Article here. Excerpt:

'Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick says her office should be given the power to initiate investigations into sexual harassment in the workplace.

Ms Broderick says some workplaces need to be investigated even if there is no specific complaint from a worker.

She says sex discrimination is often built into work cultures and is difficult to tackle.

"We should be able to look at maybe organisations, maybe sectors where we know sexual harassment is more prevalent and really work to provide some more systemic response than relying on an individual complaint," she said.

Ms Broderick has also called for the Federal Government to ensure women make up at least 40 per cent of all Government-appointed boards.'

Via Jeremy S. The new PM of Australia is Julia Gillard. (Story here). She has strong feminist credentials. Her Wikipedia entry is here. Excerpt:

'Moving to Melbourne, in 1983, Gillard became the second woman to lead the Australian Union of Students. Gillard was also formerly the secretary of the left-wing organisation, Socialist Forum. Members of the Socialist Forum lobbied for the scrapping of the ANZUS treaty, making Leningrad a sister city of Melbourne, and introducing a super-tax on the rich.

From 1996 to 1998, Gillard served as Chief of Staff to John Brumby, at that time the Victorian Opposition Leader. She was responsible for drafting the affirmative action rules within the Labor Party in Victoria that set the target of preselecting women for 35 per cent of winnable seats within a decade. She also played a role in the foundation of EMILY's List, the pro-choice fund-raising and support network for Labor women.'

Remember the guy who was angry at British Airways' policy of not letting men sit next to unaccompanied kids? He received a settlement from them and now the policy is "under review". Not a watershed, but good news nonetheless. Story here. Excerpt:

'BA has compensated a passenger who was "humiliated' over its policy of not allowing single male flyers to sit next to solo child travellers on its planes.

British Airways cabin crew told Mirko Fischer to move after he swapped seats with his wife and ended up sitting next to a boy he did not know.

Mr Fischer, 33, accused staff of harassing him and said the policy contravened the Sex Discrimination Act.

BA apologised to the businessman but denied the policy was discriminatory.

A spokesman told the BBC the policy was now under review.

A consent order detailing a settlement between the parties was drawn up at Slough County Court on Wednesday.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'More females than males are attending university. The ranks of middle managers are being filled by women (watch the glass ceiling shatter, eventually).

Boys are adrift, as one book title puts it. "Failure to launch" has become a cultural cliché.

In two areas, mind you, men still reign supreme: engineering and janitorial work.

And war. Yes, let's not forget that.
...
Hence the basis for all these articles and books asking the question "are men obsolete?" And for all the commentary that tells us that women function so much better in modern society, with their co-operative ways, bureaucracies and book clubs.

In the end, to confess, your evolutionary dodo isn't quite sure himself what to make of the question. Are we men obsolete?

I will have to take it up with a female supervisor, one of the many so deftly staffing the ranks of the public broadcaster.'

This isn't a news story. This is my attempt at writing something about my story.  I wanted to get some opinions from other men about it. I thought this might be a good place to do that. I want to improve this.  I wanted to write something that would be kind of like a newspaper article you might read about my story.  I wanted to express events as I lived them with minimal coloring on my part.   I also have a brief coda after the essay about things that I think might help in the future.  Please give me your impressions on that too. If you wish to email me with constructive comments, I can be reached at rlaspari-at-hotmail.com.

I know most men who are dads are working dads. One thing to keep in mind is how different my story would be if I were a stay-at-home mom instead of a stay-at-home dad. I think the differences indicate the different treatment men and women get.
____________________________________

I was a stay-at-home dad. I still am a stay-at-home dad, but it is not the same. I cannot be a stay-at-home dad much longer.

From Abusegate Bob:

According to a recent estimate, innocent Americans spend half a billion dollars each year to defend themselves against false accusations of domestic violence. The full calculations are shown here.

This is simply outrageous.

Today, we’re asking everyone who reads this message to contact Sen. Orrin Hatch, one of the leading proponents of the Violence Against Women Act, and leave this short and sweet message: “Fix VAWA Now!”

Telephone: 202-224-5251
Email form here.

If we don’t take bold action now, don’t complain if VAWA doesn’t get reformed.

Article here. Excerpt:

'WOMEN beating up their men - physically, emotionally or financially - has become a hidden epidemic because men are too scared of being labelled wimps if they cry for help.

A new study has found for male victims of "intimate partner abuse", the cumulative effect of repeat "knees in the nuts" or being heaped with scorn is a damaging erosion of self-worth.

But a typical response to men who do complain is, "C'mon, you're a bloke - get over it".

Similar to the pattern of abuse of women by men, it often starts with verbal, financial and psychological abuse, but over time escalates to physical and sometimes even sexual abuse.

The issue is even more under-reported for men than women, because men fear either being seen as wimps or not being believed, the study says.'

From Abusegate Bob:

On Thursday and Friday, an army of citizen-lobbyists will be meeting with Senators and Representatives to discuss long-overdue changes to the Violence Against Women Act. These persons, who are taking time off from work and paying their own expenses to come to Washington DC, need the backing of thousands of pro-family supporters from around the country.

Please call your Senators today at 202-224-3121. Tell the receptionist who answers these 3 words: “Fix VAWA Now!”

If you do not know the names of your two Senators, the operator at the Capital Switchboard can tell you: 202-224-3121.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Geesing said his ex-wife has been allowed to bar him from his daughter because a court order requiring her to co-operate is unenforceable.
...
...He and his wife separated in 2008, when the girl was eight years old. Since then, he said, his wife has tried to shut him out of his daughter's life completely.

"When I phone, I get the message 'She doesn't want to talk to you,'" said Geesing. "On her 10th birthday, I left flowers on her doorstep — that's it."

Geesing has had no contact with his child since March 2009.
...
"Why am I supposed to be the lesser parent?" asked Geesing. "The default [in the courts] should be equal, shared parenting. That should be the default."'

Commentary
Men Give, Women Take
By David Johnson

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." -- George Orwell in Animal Farm.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A Human life is full of sufferings. However concern for fellow human beings must always be accompanied by Compassion. Concern without compassion is called fraud.On Feb 04, 2010, Senator John Kerry and others reintroduced I-VAWA (International Violence against Women Act) in Senate and US House of representatives. This bill if passed will fund 1 Billion Dollars for forcing Governments across 10 to 15 countries for stringent laws and policies to prevent violence against women. This bill is handled by Senate and House Foreign Affairs Committees.

Article here.

'A group that tries to promote “men’s rights” is targeting Rep. Ben Ray Luján over his support for the International Violence Against Women Act. In a press release issued this week the Luján campaign called the group named Abusegate, Investigate “radical domestic violence deniers” and attached the full text of a group’s press release in which it lists the lawmakers being targeted by the group.

“Ben Ray Lujan has been a strong proponent of legislation to protect women from domestic violence,” said Aaron Trujillo, Luján’s campaign manager. “He’s going to keep standing up for women, regardless of pressure from fringe organizations like Abusegate, Investigate. I only have one question, does Tom Mullins welcome the support of domestic violence deniers?”

Mullins denied knowledge of the group when contacted by the Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell.

“I’ve never heard of this group at all,” Mullins told Terrell. “It sounds like it is possibly a democrat group creating an issue to benefit Lujan?”

Strory here. Excerpt:

'A woman who made a false rape claim to police cost taxpayers £15,000, a court heard yesterday.

Bernadette Core, 29, of Friarscroft Lane, Wymondham, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice between October 2009 and February 2010 by making a false allegation of rape when she appeared at Norwich Crown Court.

The court heard that Norfolk police spent £15,000 on the investigation before establishing that she made up the incident.

The charge came after she made a 999 call to Norfolk police in the early hours of October 4 claiming she had been raped at an house in Norwich.

Two men were arrested and interviewed by police but further investigations established that no crime had taken place.'

Story here.

'LEBANON, Ohio -- Twenty-one-year-old Kristen Lamb of Franklin Avenue, accused of making a false rape report, was in court Monday. She is facing misdemeanor counts of inducing panic and making false alarms.

She was granted a court-appointed attorney, and did not enter a plea.

Lamb said she was raped in a wooded area north of her home. But police became suspicious after Lamb could not give specific details about the alleged assault.

Her parents told the judge that she had been though a series of stressful events recently, which included losing a boyfriend and pressures from college.

But her father admitted she will have to face the consequences for her actions. Lamb is a student at the University of Cincinnati.

Her next court hearing is set for Monday, June 21.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Concerned about three recent false rape allegations, Orlando police cautioned residents that lying wastes money, time and keeps real victims from reporting true crimes.

"We want victims to continue to report crimes, but we want real victims," Sgt. Art Eld of the Orlando Police Department's sex crimes division said at a press conference today. "We don't want to spend useful resources chasing ghosts."

Filing false rape reports stirs unnecessary fear in the community, wastes thousands of public dollars and keeps real victims from telling their stories, he said.

Police officials made their plea public Tuesday, a day after 18-year-old Samaria Renford claimed three masked men raped her Monday in Rosemont.'