Thanks again everyone for your understanding - web-based story submissions are now working again. I don't say this often enough, or often at all, but the news story submissions from our users are the thing that makes Mensactivism.org what it is today, and I greatly appreciate all the time and effort people put into creating content for this site.

I realize at the same time there are improvements we could make to help resolve the inevitable disputes that have occasionally come up regarding what content gets posted as stories and what doesn't. I want you to know that I'm continuing to look into solutions that will better address these problems. Keep an eye out for more site changes along these lines by the end of this year.

Via Marc A. Story here. Excerpt:

'Angelucci said only two shelters exist in California that serve male domestic violence victims as well as female. In the past, many domestic violence shelters would even train their staff to treat all male callers as perpetrators no matter what the circumstances, Angelucci said.

Martin Fiebert at Cal State Long Beach said the mass media often contributes to this neglect of male victims by framing domestic violence only as "battered women" or primarily as male crime, and by citing inaccurate data.'

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Ed. note: The Sundial is the student paper of California State University, Northridge.

I believe this is a direct result of our news release. They don't mention NCFM but they cited the same data we did, and in the same way. Marc A.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Cultural stigmas attached to males prevent society from recognizing domestic violence cases the gender suffers from.

Kathleen Holgerson, the director of the Women's Center, said that the cultural stigmas attached to men often keep male victims from reporting their domestic violence cases.

Men are stereotypically "tough" and thus many men feel it is considered a weakness on their part to allow their partner to subject them to such abuse.'

Via anthony. Article here. Excerpt:

'A recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control found that among physically aggressive couples, 71% of the instigators in nonreciprocal partner violence were female. And last year Renee McDonald of Baylor University published a study in the Journal of Family Psychology with almost identical results.
...
The problem isn't just gals who clean their boyfriends' clock in a drunken rage. These high-testosterone females abuse their men and then come clean with a swaggering braggadocio.

A few months ago ABC Primetime did an experiment. The producers hired two actors - male and female - to feign partner violence in a public park. They wanted to see what passers-by would do when they spotted the woman pounding her boyfriend with a rolled-up newspaper.'

Via anthony. Story here. Excerpt:

'Renesia D. Smart, 18, Humble Avenue, Cairo, was arrested late Thursday and charged with giving false information to the police.

“While we were doing the investigation into the reported rape (Thursday) some of the details conflicted with what some of the evidence was showing us,” said Sandefur. “As evening progressed and we spoke with other associates of the reporting party, we discovered that this was a fabrication.”
...
Her charge is a misdemeanor offense; Sandefur said Smart must go in front of a state court judge.'

Via anthony. Story here. Excerpt:

'Pleading guilty to six counts of indecent treatment of a boy under the age of 14, plus 20 counts of indecent treatment of a boy under the age of 17, King then had to sit in the court dock on tenterhooks for almost three hours as her lawyer Tony Kimmins argued why she should not go to jail.

In the end he was successful, with Senior Judge Gilbert Trafford-Walker sentencing King to three years' jail on each count, to be served concurrently – but all wholly suspended for three years and six months.
...
Ms Brisick said at the time of the offences, from 1977 to 1982, carnal knowledge of a female by a male was an offence but not that of a female against a male, which is why the charges had proceeded along indecent dealing lines.'

Via anthony. Story here. Excerpt:

'Factors such as changing societal norms, women’s superior high school academic performance and higher career expectations could be responsible for the increase, Frank Guzik, associate director of admissions at IPFW, says.

“It’s not just the numbers,” he says. “It’s the reason why. Most colleges and universities, ourselves included, have made efforts to make college admission more accessible to women. And we’ve been really successful at it.”'

Today RADAR is releasing an explosive new report that reveals most domestic violence programs are ineffective, and some actually worsen abusive situations. "Why Have Domestic Violence Programs Failed to Stop Partner Abuse?" analyzes the research on four widely-used strategies to reduce partner abuse:

Via Marc A. Story here. Excerpt:

'Under the program, immigrants temporarily can live and work in this country legally as long as they help law enforcement officials investigate and prosecute the offenders.

The "U" visa, approved by Congress in 2000 as part of a law providing investigators and prosecutors legal muscle to fight the growing human trafficking industry, was mired in delays as the government analyzed local, state and federal criminal laws to decide which immigrants would be eligible.'

I'm aware that users have been unable to submit stories to the site since the upgrade. I apologize for this and will fix it soon. However, I've been on the road and will not be able to get to this for a few days. Please bear with this, I realize how critical it is for us to be able to accept stories from you.

Via Marc A. Story here. Excerpt:

'CHARLESTON - The release of a study indicating that most of the petitions for domestic violence protection orders may be used for leverage in a divorce or child custody proceeding comes as cold comfort to those who've experienced it firsthand.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Greensboro — Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape have filed a federal civil lawsuit against several defendants, including former District Attorney Mike Nifong and the city of Durham.

The 155-page lawsuit does not mention a specific amount of damages, but does ask for numerous reforms to the way the Durham Police Department handles criminal investigations.'

Via Boy Genteel. Article here. Excerpt:

'"Our policies are geared in one direction -- not only unfair to male victims, more importantly, it's not very effective. We're not treating the whole problem; we're only treating part of it. Right now our policies are driven by battered-women's advocates. While they certainly should have a place at the table and their voice is important, they shouldn't be determining policy. There are mental health professionals, attorneys, people involved in family law, children's advocates and social workers who have a different take on domestic violence; and their voices are just not considered in the same way as battered-women's advocates.'

Story here. Note the headline: "..had relationship". "HAD RELATIONSHIP"?? Well, yes, I guess they did, the same way a hungry tiger has a relationship with a slow gazelle. Strictly speaking, they do have "a relationship", but there are far more precise terms one can use to describe it. Excerpt:

'LAS CRUCES -- A 30-year-old Las Cruces woman was in custody Wednesday, charged with having sexual contact with an 8-year-old boy, Las Cruces police reported.

Michelle A. Tufts, 30, of the 2800 block of east Idaho Avenue, was arrested Monday and is charged with two felony counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child younger than 13 and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.'

Via Marc A. Story here. Excerpt:

'NEW HAVEN, Oct. 1 — It was a typical scene for a divorced couple: As the police tell it, Cassandra Reynolds pulled up in the driveway of her ex-husband’s home in South Windsor to pick up a few belongings.

A dispute ensued. Her ex-husband’s golden retriever approached her, so she kicked it, the police said. The dog yelped. Ms. Reynolds was arrested.

That was on Sept. 23. The next day, a Superior Court judge ordered Ms. Reynolds, 39, to stay away from her ex-husband and his new wife. The judge also ordered her to stay at least 100 yards away from Riley, the golden retriever — or face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.'