The gravy train for victims of DV (female only) just gets longer and longer here in Australia. Universities in Australia are mostly publicly-funded so it is only a small step until this becomes a mandatory benefit for all female public servants. Just another way for taxpayers' (mostly men) money to be handed over to females. Of course no mention of male victims of DV even though it is becoming almost impossible for the media, governments and academics to keep denying the irrefutable truth. -- Great Southern Lander

Excerpt:

'Victims of domestic violence will get an extra 20 days of paid leave a year as part of a historic clause in an enterprise agreement.

In a first for Australian workplaces, the Public Service Association of NSW has been negotiating with the University of NSW to allow its workers to take special leave to attend court, counselling or a doctor.

From Abusegate Bob:

Last week we alerted persons about Allstate Insurance Company’s flawed DV statistics: http://www.allstate.com/foundation/about-domestic-violence.aspx. Many responded, but as seen from the four responses below, Allstate still doesn’t understand that DoJ crime reports provide a biased depiction of DV.

So folks, it’s time we send a powerful message to Allstate: CANCEL YOUR POLICY…AND DO IT NOW!

+++++++++++++++++++

Dear Mr. A:

You recently contacted us regarding the Allstate Foundation’s on-line resources about ending domestic violence, and your e-mail was brought to my attention. Thank you for sharing your feedback, which is important to us. I would like to take a moment to personally respond to your concerns.

A blog post here, repors on a new book from the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Service Administration. Excerpt:

'Among disadvantaged people in the United States, the most needy and least helped are probably African-American men, according to a new book from the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.
...
The book is a collection of studies, which details the disadvantages that black men face and suggests ways they can be helped. The contributors are leading scholars in social work and other related fields from around the country. Among the findings reported in the book:

• Black male youths are likely to grow up in single-parent homes. The boys often don’t have fathers residing in the home to serve as role models. Without paternal involvement, boys are more likely to develop ideas about what it means to be a man based on negative media portrayals and depictions, which leads them to be emotionally uninvolved and apprehensive.
...

This email action form is from an IA newsletter:

'The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Circumcision has been meeting to finalize its policy on routine male circumcision. Having recently retracted its policy statement calling for a lift of the Federal ban on female genital cutting – and with U.S. circumcision rates at an all-time low – the AAP must now stand up and protect the rights of ALL children to an intact body.

While the AAP prepares to go public with its statement, it’s critical that it hear directly from people who oppose circumcision. Remind them that it’s wrong – morally, medically, and ethically – and that doctors took an oath to “do no harm.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'British Airways has changed its seating policy after a businessman complained of being treated like a "child molester" when sitting next to a boy he did not know.

The airline has confirmed to The Sunday Telegraph it has altered its procedures to protect unaccompanied minors – the aviation industry term for children flying without a parent or guardian.

It follows the case of Mirko Fischer, a hedge fund manager who was told to move seats by cabin crew under an internal rule that prevented adult males sitting next to unaccompanied children.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'LOS ANGELES – A judge ordered a woman to stand trial on a charge of slashing Leonardo DiCaprio's face with glass during a 2005 party.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edmund Willcox Clarke ordered Aretha Wilson to face one count of assault with a deadly weapon. The charge includes an allegation that Wilson, 40, caused great bodily injury.

The details and extent of DiCaprio's injuries were not made public, although the judge, who has reviewed photos of the injuries to the actor's ear and neck, said Thursday that "this would not be an injury that would be called trivial or moderate, in my view."'

Story here.

'A man recognised with one of the nation's highest honours for his work with divorced and separated fathers is now living on the street.

Tony Miller, the founder of Dads in Distress, will accept his Order of Australia medal in Sydney today.

He says he has been sleeping in his car on the New South Wales mid-north coast because he lost his housing and is unable to work due to stress.

Mr Miller says there an urgent need nationally for refuges for homeless men.

"It's not about me," he said.

"The reality is there's a lot of blokes out there, a lot of people out there that are homeless and I'm asking the government to look at that situation.

"Where are the men's shelters in this country? There's women's shelters all over the country and rightly so, but there are no men's shelters in this country. Where does a bloke go when it all hits the roof?"'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Retail giant Wal-Mart on Wednesday asked the US Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling allowing more than 1.5 million women employees of the company to join together in what would become the largest class-action employment lawsuit in history.

The lawsuit filed by six women in 2001 charges that Wal-Mart engaged in gender discrimination by paying female employees less than men, and in passing women over for promotions that went to men. It seeks billions of dollars in damages.

Gender discrimination lawsuits are usually litigated one employee at a time. But courts may allow plaintiffs who were harmed under similar circumstances by the same person or company to join together in a common class of litigants to pursue their lawsuit.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'DARMSTADT, Germany — A German girl band singer broke down in tears Thursday as a court found her guilty of causing bodily harm to her ex-boyfriend by having unprotected sex with him despite knowing she was infected with HIV. She was not sentenced to jail time.

Nadja Benaissa, a member of No Angels, was given a two-year suspended prison sentence and 300 hours community service after she was convicted in a Darmstadt administrative court. She faced a possible ten years behind bars.

The court ruled that the 28-year-old had infected a former boyfriend with the virus that causes AIDS by having unprotected sex with him.

"We have to remember that she was a lot younger than she is now, she had a turbulent life, and the acts were committed a long time ago," he told Associated Press Television News. "I think a suspended sentence is justified."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Research from the Center for Work-Life Policy shows mid-level, professional women need powerful, senior executives to help promote them to the next level of management.

The problem is this: More often than not, superiors are males who are married.

Enter, sex.

In that same CWLP study, 34% of executive women claim they know a female colleague who has had an affair with a boss. Furthermore, 15% of women at the director level or above admitted to having affairs themselves.

And worse, 37% claim the action was rewarded: they said that women involved in affairs received a career boost as a result.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Boston jury on Feb. 16 convicted a woman for setting a fire that killed her girlfriend’s two young daughters nearly two years ago.

The Suffolk County jury convicted Nicole Chuminski on two counts of second-degree murder in connection with Acia and Sophia Johnson’s deaths. The panel also convicted her of arson for setting the blaze and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (smoke and flames) for injuries the girls’ mother and brother sustained.

A judge will sentence Chuminski on Feb. 18. She faces a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 15 years on each murder conviction.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A Massachusetts murder has once again focused attention on LGBT domestic violence.

A Brockton woman walked into that city’s police station on Aug. 9 and allegedly confessed to killing her ex-girlfriend’s Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor because the woman allegedly had come between the couple.

Eunice Field, 54, told police she killed Lorraine Wachsman, 62, at Wachsman’s Bridgewater condo, according to Assistant District Attorney Thomas Flanagan.

Field left a note for her ex-girlfriend, Renee Williams, in the Brockton apartment they shared stating that she killed Wachsman, a retired school teacher, "for taking away the love of her life", Flanagan said at Field’s Aug. 10 arraignment. The prosecutor said Field stabbed Wachsman three or four times in the back and neck with a serrated knife.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A strange turn of events saw the Crown stay a sexual assault charge following four days of trial and after the accused man had waited 26 months in custody for a judge and jury to hear his case.

James Ferris, 36, walked out of Superior Court a free man yesterday when the prosecutor told Justice Kim Carpenter-Gunn the Crown had re-evaluated its case in light of new developments and no longer believed there was a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction.

The rape trial went off the rails earlier yesterday when Ferris's lawyer, Peter Boushy, told the judge what he'd learned from a colleague in the legal community about the 27-year-old female complainant.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'BRENTWOOD – Kristin Ruggiero will spend 7 to 14 years in state prison for what police say was part of a years-long ploy to use the criminal justice system against her ex-husband, who was thrown in jail and nearly lost his career during a bitter divorce.

Judge Kenneth McHugh said Ruggiero's attempt to set up her ex-husband and use the legal system as a weapon was unlike any other case he has seen.

"There's a lot of people, usually women, who have been subjected to abuse by their significant others," McHugh said, during Ruggiero's sentencing yesterday. "As a result of her actions, their cases, their safety, their security has been damaged. The web for this is much greater than what has just happened to Mr. Ruggiero."
...
While Jeffrey Ruggiero was being investigated, his ex-wife called him at all hours and taunted him over the phone, according to court testimony.

Article here. Excerpt:

'CA Legislature Passes F & F's SB 1482 to Protect Alimony Obligors from Abuses

Many alimony obligors assert that their exes are voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, or are artificially lowering their earning capacity because they'd rather keep collecting large amounts of tax-free alimony.

Senator Rod Wright's (D-Los Angeles) SB 1482, which recently passed the full California legislature and is now on Governor Schwarzenegger's desk for signature, helps solve this problem. The bill allows obligors to request vocational examinations for the recipients of alimony payments, and requires judges to follow the examiner's estimate of the recipient's earning ability when calculating alimony.'