Article here. Excerpt:

'On Friday, April 25, 2014, both houses of Connecticut’s legislature unanimously approved a bill that restricts judges in family court matters. Parent who have been unfairly denied access to their children, given restricted access and bankrupted by the court turned out in large numbers to testify in favor of the legislation. The legislation points towards fundamental changes in Connecticut’s family court system.

The bill passed on April 25 deals with technical issues associated with the court appointed Guardians Ad Litem (GALs):

Story here. Excerpt:

'A former University of Michigan student is suing the school, claiming an investigation into a sexual misconduct report that resulted in his suspension violated his constitutional rights.

Twenty-one-year-old Drew Sterrett, of New York, filed lawsuits in both federal and Washtenaw County courts in late April that say the university committed numerous violations while looking into a sexual encounter that occurred between Sterrett and an unnamed female student at Mosher-Jordan Hall in March 2012.

Sterrett was never criminally charged and the woman didn’t report any misconduct until August 2012. The lawsuit alleges the sex was consensual and the woman only reported it as misconduct after her mother found a diary chronicling the times she had sex.

Link here. Excerpt:

'Twelve women entrepreneurs, and women leaders of organizations that support entrepreneurs, from Latin America will visit the United States on the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas (WEAmericas) International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) from May 5-23. During their stay, the participants will explore the vital role of women-owned small and medium enterprises as catalysts of economic development. They will also strengthen their skill through site visits, training sessions, and workshops on topics that include leadership development and growing successful businesses. President Obama announced the WeAmericas initiative at the Summit of the Americas in April 2012.

The participants are all successful business owners or work with organizations that promote women’s leadership in business.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'A University of Cincinnati student accused of raping a woman and attempting to rape another is suing the school and its assistant dean for ignoring evidence that he says absolved him, according to court documents.
...
According to Peloe’s lawsuit, surveillance video obtained by police shows the two women “were not intoxicated and led Peloe to their room.”

The suit also states text messages obtained in the investigation called “significant portions of the students’ stories into question.”

“For example, although the students claimed to be passed out, they still sent a number of text messages,” the lawsuit states. “In addition, later messages joked about the case.”

Peloe said another female student was in the room when the alleged rape took place, but that student did not witness anything illegal.

Rape kits were submitted to a crime lab for analysis.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Controversy has once again hit the campus of UNC-Wilmington. This time it's not my fault. The controversy is actually the fault of a student. His crime is simple: He decided to behave like a feminist behaves every day on campuses all across America. Unfortunately for him, he chose to do so without the proper genitalia and without the approval of the UNCW Women's Resource Center.

I was introduced to the controversy shortly after a student of mine finished taking her final exam of the semester. After she had left my 2 pm exam, she came into my 3:30 class and, as discreetly as possible, told me that a male student had just walked up to her and asked if she wanted to have sex with him. It took me a few minutes to figure out that she wasn't joking. So I asked her to give me more information as we walked out into the hall to look for the offending student.

Apparently, the young man had been working his way through the building asking every female student he saw if she would like to have sex with him. ...
...
Fortunately, the visibly shaken student found a concerned psychology professor who went downstairs with her, found the male student, and told him to knock it off. The propositioning student became incensed and told the professor he needed to get over his hang-ups about sex. The student's argument was pretty simple: Asking someone to have sex is no different than asking them to engage in any other recreational activity such as playing basketball.
...
But what crime did the desperately horny student commit? Did he sexually harass these women in a traditional sense? No, this was a case of creating a hostile environment in the workplace. Had he done this in a bar, rather than on campus, there would be no controversy. In other words, the venue made a difference.

Article here. Excerpt:

In January, the White House announced the creation of a White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. On April 29, that task force came out with its first report, Not Alone, which is intended to “help schools live up to their obligation to protect students from sexual violence.” There is no doubt that sexual violence on campus is a serious problem that requires action. But it must be addressed in a way that also protects the rights of students being accused of these very serious offenses. Unfortunately, the Task Force Report will almost certainly worsen the already critical due process crisis on our college campuses.

Like so many discussions of campus sexual assault, the Task Force Report leads off with the shocking statement that “one in five women is sexually assaulted in college.” This figure has become an article of faith among those calling for greater government intervention into colleges’ handling of sexual assault claims: President Obama cited it when he announced the creation of the task force back in January, and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights cited it in the April 4, 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter requiring colleges to use a “preponderance of the evidence” (more likely than not) standard when adjudicating claims of sexual harassment or sexual violence.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Sit still. Read quietly to yourself. Stop fidgeting. Such warnings are often directed at boys, but you may as well be asking them to do advanced calculus.

Girls are more attentive, more organized and perform better socially and academically, according to recent research published by the Third Way, a centrist policy institute. And the gap between girls and boys exceeds that of any other two groups.

“The social and behavioral skills gap between boys and girls is considerably larger than the gap between children from poor families and middle class families or the gap between black and white children,” the study reads.

Some attribute the growing divide to a learning environment structured to favor girls.

Article here. Excerpt:

'On February 25, between 40 and 59 children were killed by the fundamentalist militant group. Early that morning, Boko Haram terrorists attacked a boarding school and shot many of children, aged 11 to 18, while they slept. Some of the students were gunned down as they attempted to flee. Others had their throats slit. In some buildings, Boko Haram militants locked the doors and set the building alight. The occupants were burned alive.

All of the victims were boys. Reports indicated that the young girls the militants encountered were spared. According to the BBC, the militants told the girls to flee, get married, and shun the western education to which they were privy.

Article here. Excerpt:

'A woman who sexually abused her best friend's teenage son for two years was sentenced to five years probation on Thursday.

Karen Carstens, 43, was convicted of sexual abuse of a child on Wednesday. KHOU reports that the abuse began in 2007, when Carstens volunteered to babysit her best friend's 13-year-old son while the other woman was in the hospital.

According to court documents, what initially started as touching eventually progressed to oral sex, which the victim said that Cartstens performed on him at least four times, including once in his family's living room.

In May 2009, while the boy's mother was again hospitalized, the victim and Carstens had sex on a couch, after which the boy cried because he was afraid of impregnating the woman.'

Story here. Excerpt:

MAY 7--A South Carolina man was pummeled and tased yesterday afternoon by his “baby’s mama” and his “other baby’s mama,” who teamed up to ambush and assault the father of their children since he “has a new girlfriend,” cops report.

According to a Spartanburg Police Department report, Rodrick Tucker, 21, told officers that Tabitha Martin, 23, invited him to her apartment Tuesday. Tucker, who described Martin as his “baby’s mama,” added that when he arrived at the residence, Martin invited him into the bedroom.

Tucker told police that “once he was lying on the bed” in Martin’s apartment, Courtney Littlejohn--his “other baby’s mama”--entered the bedroom. Tucker, who was likely expecting an afternoon delight, quickly became the target of a tag-team attack.

The women, Tucker told police, yanked him off the bed and began “repeatedly punching him in the face and head.” After escaping the bedroom, Tucker said he was “again knocked to the floor.” He added that Littlejohn, 23, “sat on top of him, not allowing him to get up.”

Story here. Excerpt:

'A BOY was so disappointed he was not allowed to run the women's only Race for Life [link added] last year that he has started his own charity event for men.

Ten-year-old Ethan Muller will launch the first Ethan's 10k Male Only Charity Cycle Challenge event on Saturday, May 10, to raise cash for Help for Heroes [link added].

The Martley Primary School child was not allowed to enter the Cancer Research UK yearly event at Worcester Racecourse with his mum and sister but felt he wanted to help in a way.

He said: "The challenge is only for boys because girls can only do Race for Life and I really wanted to do it.
...
His mum, Tina Muller, said her son was desperate to do an event after being refused onto Race for Life.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Men, if you want to see a stunning Malaysian waterfall, you better get there quickly.

The as-yet-to-be-determined waterfall is located at Tasik Kenyir, an artificial lake in the Northeast Malaysian state of Terengganu. Making the waterfall a spot for ladies only is part of a nearly $92 million development project, the Daily Mail reports.

Not only will the designated waterfall allow only female visitors, but boats transporting women to the waterfall and security guards at the site will all be female as well.

The single-sex area is being created as a request from female tourists in West Asia, spokesman Datuk Seri Ahmad said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For decades we’ve listened to teachers and ‘academics’ shedding crocodile tears as they bemoan the terrible ‘failure’ of the boys in their classes falling behind girls.

Now a five year University study has shown why.

Those same teachers are just deliberately marking boys down – even when they do better in tests and exams than their female counterparts.

A five-year research project, funded by the Departments of Education and Justice in Northern Ireland, found “systemic flaws” in teaching techniques led to teachers discriminating overtly against male students.

The shocking survey blows the lid on how since the 1970s, when feminist critics complained that the school system favored “male thinking,” grades have been decided not by performance and knowledge, but on a teachers whim.

Via email:

Dr. Grant Brown's book on family law in Canada has finally been published.

You can get it as a free e-book, compliments of the CCF, at http://theccf.ca/publications/familylawbook/

Reviews of Ideology And Dysfunction In Family Law – How Courts Disenfranchise Fathers:

Dr. Paul Millar, Nipissing University:

Read this book! Meticulously researched and thorough, yet easy to read for the lay person, Oxford educated philosopher, professor and lawyer Grant Brown has created a tour de force exposition of family law in Canada today. There is no more compelling argument for Canadian family law reform than this book. Ideology and Dysfunction in Family Law is a soon-to-be classic and a must-read for anyone interested in families or family law in Canada.

Barbara Kay, National Post columnist and author:

There is no dearth of material on the bias against fathers in western family courts. As a journalist focused on culture and ideology in Canada’s social institutions, I have read many books and articles on this subject. Ideology and Dysfunction in Family Law: How Courts Disenfranchise Fathers is in my experience unique in its referential breadth and depth. This book unites impeccable legal scholarship, moral philosophy and evidence-based cultural analysis with stylistic precision and elegance. Grant Brown puts forward arguments never heard in family court: parents’ inherent rights; children’s real best interests (not what the courts usually say they are); the unconstitutionality of the Child Support Guidelines; and, in general the irreconcilability of the law with the first principles of justice. More than a superb reference book for journalists and policy makers, not to mention all educated readers with an interest in judicial fairness, Brown’s book should be on the obligatory reading list of every law school in Canada.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A young mother killed her baby by slitting his throat only 30 minutes after giving birth because she feared the child would interfere with her sex life, a court heard.

Nadine Koenig, 20, from Regensburg in the German state of Bavaria, smothered her newborn son before killing him with a Stanley knife. Then she went out to a disco, judges were told.

Prosecutor Ulrike Klein said the child was a responsibility she could not handle. ‘You couldn’t bear the thought of your far-reaching sexual and social contacts being jeopardised by this baby,’ she added.'