Video report here. Details are scarce. Can anyone post more info?

Story here. Excerpt:

'INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A suburban Kansas City woman pleaded guilty Monday to killing a woman whose sexual torture and suffocation were videotaped.

In a deal with prosecutors that allowed her to avoid the death penalty, Dena Riley, 42, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the May 2006 death of Marsha Spicer, who was suffocated during sex at an Independence apartment that Riley shared with her boyfriend.
...
As part of the deal, Riley was sentenced to life without parole for the murder charge and to eight additional life sentences and 239 years in prison for 25 other counts.

Earlier this year, Davis was convicted and sentenced to death for Spicer's slaying. He also is charged in the federal case.'

In 2008, the Violence Against Women Act was thrust into the national political arena. Selected as the vice presidential candidate, Sen. Joe Biden repeatedly highlighted his role in securing passage of the Violence Against Women Act. In addition, Republican nomination candidate Mitt Romney was asked at one campaign stop to state his views on bogus restraining orders.

By year's end, 2008 turned out to be a time of unprecedented success. Respecting Accuracy in Domestic Abuse Reporting (RADAR), along with the VAWA Reform Coalition and other persons, notched impressive legislative victories, substantially expanded our media efforts, and broadened the coalition to reform the Violence Against Women Act.

This report is organized into three sections:

1. RADAR
2. VAWA Reform Coalition
3. Others' Activities

...

Please see http://mediaradar.org/alert20081222.php for the rest of the alert.

Via Marc A. Article here. Fred Sottile of Fathers4Justice Los Angeles, who is quoted, is also an officer of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Coalition of Free Men and a recipient of NCFM's Award of Honor for 2008. Nice going, Fred! -- Marc | Excerpt:

'A Task Force created to address alleged widespread problems in the state family courts system is taking flak from the same groups who have been calling for reforms.

As most of you know, we recently won the case of Woods v. Shewry, in which the California court of appeal recently held that excluding men from state-funded domestic violence services violates men's constitutional right to equal protection. Decision here (.pdf file). See also http://www.metnews.com/articles/2008/wood101508.htm

However, in the same case, we lost the part on the exclusion of inmate dads from inmate parenting programs. So we filed a request for California Supreme Court review of that portion of the decision.

There are over 85,000 fathers in prison in California, and they are automatically barred from even applying for the inmate parenting program solely because they're fathers. These programs including residential housing, alternative sentencing, pediatric services, etc. for mothers with kids under 6 years old.

Story here. Excerpt:

'On Tuesday, the council will vote on changing the rules for youth sports so that any girl younger than 12 will have the chance to play in all-boy leagues if she and her parents desire.

"If the girls can compete and they're willing to compete, why not let them?" said Byrd, who said she was not allowed to play on the boys football team at Bassett Middle School.

"I don't think it's enough to just say that we're not going to do it because it's a rule we have," she added. "Let's think about what we're doing and why we are doing it."

City sports officials, though, said they are just following state and federal guidelines for girls sports, and that the rule is meant to encourage more girls to play sports.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"Modern schools are not suited to boys' personalities and learning styles. This can be seen from the time boys enter school, when many of them are immediately branded as behavior problems. The line of 10 kids who had to gather every day after school in my son's first grade class for their behavior reports--all boys. The names of kids on the side of the chalkboard who misbehaved and would lose recess--all boys. The kids as young as five or six who must be drugged so they will sit still and "behave"--almost all boys.

By any measure, our schools are failing our sons. Boys at all levels are far more likely than girls to be disciplined, suspended, held back, or expelled. By high school the typical boy is a year and a half behind the typical girl in reading and writing, and is less likely to graduate high school, go to college, or graduate college than a typical girl.'"

Story here. Excerpt:

'The number of male teachers in the United States is at a 40-year low. Out of 3 million teachers, only 25 percent are men, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

So what’s keeping men out of school?

Brian Nelson founder of MenTeach, a Minneapolis-based organization that seeks to encourage more men to become teachers, cites three reasons:

-- Stereotypes that men aren’t nurturing and can’t take care of little kids.
“Obviously, that’s not true. Men can be great fathers and can be nurturing.”

-- Fear of accusation of abuse.
“There’s a belief that men are going to harm children in school,” Nelson said. “The facts don’t bear this out. A child is more likely to be harmed in their own home than they are in school.

“Some men I’ve talked to who were falsely accused said it really destroys their reputation, even if it’s a false allegation. There’s something that hovers over them. ‘Maybe he did it but just got off.’ That keeps men away. Why would you want to go through that?”

Story here. Excerpt:

"A couple who had their children taken away from them for two years by social services after falsely being accused of sexual abuse have been awarded a six-figure compensation payout.

Tim and Gina Williams went through a 'total nightmare' of having their three young children placed in separate foster homes after being wrongly placed under suspicion by social workers.
...
They were today awarded an undisclosed sum in an agreed settlement at the High Court in Cardiff.
...
The Williams family also received a full written apology from Newport Council.

In his judgment two years ago, Judge Crispin Masterman criticised social services for failing to follow recommended procedures and not carrying out a proper assessment of the family."

Article here. Excerpt:

"David Cameron announced wide-ranging plans to tackle domestic violence today with a pledge that a Tory government would move swiftly to improve protection for women.

Domestic violence increases over Christmas and the New Year, when more alcohol is consumed, and the Conservative leader said that tackling it should be made a greater priority.

The Tories would create 15 more rape crisis centres, funded by £2.6million from the 'victim surcharge' that is imposed on criminals who pay fines."

Story here. Excerpt:

'A 'dangerous fantasist' who wasted more than £300,000 and 7,000 hours of police time, was today jailed for four years.

Mother-of-one Michaela Britton, 40, was found guilty of perverting justice after six months of bizarre false allegations, which included tying herself up, slashing herself with a blade and arranging her car to be shot at.

A court today heard how the case wasted more than 7,000 hours and cost taxpayers a massive £316,000.

Among her 'whopping lies', she told police she was being blackmailed over an explicit pornographic video with an anti-terrorist Metropolitan Police officer.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'ADDIS, LA (WAFB) - Police are investigating the case of a mother killing her seven-year-old son and then took her own life Thursday.

Addis police now say the woman was upset about an alleged affair her husband had with another woman.

West Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputies say 34-year-old Lavinia Banks was upset with her husband and fed up with her marriage. She allegedly shot her seven-year old son, Darieyonne, dragged the little boy to the bathroom, and shot him again.

Investigators say she put the little boy's body in a tub full of water and then shot herself in the head. Paramedics were called to the home on Bradley Court in Addis at 5:30pm after the father arrived at the home and saw blood in the hallway.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'KING COUNTY, Wash. -- Two women have been charged for allegedly kidnapped a vulnerable 78-year-old man and taking him to the courthouse, where one of them married him and then tried to withdraw thousands of dollars from his bank account.

Sujinda Yachatta, 56, and Kulany Roeksbutr, 29, have been charged with kidnapping on Tuesday.

Issaquah detectives started an investigation of the Nov. 22 incident after receiving a report from Adult Protective Services concerning the 78-year-old man, who suffers from dementia and lives at an adult family home in Issaquah, court papers said.

The investigation found that the two took the 78-year-old victim from his home without permission, then drove him to Bellevue District Court. A marriage was performed there between the man and Yahatta, who was the man's massage therapist.

Afterward, the two women took the victim to his bank and unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw money from his accounts, which totaled about $28,000, according to court documents.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'According to Italian national statistic agency ISTAT, over seven million women in Italy have suffered from physical or sexual violence at least once, amounting to nearly a quarter of the female population. Sexual violence by itself counts more than five million victims and 961,000 women have experienced some form of physical abuse. A report by Italian women’s advocacy association Casa Internazionale delle Donne claims that every three days in Italy a woman is murdered.'

Article here. Excerpt:

"When women get married they are not signing up for life-threatening careers," Cross said, who likened women who are killed as a result of domestic violence to those who die in battle.

"It is no exaggeration that many women live in a war zone where every day survival becomes a battle, women who spend every day of their lives trying to outwit the enemy, stay alive one more day, protect the children, these women are heroes."

Cross commented on how easily stories in the media about women who are abused or murdered are quickly forgotten and how the media manages to paint a forgiving picture of the abuser.

"They all treat each incident as a singular event, rather than a pattern of violence against women. The abuser is a happy friendly man, a man who walks the dog." She said "this kind of reporting" makes it appear the victims "are somehow responsible for the incident that led to their death."