'Not proven' verdict will be abolished for rape cases and defendants will face juryless trials amid sweeping justice reforms in Scotland

Article here. Excerpt:

'Sweeping justice reforms will see the abolition of the controversial not proven verdict – and a plan to introduce juryless rape trials.

In the biggest shake-up of the legal system for decades, the centuries-old third option for jurors will be axed in a bid to increase Scotland's low rape conviction rate.

As part of the changes, victims will have their own 'tsar' to stand up for their rights – and a specialist sex crimes court will be set up.

Anti-rape campaigners welcomed the new Bill but the proposed legislation has sparked a backlash among lawyers and opposition politicians over the potential erosion of key cornerstones of the Scottish justice system.

Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, said: 'There is a huge amount of research and evidence to suggest that these steps will not only make engaging with the justice system easier for survivors but lead to more justice being done.''

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Guest opinion: Masculinity at a crossroads over warring societal gender pressures

Article here. Excerpt:

'Although women are currently facing gender issues and have historically received the brunt of the gender gap, very few sources talk about men’s concerns outside of alpha male podcasts and misogynistic commentators. For example, if you were to walk around a campus today you would find posters, programs and panels that invite women to participate in male-dominated industries. On these campuses, banners read “Women in Law” and “Women in STEM.” However, you would rarely, if ever, see a poster that said “Men in the Humanities” or “Men in Education.” On the news, companies highlight their female employees and hide their male workers like a shameful scar. Professors inadvertently silence male voices on topical social issues.

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"I Have Never Been a Feminist"

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'Today’s feminists have done nothing to improve the status of women in society. To the contrary, they have created greater divisions between men and women and in the general culture. Their agenda is not to empower women but to teach them how to attack those who don’t support them in humiliating and discounting men.
...
The term feminism is meaningless in this world. It’s time that women support both men and women in the workforce, in daily life, and in relationships, rather than spend their time emasculating men and trying to shame them. This is a time when people need to individually stay in their own lanes, but help each other to fight through the storms of adversity and conflict.'

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UK: Labour’s ‘lessons for boys’ plan is a sinister sideshow

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'The Labour party’s latest plan is for part of the school day to be set aside to make boys hear from women who have been victims of male violence and abuse. Speaking at an event in south London this week, Keir Starmer announced that he wants to see the national curriculum expanded to include compulsory lessons on the importance of respecting women. His hope is that this will help to ‘bring about cultural change’ and embolden boys to ‘call out’ friends who act in a misogynistic way. Labour hopes that rooting out inappropriate behaviour in young boys will help halve incidents of violence against women and girls within a decade.

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UK: Labour considers plan to educate boys to curb violence against women

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'Labour is considering plans to roll out education for young boys on violence against women and girls (VAWG) in an effort to tackle the epidemic.

Keir Starmer believes “prevention” is extremely important and will play a crucial role in ensuring his party achieves its mission to halve VAWG within a decade.
...
The actor Emily Atack and the Love Island star Georgia Harrison, who also spoke at the event, praised Starmer for his mission and urged the party to ensure more professionals are able to educate young men in schools on different forms of abuse.

“We must look at toxic masculinity, which is a huge issue, take the blame off the victim, stop the victim blaming and actually focus on the perpetrators,” Atack said, adding that she believed the best way to tackle this was to introduce more experts into the education system.'

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UK: Keir Starmer’s masculinity lessons miss the point

Article here. Excerpt:

'Keir Starmer has announced that under Labour, boys will be taught to respect women and girls. The National Curriculum will now include classes in “Banter: Not Even Once” and “Girls are Great, OK?”

I jest, but to what extent is Starmer’s plan to introduce discussion about the social treatment of women and girls into schools realistic? It’s a sorry sign of things when the sexes have to be taught to treat each other slightly better than a used paper bag.

Labour’s concomitant aim to halve incidents of domestic violence against women and girls within a decade is an admirable one, but telling young men, who already drag behind girls at school and college, that they need to call each other out over misogynistic comments, however jokey, seems doomed to failure. If we can’t engage in cathartic light mockery of each other and ourselves, then the only alternative seems to be to outlaw humour altogether.'

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Waterloo Catholic trustee calls Christian males “threats,” concerned parents speak out

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'Parents as First Educators (PAFE) is calling for the resignation of a Waterloo Catholic school board trustee who publicly commented on Twitter that the “most dangerous creature on the planet is the white Christian male.”

In a now-deleted Tweet, the first-term Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) trustee Wendy Ashby called Christian males a “threat to anyone that is not them.”

PAFE Project Director Amelia Willis says that Ashby’s comments have alarmed parents, who are concerned about the well-being of their children in the classroom.'

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MSU says business boot camp that excluded White males now open to all ‘irrespective’ of race, sex

Article here. Excerpt:

'A business boot camp at Missouri State University that excluded White males is now offering the program to everyone "irrespective of their race and/or sex" after a government watchdog organization urged the state Attorney General to investigate for discrimination.

The Spring 2023 Early-Stage Business Boot Camp was an eight-week course offered exclusively to "aspiring and/or women small business owners who have recently started or are in the idea phrase."

White males were ineligible to apply.

On Tuesday, the Equal Protection Project (EPP), filed a complaint to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, urging him to investigate.

The group alleged that MSU was "engaging in racial- and gender-based discrimination through its sponsorship, promotion, and hosting of a small business training ‘boot camp’ that limits participation" to women and people who identify as "BIPOC" – an acronym for non-white "Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color."'

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Reference to ‘white male’ advantages booed on Oklahoma House floor

Article here. Excerpt:

'Boos pierced an otherwise quiet afternoon in the Oklahoma House of Representatives on Monday after a relatively routine bill on small-business development turned into a debate on “reverse discrimination” and the plight of white males.

Senate Bill 119, by Sen. Michael Bergstrom, R-Adair, would somewhat broaden eligibility for the Oklahoma Supplier Diversity Initiative, a state Department of Commerce program intended to connect small businesses with potential customers, including state agencies.

It especially targets small businesses owned by minorities, women and U.S. military veterans by providing some technical assistance on applications and the like and by listing them on a website promoted to potential clients.

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Russian army launches campaign encouraging men to join

Article here. Excerpt:

'A wide-ranging advertising campaign appears to have been launched in Russia urging citizens to join the military.

It comes as the Russian armed forces have reportedly been suffering heavy losses and struggling to make progress in Ukraine more than a year after invading it.

The Defence Ministry in Moscow released a video appealing to Russians to give up their civilian jobs in favour of a contract with the military.

The video features a supermarket guard, a fitness instructor and a taxi driver - all apparently disillusioned with civilian life and finding fulfilment after joining the army.

The video promises a monthly salary of at least 204,000 roubles ($2,500, £2,000), four times Russia's average.'

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Arkansas SB 365 means year-round due process rights for college students

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'Last week, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law SB 365, a bill that codifies crucial due process protections before, during, and after campus disciplinary proceedings. FIRE Legislative Counsel Greg Y. Gonzalez testified in support of the bill in the Senate Education Committee.

SB 365, the Arkansas Student Due Process and Protection Act, provides an array of due process protections for students and student organizations facing suspension or expulsion. And it improves what was the status quo: Arkansas previously explicitly required a right to counsel only during an appeal of a disciplinary proceeding. This law amends that statute and provides far greater protections.'

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Houston Rescuers Prove the Lie of ‘Toxic Masculinity’

Article here. Excerpt:

'Men. We are just the worst, with our toxic masculinity and patriarchal privilege. We are the source of literally all of the world’s problems, from war, income inequality, and “rape culture” to the misogynistic microaggressions of “mansplaining” and “manspreading.” If we are ever to create a nonviolent, truly gender-equal world, we must rip away the false, culturally constructed façade of masculinity. We must free ourselves from the strictures of macho posturing, embrace vulnerability, and redefine what it means to be strong.

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A silent crisis in men’s health gets worse

Article here. Excerpt:

'A silent crisis in men’s health is shortening the life spans of fathers, husbands, brothers and sons.

For years, the conventional wisdom has been that a lack of sex-specific health research mainly hurts women and gender minorities. While those concerns are real, a closer look at longevity data tells a more complicated story.

Across the life span — from infancy to the teen years, midlife and old age — the risk of death at every age is higher for boys and men than for girls and women.
...
The topic of men’s health simply hasn’t caught on as something that advocates, corporate sponsors and politicians want to get behind. While the pink-ribbon has been elevated to iconic status to signal breast cancer awareness, nothing in men’s health has achieved the same level of attention.

“There is an empathy gap,” Henry said. “There are people who shrug and say, ‘Yes, men die younger. That’s the way the world is.’ It doesn’t need to be that way. If we devote attention and resources, we can change the outcomes for men.”'

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Boys have been left devastated by the woke attitude to masculinity

Article here. Excerpt:

'Society is in danger of demonising boys and young men. They are lambasted in schools by toxic masculinity crusaders and denigrated in popular culture. This environment is having a crushing impact. According to the Health Department, suicide is the biggest cause of death in men under the age of 50 and around three-quarters of deaths from suicides each year are men. Research from Future Dads last year showed that around a third of young men felt left behind by society.

Commentary routinely seems to present boys as inherently bad. The impression is given that parents cannot be trusted to raise them as good citizens, leading to the worrying conclusion that outside organisations should do the job for them. But some organisations which come into schools and talk to boys have developed a habit of telling them to move away from “toxic” masculinity. That, in my view, feeds into a sense of uneasiness.

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Feminists don’t believe in feminism either

Article here. Excerpt:

'Feminist activist Gloria Steinem may not have coined the phrase, “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle,” but she did popularize it. And Brookings Institution scholar Richard Reeves correctly identifies the sentiment as “the goal of that wave of the women’s movement.” But just how independent of men do most women really want to be?

As Reeves recounts on a recent podcast promoting his new book Of Boys and Men, even feminists want men to support them.

Reeves’s admission came after Progress Network podcast co-host Emma Varvaloucas noted that women aren't really readapting to a world where most childless women actually earn more than the average man.

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