Story here. Excerpt:

During question time in parliament on Wednesday, the new man in charge was accused of "mansplaining" by Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek.

Mansplaining is when a man explains something in which he is less of an expert, to a woman who is more so, because he assumes she is ignorant.

Ms Plibersek had asked whether Mr Turnbull could "confirm how much he will restore to the foreign aid programme after the cabinet he was part of cut the budget by $11.3bn dollars" in the last budget.

Mr Turnbull responded: "If the honourable member wanted to get a serious answer she should ask a serious question. If all she's interested in is making an allegation, making a political argument across the dispatch box, that is fine. But it's a complete waste of Question Time."
Unimpressed with the verbal jousting, she replied: "Mr Speaker, I'd rather have an answer than the mansplaining by the prime minister."

Within minutes, "mansplaining" was trending on Twitter in Australia, winning Ms Plibersek - and the word itself - both fans and critics.'

Link here.

Excerpt from the Information Paper:

'Australian women are most likely to experience physical and sexual violence in their home, at the hand of a male current or ex-partner. For 62% of women who had experienced physical assault by a male perpetrator, the most recent incident was in their home.

The Weatherill Government has made a strong commitment to addressing domestic violence in our community. Last year, the Premier reaffirmed domestic violence prevention as a priority for this Government with the release of the ‘Taking A Stand – Responding to Domestic Violence’ paper. Since then, the Government has embarked on a series of initiatives to address domestic violence in our community. To build on these initiatives, the Government is pursuing changes to strengthen the level of protection afforded to victims of domestic violence in the tenancy sector.

The proposed changes will recognise domestic violence in our tenancy legislation, and provide further protections for victims in the tenancy sector, including rooming house residents, to either continue in the tenancy without the perpetrator, leave the tenancy and no longer be liable for the premises, or terminate the tenancy altogether. The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) will be empowered to determine that one or more, but not all co-tenants, are liable for compensation to the landlord and order that the bond be paid to the landlord and any co-tenants not liable for compensation as it thinks fit, but not so as to unduly disadvantage the landlord.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'Legal scholars across the nation have spoken out against affirmative consent sexual misconduct policies implemented at many universities, including LSU, with proponents of the policy saying it bolsters the fight against rape culture at college campuses.

Affirmative consent, as it applies to sexual misconduct policy, means a person who initiates sexual contact must hear “yes” from the other person before engaging in a sexual act, said Morgan Lamandre, Vice President of Survivor Services at Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response in Baton Rouge.

Former American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen recently said the policy violates rights of due process, according to a news release from Stop Abusive and Violent Environments.

“They reverse the usual presumption of innocence,” Strossen said. “Unless the guy can prove that his sexual partner affirmatively consented to every single contact, he is presumed guilty of sexual misconduct.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'"No Means No" could soon change to "Yes Means Yes." Some local lawmakers proposed that bill on Tuesday, hoping it could help prevent sexual assaults on campus.

The general idea is anything less than yes, should mean no when it comes to sexual assault.

"It's not about what she wore, it's not about what she drank, it's about whether or not the perpetrator got consent and it was a mutual interaction," said Erin Roberts, Executive Director of E.V.E.

Working with victims Roberts says that distinction makes a big difference. Which is why she supports "Yes means Yes" -- meaning that only a sober yes on both sides counts as consent.
...
Police officers who investigate sexual assault cases say this could change investigations because it creates a clearer standard for holding perpetrators accountable.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Hillary Rodham Clinton is once again pandering to women with her three-pronged proposal to end the “epidemic” of campus sexual assault, but Mrs. Clinton’s own actions directly contradict her newly released plan.

“It is not enough to condemn campus sexual assault. We need to end campus sexual assault,” Mrs. Clinton said to a group of supporters on Monday at the University of Northern Iowa.

But while the former secretary of state claims to be fighting a sexual assault “epidemic” on college campuses, what she is really fighting for are female votes.

“To every survivor of sexual assault … You have the right to be heard. You have the right to be believed. We’re with you,” Mrs. Clinton tweeted out on Monday.

Mrs. Clinton’s newly proposed standard violates the most sacred principle of the American criminal justice system, innocent until proven guilty.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Colorado Congressman Jared Polis claimed in his local newspaper that he "misspoke" when he called for innocent college students to be expelled simply for being accused of sexual assault.

He can claim whatever he wants, but his actions last week tell a far different story than that of someone who merely didn't choose his words carefully.

First, we have to go back to his original statement, made during a House hearing on campus sexual assault. During a back-and-forth with a panelist advocating for due process rights for students accused of sexual assault, Polis said it's better to throw out accused students even if they're likely innocent, just in case.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The same week Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made a high-profile speech saying that sexual-assault accusers have “the right to be believed” and calling for more campus resources to help alleged victims, her chief rival for the nomination appears to have quietly responded.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is the first new cosponsor in nearly two months of the Campus Accountability and Safety Act (S-590). Congress.gov says he signed on to the bill Tuesday, just a day after Clinton’s speech at the University of Northern Iowa.

It’s a toe in the water for Sanders, who had to explain this spring why he wrote a “rape fantasy” essay in 1972 for a Vermont alt rag. He’s beenawfully easy on Clinton as well, neglecting to point out the perceived hypocrisy in her “right to be believed” remarks when her husband, former President Bill Clinton, has been repeatedly accused of sexual assault.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The University of Michigan has become the latest school to vacate a sexual assault judgment against a student due to legal pressure.

Drew Sterrett was a student at Michigan until 2012, when a school hearing found him responsible for sexually assaulting a fellow student. Rather than take the judgement lying down, Sterrett sued Michigan in federal court in 2014, arguing the school’s hearing process deprived him of his due process rights.

Sterrett’s case had much in common with other controversial college sexual assault cases. Sterrett had exculpatory evidence at the time, via a text from his roommate, that the sex between him and another student (identified as ‘CB’) was consensual. Not only that, but after their encounter in March 2012, no complaint was filed until the following August, and Sterrett was found responsible without ever being allowed to question his accuser or see the claims against him in writing. Sterrett also never faced any criminal charges.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'At first glance, the text messages appear to show a disturbing case of cyberbullying: one teen urging another to kill himself.

But the texts were not sent by a school bully. They were from a 17-year-old girl to her boyfriend, whom she called the love of her life.

"You can't think about it. You just have to do it. You said you were gonna do it. Like I don't get why you aren't," Michelle Carter allegedly wrote to Conrad Roy III the day he parked his truck outside a Fairhaven Kmart and killed himself through carbon monoxide poisoning.

Prosecutors have charged Carter with involuntary manslaughter in Roy's 2014 death. They say that in the week before Roy killed himself, Carter assisted by urging him to overcome his doubts about taking his own life, pressuring him to do it and even telling him to get back in his truck after becoming frightened that the plan was working.

Carter's lawyer has strenuously denied that she pushed him to kill himself and has asked a judge to dismiss the case.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Hillary Clinton believes victims of sexual assault have “a right to be believed.” Except, of course, if the accusations are made against her husband and could complicate her political aspirations.

In Clinton’s new web ad, titled “Hillary’s Message to Survivors of Sexual Assault,” the candidate claims:

"I want to send a message to every survivor of sexual assault.

Don’t let anyone silence your voice. You have a right to be heard. You have a right to be believed. We’re with you."

But that’s a very different message Kathleen Willey received in 1993 when she accused Hillary’s husband, President Bill Clinton, of sexually assaulting her.

“She believed what happened for sure,” Willey tells The American Mirror. “She just chose to ignore the plight of all of his victims, thus enabling him to continue to abuse and rape women in the future.”'

Story here. Excerpt:

'Texas police have decided not to charge a 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school.

Officials at MacArthur High School in Irving alerted police because they thought the device was a "hoax bomb".

Ahmed Mohamed's arrest has been sharply criticised, and the boy has received an outpouring of support including an invitation to the White House.

Ahmed's family believes he was detained because of his name.

"We have always had an outstanding relationship with the Muslim community," Irving Police Department chief Larry Boyd said on Wednesday. "Incidents like this present challenges. We want to learn how we can move forward and turn this into a positive."

The boy was placed in handcuffs and fingerprinted before he was released after it was determined there was no threat.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Another reason men might be enthusiastic about female-free sex is obvious: the sociopathic, man-hating feminism we see so much of on television and in our newspapers today is turning men off dealing with women altogether. Constant whinging about “toxic masculinity,” “manspreading,” “mansplaining,” the bogus gender pay gap and the absurd campus rape culture myth are pushing the sexes apart, fostering mistrust and fear.

The fact that wacky, misandrist intersectional feminists are an unpopular minority — as a result of their horrid influence, just 18 per cent of women now call themselves feminists — doesn’t matter because they hold court in the media and on campuses, and young women are starting to parrot discredited and absurd nonsense about the “oppressive patriarchy,” picking up on a victimhood script they believe they can leverage for social and professional advantage.

Essay here. Excerpt:

'I mis-spoke.

During a subcommittee hearing last week about sexual assault on college campuses, I committed a major gaffe during the back-and-forth exchange with a witness who was advocating for removing the authority of colleges to adjudicate sexual assault cases that happen on their campuses. My words did not convey my beliefs nor the policies I now or have ever supported.
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To most people who don't know much about this issue, it makes sense to solely adjudicate these cases in our criminal justice system, just like we do other crimes. The witness mentioned above who I was questioning was arguing for just such an approach.

However, this is a deeply dangerous idea that demonstrates a cursory and superficial understanding of the issue. Ask any sexual assault advocate and they'll tell you the same thing.

There are very important reasons why colleges and universities currently have jurisdiction over assaults that occur on their campuses, and why the process is separate from the criminal justice system. In my effort to defend this practice, I went too far, and I regret that my remarks have detracted from the substance of this debate and have reflected poorly on the good work being done by college offices across the country that investigate these cases, including two in my own backyard in Colorado (University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University).

Article here. Excerpt:

'When federal politicians passed the Higher Education Act, they thought they were only going to help good students who couldn’t otherwise afford college to attend. They did not think about possible unintended consequences — like making college far more expensive, undermining academic standards, or giving federal bureaucra'ts leverage to dictate to colleges and universities.

But all of that has happened.

I’m going to focus on that last consequence—the way federal intervention in higher education has empowered bureaucrats to whittle away at free speech on (and even off) campus.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A just released policy on infant male circumcision by the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) was judged today by the Children's Health & Human Rights Partnership (CHHRP) to be a step in the right direction, but was "nevertheless 'predictably inadequate' with respect to several specific issues."

CHHRP Medical Director Dr. Christopher Guest, MD, FRCPC, said the new policy is consistent with international paediatric associations that affirm infant boys should not have their healthy foreskins routinely removed.

Citing the position of the CPS that recognizes the unique sensory functions of the male foreskin, Dr. Guest asserted that, "A growing number of medical associations now recognize that an intact penis with a foreskin contributes to sexual pleasure for the male and his partner." According to Guest, in 2010 the Royal Dutch Medical Association concluded, "the foreskin is a complex erotogenic structure that plays an important role in the mechanical function of the penis during sexual acts."