Story here. Excerpt:

'A FACEBOOK post by NSW Police has sparked a passionate social media debate on an issue many suggest society — and the police themselves — sweep under the carpet.
...
“Last year, 1 in every 5 domestic violence assaults that NSW Police responded to involving intimate partners were for male victims.”

Already the post has been shared nearly 5000 times and drawn hundreds of comments.

Many posters are supportive of the police raising the issue, with many sharing their own survival stories. However, some suggest the police don’t treat the issue as seriously as they should.

“Many more stories like this are needed,” wrote Darren Quinn. “There are too many assumptions by the general public that its him him him.”

Hellen Brugnatti, agreed, saying: “It’s nice to see some recognition where the men are victims not just the woman victims.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced it is raising bus and subway fares due to budget constraints, a week after spending over $76,000 to stop “manspreading.”

According to the New York Times:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted on Thursday to raise the base fare on subways and buses by a quarter, to $2.75, and the cost of a 30-day MetroCard by $4.50, to $116.50.

The new fares, approved by the authority’s board, were part of a package of increases being considered for the system’s trains, buses, tunnels, and bridges. The new rates will take effect on March 22.'

Article here.

'A German court on Thursday ruled in favour of men’s right to urinate standing up, after a landlord tried to retain part of a tenant’s €3,000 (£2,300) deposit for allegedly damaging the marble floor of a toilet by sprinkling it with urine.

The debate about whether men should stand or sit when urinating is no laughing matter in Germany, where some toilets have red traffic-style signs forbidding the standing position. There is also a derogatory term for men who sit and pee – “Sitzpinkler” – which implies that it is not masculine behaviour.

Judge Stefan Hank in the city of Düsseldorf said men who insist on standing “must expect occasional rows with housemates, especially women” but cannot be held to account for collateral damage.

“Despite growing domestication of men in this matter, urinating while standing up is still widespread,” he said.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A BUILDER from Liskeard who was facing an attempted rape charge says he is taking legal action after the case was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Sean Frayling spent six months on remand at Exeter Prison before he was released without charge this month.

At Truro Crown Court, the CPS decided to offer no evidence against Mr Frayling and a formal not guilty verdict was recorded.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Since January 1st, all of Norway’s state-run hospitals have become legally obliged to offer circumcision of newborn baby boys. A majority of doctors all over the country, however, have been refusing to perform the operation that’s often part of religious rituals, claiming it’s an unnecessary surgical procedure on otherwise healthy infants.

Only one hospital in all of southeastern Norway is officially offering to circumcise newborns, according to an internal document obtained by newspaper Dagsavisen. In a response to the state health ministry’s request for a status report on circumcision, state agency Helse Sør-Øst (Health Southeast) wrote on January 16 that only the hospital in Kristiansand (Sørlandet Sykehus) offered to circumcise newborn baby boys. A few others offered circumcision only to boys more than a year old.
...
At Akershus University Hospital (Ahus) northeast of Oslo, fully 13 of its 15 urologists have submitted written statements reserving themselves against performing circumcision. “The opposition to this emerged before the law on circumcision was approved,” Dr Anja Løvvik, leader of the urology department at Ahus, told Dagsavisen this week. “The fact that many (doctors) want to reserve themselves against this should not be unexpected.” Her colleague Dr Frode Steinar Nilsen at Ahus called circumcision “a surgical operation with no health advantages and one that, as with all surgery, carries with it a risk and a burden for the child. That’s why we don’t want to perform it.”

Story here. (Thanks, ThomasI, for mentioning this report here.) And indeed as ThomasI says, with no hearing of any kind, an immediate suspension of the *entire* fraternity because a sexual assault has been alleged.

'Duke University says it has suspended a fraternity while police investigate allegations a woman was sexually assaulted at an off-campus party.

A statement from the university says Alpha Delta Phi has been suspended while Durham police investigate what happened at an off-campus house leased by fraternity members.

Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez told WRAL-TV that his department is seeking information from anyone at the Jan. 8 party. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.

Local media outlets obtained a search warrant that says the woman told police she had drinks at the party before awaking the next day in only a T-shirt. The warrant says the last thing she remembers was dancing with friends.

Christina Hoff Sommers' latest "Factual Feminist" installment is on YouTube here. Summary:

'We don’t live in a rape culture, but we do inhabit a culture saturated with gender propaganda. Call it a Ms.Information culture. And nowhere is Ms.Information more rampant than in the area of sexual assault. On this week's episode of the Factual Feminist: The two biggest myths about women and sexual violence.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Some Democratic Arizona lawmakers have proposed a "yes means yes" policy at the state's universities that would require clear consent for any sexual activity.

A similar proposal was passed into law in California in an effort to combat what's been called a growing problem of sexual assaults on college campuses.
...
Arizona's version, House Bill 2474, was proposed by Democratic Representative Juan Mendez, who was not immediately available for comment. (According to an assistant, he was out of the office for Indian Nations and Tribes Legislative Day, as part of his district includes the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.)

The bill calls for all public and private universities in the state to have clear policies that "define consent to sexual activity as informed and freely given words or actions that indicate a willingness to participate in mutually agreed on sexual activity."

Article here. Yes, right there in the WaPo. Pinch yourself, it's not a dream. Excerpt:

'Criticism of colleges’ responses to allegations of sexual assault has poured in from every direction. Victims’ rights advocates argue that college administrators are politically motivated to sweep accusations under the carpet. Civil libertarians and law professors cite the lack of meaningful procedural safeguards for the accused. College administrators quietly express frustration that they are being forced to decide these cases when they are ill-equipped to do so.

Many have asked why universities are handling sexual assault — a felony — at all. The simple answer is that courts and federal agencies have interpreted Title IX to require universities to respond to known instances of sexual discrimination in a manner that is reasonably calculated to redress the discrimination and prevent its recurrence. (Sexual violence is considered an extreme form of sex discrimination.) But how exactly colleges should respond remains unsettled.

... In a recent column in Politico, Yale Law School students Elizabeth Deutsch and Alexandra Brodsky argue that Title IX is concerned with equal access to educational opportunities, whereas the criminal justice system “does not and cannot respond to these equality concerns.” Therefore, the students conclude, relying on law enforcement to provide the sole solution is inadequate, and providing meaningful due process in campus hearings is unnecessary. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) articulated a similar point during a recent hearing.
...

Article here. Excerpt:

'President Barack Obama didn't mention college sexual assault during his State of the Union address Tuesday, an issue his administration has highlighted.

In an address that largely focused on economic issues, Obama chose to discuss higher education issues like the cost of a college degree, his free community college plan and simplifying the process of applying for federal financial aid.

Story here. Excerpt:

'The Columbia University senior who has won national notice for carrying a mattress to protest the school’s failure to punish her alleged rapist attended the State of the Union address Tuesday to promote legislation aimed at stopping sexual assaults on campus.
...
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) invited Sulkowicz to the speech in an effort to highlight a bipartisan bill that would force colleges to step up collection of information on sexual assaults and adopt tougher, standardized processes for dealing with sexual assault.
...
Sulkowicz, a Manhattan native, is carrying a mattress around the school as both a protest and a senior thesis called “Carry that Weight” and “Mattress Performance.” She said the dorm-room mattress symbolizes the weight she and other rape survivors carry.
...
The alleged attacker, Paul Nungesser, blasted Gillibrand.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The University of Virginia will pay more than $500,000 for separate reviews of its response to a since-discredited fraternity gang rape claim and the school’s sexual assault policies, but many lingering questions could go publicly unanswered.

Recently signed contracts obtained by The Daily Progress show that an international law firm will be paid $500,000 to probe the university’s handling of “the specific allegations in Rolling Stone,” while, separately, Philadelphia attorneys will assess school policies and procedures. The contract for the latter work includes a clause stipulating that the attorneys “maintain all communications as confidential.”

A university official did not respond to questions about what might be made public from the second evaluation, which, according to the contract, does not contain a cap for fees or expenses.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Columbia University student who drew national attention for carrying a mattress around campus to protest her alleged rape will now be taking her mattress to a new venue: the United States Capitol.

Emma Sulkowicz claims that in August 2012 she was raped by a fellow student in her dorm room, and since last fall she has been hauling a mattress around campus as a senior art thesis dubbed “Carry That Weight” while demanding that her alleged rapist be expelled. The campaign drew national attention and imitators across the country.

Now, Sulkowicz has been invited to attend President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night as the special guest of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
...
Whether Sulkowicz was actually raped, however, remains up for debate. She herself admits to prior sexual encounters with the student she accused, Paul Nungesser, and even says her alleged rape began consensually and only turned into sexual assault when Nungesser became violent with her.

Article here. Could've written this one myself! Excerpt:

'Hillary can’t win, and that’s why she won’t run. She may not know that yet herself, but a lot of Democrats want her because she’s all they’ve got. The Republicans are counting on her to run because they think she’s the candidate they can beat in what looks from here like it could be a Republican year.

Lady Macbeth has the resume that makes her plausible, which a lot of pundits and normal other people confuse with “inevitable.” Everybody recognizes her name. She doesn’t hear the music but she recognizes the words and knows policy, and likes to talk about it. She’s a woman, and that should help with the ladies. (It might hurt, too).

She has had to carry a lot of Bubba’s baggage, and people usually pity the wronged wife. Nobody is comfortable as the object of pity, but political widows have often exploited it. Political wives, not so much. Hillary has successfully used it, probably because she has thrown the occasional lamp. People like people who fight back.
...
Against every positive, there’s two or three negatives. Everyone has a list. Many women like her, some women worship her. Most men despise her. She reminds them of their ex-wives. Life is not fair. Men, a wise man said, are assumed to be competent until they prove otherwise; that was Mr. Obama’s good fortune in 2008, when nobody looked at him closely. Women are thought to be incompetent until they prove otherwise, as many women in politics and business do every day. Getting credit is not easy.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Nowadays, you can’t suggest that a woman watch her drink, avoid getting blackout drunk or to walk in well-lit areas without being accused of victim-blaming. But why is it okay to claim that students falsely accused of sex crimes somehow deserved to be falsely accused?

The most recent example of this form of victim-blaming, where the men who were falsely accused are the real victims, can be seen in the University of Virginia’s ham-handed response to an uncorroborated but explosive allegation of a brutal gang rape at one of its fraternities. U.Va. responded to the allegation by banning Greek social activities until Jan. 9, and only allowing fraternities and sororities to resume such activities if they sign new contracts. Those contracts are of course much more stringent for fraternities and have led to two campus organizations refusing to sign.

And remember, those new contracts were announced after the Washington Post discovered significant faults in the original rape allegation. The fact that the accuser made up a story about having a date or even being invited to a fraternity party by that fantasy date should have made U.Va. officials think twice about rushing to judgment and condemning Greek life on campus.

The university still wants fraternities to sign the agreements and accept punishment, even though local police found “no substantive basis” for the allegation that the rape in question occurred at Phi Kappa Psi. Instead of punishing just Phi Psi without evidence, U.Va. decided to punish all fraternities without evidence — the stated reason being that past behavior at fraternity parties warrants such restrictive punishment.