UAF, legislators: Focus on survivor support, not perpetrator protection

Article here. Excerpt:

'In light of all the available and alarming statistics on sexual assault in our state, it is frustrating to read articles such as the account of a Legislature committee meeting in Juneau as covered in Matt Buxton’s article, “Legislators discuss UAF’s policies on harassment, sexual assault.” As reported, legislators spent the majority of their time discussing how to protect men who are falsely accused, despite the fact that research shows only 5 percent of reports are false.

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"Those who deny that campus sexual assault is dire must misread the numbers"

Article here. Excerpt:

'Much as there are people who deny the existence of climate change, or the public health value of vaccines, there are those who have tried to cast doubt on the incontrovertible: sexual assaults are rampant on our college campuses.

Deniers insist that key statistics on campus sexual assault are inflated or indeterminate – and some journalists who should know better are buying into this myth. We saw this most recently in Alia Wong’s article last month in the Atlantic, which claimed: “Every statistic about campus sexual assault seems to be contradicted or challenged by another one” as well as in a 2014 article by Emily Yoffe in Slate which alleged that “studies suggesting this [is an] epidemic don’t hold up to scrutiny.”

The truth is that studies over several decades have repeatedly confirmed that, though exact percentages may vary, there are extremely high rates of sexual assault on US campuses.

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UN Fights to End Female Circumcision by 2030

Article here. Excerpt:

'The United Nations warned Monday that millions of girls remain at risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

The practice, which involves removing all or part of a girl’s external genitalia, has no health benefit and can cause severe bleeding, infection, pain, and later, complications in childbirth. It is often performed in unsanitary conditions with unsterilized instruments.'

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UN launches plan to accelerate male circumcision for AIDS prevention in Africa

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Namibia: U.S Ambassador Advocates Male Circumcision

Article here. Excerpt:

'United States of America Ambassador to Namibia Thomas Daughton says there is a need to promote, expand and sustain voluntary medical male circumcision services.

There is compelling medical evidence that male circumcision reduces the risk of HIV-infection by approximately 60 percent.

"The reason seems pretty straightforward, even to someone like me who's not a medical professional. Voluntary medical male circumcision has proven to be one of the most economical and effective methods of reducing HIV-transmission," said Daughton, who stressed that reducing transmission is a key component in controlling the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

"That's why it is so encouraging to see the government's proactive effort to scale up voluntary medical male circumcision here in Namibia," Ambassador Daughton said on Thursday.'

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Obama’s ‘diversity’ diktat is a giant gift to lawyers

Article here. Excerpt:

'If you’re a white male looking for a job, your search just got harder.

Claiming women aren’t getting paid enough, President Obama wants to make it easier to accuse employers of gender discrimination and hit them with class-action lawsuits. A new regulation proposed on Friday will require all employers with 100 or more workers to report how much their workforce is paid, broken down by race and gender.

The rule, slated to go into effect in September 2017, will cause headaches for employers and anyone — man or woman — who works hard and expects to get ahead based on merit. The winners are federal bean counters, class-action lawyers and the Democratic Party, which is playing up the gender “wage gap” as usual during this election year.

Never mind that the gap is largely fiction. Or that Uncle Sam’s social engineers are foisting their cookie-cutter vision of a politically correct workplace on employers, denying them the freedom to hire and promote based on merit.'

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Women’s Center Holding “Healthy Masculinities” Event

Article here. Excerpt:

'In hopes of bringing attention to the stereotypes of masculinity and its negative effects, the next Brown Bag event from the Women’s Center will address the negative stereotypes of men and combat them through a discussion session.

The event titled “Healthy Masculinities” will be held Thursday in the Women’s Center.

The idea of society’s stereotype of masculinity and how it affects young boys and men is often a problem that goes unaddressed in the spectrum of gendered issues, Sarah Jenkins, the program coordinator of the Women’s Center, said.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about the ways that we raise boys and men that really could lead to a lot of emotional regression or stunting of emotion,” she said.'

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The Gender Pay Gap Is Dead

Article here. Excerpt:

'The gender pay gap hit the headlines yet again last week. Government ministers announced plans for national league tables to show the difference in wages earned by male and female employees in any company with over 250 workers. Coverage of this latest attempt to crack down on the apparently blatant gender discrimination that blights the nation’s labour market has been sympathetic. Articles have been accompanied by helpful infographics showing a blue figure atop a substantially larger pile of money than an equivalent pink figure. The intention is to illustrate the frequently referenced statistic that men earn roughly 20 per cent more than women.

Despite the simplicity of this stark inequality, such figures are misleading. The much-heralded 20 per cent pay gap is an ‘on average’ figure that is reached through combining part-time and full-time earnings, and takes no account of age or employment sector. As I have argued before on spiked, when we compare how much women and men are paid for doing the same job for the same number of hours each week, there is no pay gap. Not only is it illegal to pay men more, such a pay gap makes no economic sense. If bosses could really get away with paying women so much less, why would anyone ever employ a man?

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State legislators announce proposal for new affirmative consent bill

Article here. Excerpt:

'Two state legislators announced the proposal of a new affirmative consent bill at the University of Connecticut Women’s Center Friday.

The bill, co-sponsored by state Sen. Mae Flexer, D-Killingly, and state Rep. Gregory Haddad, D-Mansfield, would require university disciplinary boards in Connecticut to determine if there was “unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity” when trying sexual assault cases, according to a Feb. 12 press release. This would apply to both public and private institutions of higher learning.

Flexer said the new legislation is intended to build on the sexual assault awareness programs signed into law by Gov. Dannel Malloy in 2014 by standardizing colleges’ definitions of consent.

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Feminist says 'brutal' love machines will turn men into misogynist monsters

Article here. Excerpt:

'The arrival of sex robots will soon see men spurning real life partners and snuggling up to silicon instead.

But feminists fear the arrival of bonk bots could spark an explosion of sexism which will see men adopt dark age attitudes to real life ladies.

An activist from The Campaign Against Sex Robots has issued an urgent warning about the "brutal dehumanisation of women" which could take place when men begin to have sex with artificial love machines.

Researcher Lydia Kaye said sex robots will encourage men to think women are nothing more than objects designed exclusively for masculine sexual gratification.

"Sex robots will create another means through which women will be presented as objects to be used for sexual gratification and mistreatment," she wrote.'

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SAVE: Title IX Administrator Group Wants to Abolish Presumption of Innocence

Press release here. Excerpt:

'Title IX is the law that bans sex discrimination in schools. The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights requires all colleges to have a Title IX coordinator to establish policies and investigate complaints. Well and good.

But in recent years, the Office for Civil Rights has published a series of controversial Dear Colleague Letters that have expanded the definition of sexual harassment to include bawdy speech, unwanted flirting, off-color jokes, and the like. Expanded definitions translate in more complaints and eventually larger budgets for Title IX offices.

This has given rise to a shadow campus-based adjudication system that lacks transparency, accountability, or due process protections for the accused. This raises the specter of a Kangaroo Court, which the dictionary defines as a “mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted.”'

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The feminist case for naming names in sexual assault cases

Article here. Excerpt:

'Right now we wait in the wake of a report by the Home Affairs Select Committee, which recommended that suspects in sexual offence cases be given the same right to anonymity as complainants, unless or until they are charged. Highlighting the damageto individuals named in the media in such cases, the HASC report urged the legal system to ‘stop shaming suspects’. Yet despite agreeing with some of their findings, I think the Home Office recommendation is wrong. Those accused of sex crimes should not be granted anonymity, but neither should those accusing them.

There are strong arguments for preserving the anonymity of those accused of sex crimes. Publicly naming the accused in such cases not only risks defaming them, as their name and image is widely shared in the media, but more significantly impedes the presumption of innocence that should be rightly afforded everyone before trial.

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Actress' Diversity Solution: ‘Kill’ All the Old White Men

Article here. Excerpt:

'Two-time Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson weighed in on the #OscarsSoWhite controversy this week, and suggested the industry’s diversity issues could be remedied by “killing off” the Academy’s many older, white members.
...
In January, the controversy was renewed after the Academy announced its acting nominations included no people of color for a second straight year.

“It’s no change there. It’s not as if it’s ever been awash with people of color. Let’s face it, the Oscar membership is mainly old, white men,” Thompson noted of the issue of diversity within the Academy’s membership.
...
The membership changes will eventually remove voting privileges from many older, white Academy members; however, Thompson feels the process of purging the older white people could be expedited.

“That’s the fact of it. Either you wait for them all to die, or kill them off slowly. There’s so many options, aren’t there?” she said.'

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Hillary’s New Hire Has Interesting Thoughts On Rape

Article here. Excerpt:

'Presidential candidate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s campaign has expanded its team by bringing on a writer whose has previously written that those accused of sexual assault should automatically be treated as guilty, regardless of the actual evidence brought against them.

Late Thursday, news emerged Clinton’s presidential campaign hired writer and political analyst Zerlina Maxwell. Maxwell is intended to help the campaign with its digital outreach efforts on issues like feminism and gender equality.

But as was pointed out first by Jonah Goldberg of National Review, Maxwell has previously written sexual assault allegations should always be believed, regardless of the evidence, while downplaying any harm that may occur from false accusations.'

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A How-To Guide On Dealing With A 'Gunsplainer'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A new campaign explaining the ways lenient gun laws impact women is taking on "gunsplainers," who are like mansplainers, but worse.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a movement dedicated to ending gun violence, has teamed up with Cosmopolitan for Singled Out, a campaign aimed at educating and empowering unmarried women about the dangers of guns. As part of the campaign, they have released a video featuring Gary, a "gunsplainer," who hits on a woman named Jessica, who is in the service, at a bar.

Gary's game falls short after calling her names like "schnookums" and "lady soldier" and insisting hammers are the weapons to really worry about. His "gunsplainer" efforts only make it worse.

"These guns are the only things standing between us and tyranny," he says after opening his jacket to reveal he's currently carrying multiple guns in the bar.'

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Want Viagra? Get A Note From Your Wife, Kentucky Lawmaker Says

Article here. Excerpt:

'Call it the "What's good for the goose is good for the gander" bill.

A female Kentucky state legislator has introduced a bill that would require men who want to use erectile dysfunction drugs like Cialis, Viagra or Levitra to get a note from their wife first. Then they'd have to make two visits to a doctor and promise to only take the pills before sex with a spouse.

Kentucky Rep. Mary Lou Marzian (D) introduced the bill on Thursday as a way to protect men's health and ensure they are informed about a drug with potentially dangerous side effects, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

"I want to protect these men from themselves," said Marzian, a retired nurse.

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