October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

During DV Awareness Month, we'll be taking a look at the accuracy of VAWA-funded groups' DV Fact Sheets.

The Partner Abuse State of Knowledge shows that men and women engage in partner aggression at similar rates. But many DV groups still use unreliable studies and inaccurate statistics, creating the impression that almost all partner abuse is men abusing women.

We believe the way to start, if we are to end discrimination against male victims, is by telling the truth. We're looking at DV Fact Sheets, asking 10 specific questions, and giving grades for accuracy.

Want to get involved? Visit the Truth Team Campaign: http://www.saveservices.org/camp/truth/

Teri Stoddard, Program Director
Stop Abusive and Violent Environments
www.saveservices.org

Press release here. Excerpt:

WASHINGTON / October 1, 2013 – Victim-advocacy group Stop Abusive and Violent Environments warns that factual errors and misrepresentations in public education efforts sponsored by domestic violence organizations may represent an obstacle in the on-going effort to rid the nation of domestic violence. SAVE issues the alert in conjunction with Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which is observed in October each year.

The Partner Abuse State of Knowledge (PASK) project, a summary of over 1,700 domestic violence research studies, concludes that mutual abuse among partners is commonplace, and men and women engage in partner aggression at similar rates: http://domesticviolenceresearch.org/

Article here. Excerpt:

'Many people think of construction as a typically male occupation. But did you know that as of 2010, there are about 800,000 women working in the construction industry? That amounts to approximately 9 percent of the industry workforce.

While the hazards involved in construction work are well known, female construction workers face unique challenges. To increase awareness of these issues, OSHA has signed an alliance with the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). The alliance, which lasts 2 years, will develop targeted training resources and other informational materials to help construction employers ensure the safety of their female employees.
...
OSHA has additional information about women in construction on a webpage created specifically for the alliance. Check it out at https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/women/index.html.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has released a resolution focused on the “violations of the physical integrity of children,” including the circumcision of young boys for religious causes, which remains a controversial issue in European societies.

The resolution calls for the European states to “promote further awareness in their societies of the potential risks of some of these procedures,” which the assembly lists as the circumcision of boys, early childhood interventions in the case of intersexual children and the coercion of children into piercings, tattoos or plastic surgery.

The assembly said that though such practices are projected as beneficial to children, they often fail to be so.

Story here. Excerpt:

'A nurse who let a three-and-a-half week baby bleed to death after carrying out a circumcision using just scissors, forceps and olive oil has been banned from practising in the UK.

Grace Adeleye, 67, performed the dangerous African treatment known as a 'clamp and cut' on Goodluck Caubergs for a fee of £100 at the baby's home in Chadderton, Greater Manchester.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council panel heard that Adeleye carried out the circumcision at around 5pm on April 16 2010 and that Goodluck was still bleeding at 7am the following morning.

Adeleye had reassured the baby's parents, whom she had been put in touch with by a mutual friend, that the bleeding was slowing.

But Goodluck was eventually taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital later that morning where he died shortly after arrival.
...
Adeleye had previously received a 21-month jail term suspended for two years at Manchester Crown Court and quickly announced she would be retiring from nursing.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Currently, more women than men attend college and that isn't expected to change any time soon: According to the National Center for Education Statistics, female enrollment is expected to increase by 16% from 2011 to 2021 while male enrollment is only projected to increase by around 7%.

Miles Groth, a psychology professor at Wagner College, spoke on Sept. 27 at the University of Toronto on the need for men's centers at colleges in Canada. He feels men's centers are needed to help male students feel welcome in the face of changing college demographics. He thinks U.S. colleges should be addressing the same issue.
...
"I often ask students to write about their experience of overt and covert gender discrimination against males in academic environments, and they routinely describe instances of public humiliation and systemic indifference," writes Dennis Gouws, an English professor at Springfield College, in an e-mail.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'It looks like political correctness goes beyond our borders. A group of notable feminists from our northern neighbor are demanding a change to their country’s national anthem with the goal of making it more 'gender neutral.'

The Globe and Mail reports:

At issue is the line: “True patriot love in all thy sons command.” According to Restore Our Anthem, a group that includes writer Margaret Atwood and former prime minister Kim Campbell, these lyrics are exclusionary of women, and do not reflect the original intent of Robert Stanley Weir, who wrote the English words for O Canada in 1908.

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Equality Police are unhappy. It seems that despite their best efforts women still aren't entering the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as men are. You may not care about this — but you should. Because when the Equality Police become unhappy, we get bad policy such as the leftist desire to apply Title IX dictates to STEM, which would effectively eliminate opportunities for men in those fields.

Article here. Excerpt:

'To win the battle against domestic violence, Gov. Paul LePage says men need to stop seeing the problem as a women’s issue and take action to stop abuse.

“We can have all the strict laws in the world, but we have to make [domestic violence] socially unacceptable,” LePage said during a ceremony Wednesday morning in his Cabinet Room at the State House.

“We, the men, have to help to eliminate abuse,” Lepage continued. “We are 80 percent of the perpetrators, and we have to find a way to stop people from doing this, and we can’t expect women to fight this battle alone.”

The morning ceremony marked the proclamation of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, during which the Blaine House, Maine’s governor’s residence, will be illuminated in purple — the color associated with the cause.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Two out of five gender based violence (GBV) victims are men, hence the need to have a clause that protects them in the new Constitution like it does to women.

The proposal was made recently at a meeting to review Tanzania’s constitution held in Rombo district organised by a non governmental organisation called AJIMARO.

A participant, Anjela Mwapachu, said most men in Tanzania are victims of domestic violence.

However, she continued to say, they hide the truth since there is no article in the Constitution that gives them their rights as men.

Mwapachu said now, it is the right time for male to claim for their rights to be identified in the new Constitution.'

From Intact America:

ONLY TWO DAYS LEFT AND WE STILL NEED SIGNATURES!

You've been hearing a lot about our campaign to stop the researchers at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati from continuing an outrageous circumcision study [link added], and now we're down to the wire. Our peaceful protest outside the hospital is planned for Thursday, which means we have one more day to get as many signatures as we can.

If you haven't yet signed our letter, please sign it right away. If you've already signed it, thank you! Please take the next step and spread the word by emailing your friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors, telling them about our campaign and asking them to sign our letter. You can also help us make an impact in Cincinnati by pledging your financial support for this campaign.

Preview here. The full short film is available at Distrify.com. You can find "Shame" on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ShameMEStudios and on Twitter: @shamemovie

Story here. Excerpt:

'Bonnie Bennett said her son, Jordan, was suspended Friday at Harmony Community School in Osceola County after playing cops and robbers with another student.

“There was nothing in his hand. He used his thumb and index finger,” said Bennett. “It was a game. He made no threatening advances or threats to harm anyone. No words were said.”

Bennett said she would have been satisfied with some form of punishment but is worried now that since he's been suspended, her son will be seen as a violent child.

“They took a child that has never been in trouble before and went to the extreme,” said Bennett. “A child that has no history of violence is now classified as a violent offender.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Two boys playing on a girls’ volleyball team at a New York high school could see their playing time spiked when league officials consider modifying a rule that allows them to play with the fairer sex.

Seniors Andrew Lafortezza and Jason Elbaum both played for the co-ed volleyball club last season at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua. But due to budgetary constraints, the Quakers were unable to field a boys’ team this year, prompting the teens to seek a spot on the girls’ squad, which they earned after receiving approval from league officials in August.
...
“I’m very concerned with the fact that we have two boys playing on a girls’ team,” Zayas said. “I’m concerned there’s a significant adverse effect on other teams.”'

Article here. Excerpt:

Fathers have begun resisting the tactics of private adoption agencies, which broker incentives to women for giving up their children at birth. The rights of birth mothers, wealthy potential adoptive parents, natural fathers, and the profits of the adoption industry are at odds. As members of a democracy, as human beings, it is time for us to understand what is at stake in these on-going heart wrenching dramas.