trying to 'stabilize herself', presumably on the emergency door handle? And guess what? No charges. Fellas, don't YOU try this. Now as for the (male) flight attendant who, while the plane was on the ground, merely harangued the passengers then jumped down the escape chute-- he is facing felony charges. Is there a double-standard at work here? You betchya! Excerpt:

'A Playboy model was detained after claims she tried to open a plane door mid flight after she suffered an anxiety attack.
...
Tiffany Livingston, 21, reportedly suffered the attack as she was aboard the JetBlue Flight 522 from Orlando to Newark when passengers claim she tried to open the door at 10,000ft.

Link to story here Excerpt:

'UNIM project coordinator Dr June Odoyo said the new initiative is being piloted at New Nyanza General hospital, Kisumu, Siaya and Kombewa district hospitals.

Dr Odoyo said already they have trained health workers, mostly nurses, in the selected hospitals on how to circumcise the infants.

He explained that the nurses will use special gadgets known as a Mogen clamp to perform the circumcision at birth.

He says the new initiative is cheaper and heals faster and should be embraced by parents.

Speaking during a media training on male circumcision in Kisumu, Dr Odoyo said acceptance is low among the mothers besides resistance from the Luo Council of Elders.'