Article here. Excerpt:

'There has been a significant increase in the first half of this year of men seeking assistance from Amen, a charity that supports victims of domestic violence.

Amen director Eugene Wogan said there has been a 34% increase in the number of callers to its helpline between January and June this year.

The annual report recorded a slight decrease in the number of men seeking assistance in 2011 compared to 2010.

Last year, the Navan-based charity recorded a total of 4,303 contacts from men wishing to discuss abuse by their wife or partner. This was down from 4,683 in 2010.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Recent research has shown a direct link between male circumcision and reduced HIV transmission, generating growing interest in high-risk communities, especially in Africa, which has been hit hard by the HIV epidemic. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even praised a campaign to circumcise adult male Africans as a preventative measure for HIV in her opening speech last month for the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.
...
As part of the growing anti-circumcision movement, some healthcare workers have made efforts to educate people about the practice. In the mid-1980s, healthcare professionals in San Francisco founded the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers to provide information about the pros and cons of circumcision. This organization upholds the Declaration of the First International Symposium on Circumcision.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Even after the deaths of two children and the injuries of many more, a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis say that if a proposed law requiring parental consent for an ancient circumcision ritual is enacted they will defy it.

In the ancient "metzitzah b'peh" ritual, a "mohel" or a Jewish person, usually a doctor or rabbi, trained in the practice circumcision removes the foreskin and draws blood from the circumcised penis with his mouth.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said in a statement that at least 11 infants in New York are believed to have contracted herpes from the practice, including two of whom died and two of whom have irreversible brain damage.'

Letter here. Excerpt:

'The recent German court ruling and controversy about circumcision has stirred up my thoughts like an intellectual coffee-spoon, and the conclusion I’ve come to is slightly jolting. Just what sort of an ice-blooded culture welcomes newborns to the world with a wrenching mutilation? Those scissors snap a cutting message: “Kill or be killed, and keep fearful distance from women, nature, and love.”

Having myself been spared by a local doctor, I know that area to be of immense sensual and emotional significance, as Europe’s scientists have established. Here, the ancient madness breaks as slowly as the melting glaciers that likewise indicate mainstream America has become estranged from mother nature, and she smolders with imploring reproach, scolding that we should move closer to her.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Federal Government has acknowledged it needs to provide better support services for single fathers who are homeless.

A government-funded study has found services specific to fathers need to be set up because emergency accommodation or other help is currently targeted at mothers.

The study shows homeless fathers often lose contact with their children because of a lack of emergency accommodation for single fathers, as well as safe places to see their children.

It also found that when fathers lose their connection with their children, their health and wellbeing suffers.'

In the last few days Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts has seen fit to publicize his support to S. 1925, the VAWA reauthorization bill which passed the Senate on April 26. SAVE has reviewed S. 1925, and notes the bill ignores the problem of female-initiated abuse, has the potential to inflict harm on the falsely accused, and comes within a whisper of unconstitutionality.

In general, Scott Brown has been a fair-minded senator. He now finds himself in a tight race against Elizabeth Warren who has repeatedly played the gender card.

Contact Senator Brown and tell him that much of Domestic Violence is initiated by women, that false accusations are rampant and destructive, and that S. 1925 is flatly unfair.

The senator can be reached by phone at 1-202-228-2643, or fax at 1-202-228-2646.

Thank you!

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

Article here. Excerpt;

Article here. Published May, 2011, but a very good read. Excerpt:

'The subject of circumcision is often relegated to the realm of jokes and cheeky double-entendres, but a San Francisco ballot initiative now gaining momentum would ban the practice, and it raises some very serious issues. At the heart of the current controversy are three fundamental questions. First, is circumcising an infant wrong? Second, should infant circumcision be against the law? And third, would banning circumcision infringe on the rights of those who practice it as part of their religions?

Article here. Excerpt:

'Even as the world abandons the unethical practice of infant male circumcision, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently revised its policy statement to more strongly recommend it. In response to this step backwards, people of conscience all over the world have been protesting the AAP’s misguided decision by posting on Facebook photographs of themselves with the words “AAP” on one hand and “No Ethics” on the other.

As a proud Jew and an opponent of infant male circumcision, I wanted to join this protest in a meaningful way. It is my belief that a deep concern for ethics lies at the core of the Jewish tradition and it is this concern, along with the ability to adapt to new information, that gives meaning and relevance to my heritage in the 21st century.

Link here. Excerpt:

'A woman who discovered her boyfriend had been cheating on her sliced off his penis with a kitchen knife and tossed it down the toilet as he slept, local media has reported.

Julia Munoz Huaman, 41, confessed she emasculated her companion Ramon Arias, 46, in a jealous rage.
...
Security guards nabbed the woman and detained her as Arias wailed in pain.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — No war on women? But politicians and political pundits think so. They’re clueless. Women get it. But men are blind: In today’s America the real war is a war on men. Men against men. And they’re losing badly, getting hostile, lashing out, creating market uncertainty, unpredictability, volatility.

Yes, men are outnumbered, outwitted, and clueless, unaware they’re now their own worst enemy, sabotaging themselves, acting super macho, lashing out against strawmen and ghosts, fighting a war they cannot win. Follow me with a new mind-set: Put on a new pair of psychological glasses, think like a behavioral scientist, see with the eyes of a rational investor, tune out the political noise. You’ll see what’s really going on.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Despite the fact that at least 11 NYC boys have been infected with herpes from herpes-infested mohels who have insisted on performing the ancient circumcision ritual "metzitzah b’peh," ultra-Orthodox leaders are fighting the Health Department's “evil plans” to mandate parental-consent forms before performing the procedure. About 200 rabbis signed a proclamation claiming the city “printed and spread lies...in order to justify their evil decree. It is clear to us, that there is not even an iota of blame or danger in this ancient and holy custom,” the letter states. Except for those 11 boys with herpes. And the two who died from it.

"Metzitzah b’peh" is the practice of sucking the blood from a just snipped foreskin in traditional Jewish circumcisions. Most modern mohels use a sterile pipette to do so, but some Orthodox parents insist on the ancient tradition. The city will vote next week whether mohels will have to distribute consent waivers, detailing the herpes risk, before the ritual.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A new ministry was launched at Parliament this afternoon but it wasn’t sanctioned by the Government and few people turned up for the occasion.

Five pro-men’s rights activists launched the makeshift ‘Ministry of Men’s Affairs’ in a bid to raise awareness of a number of men-specific issues.

The group’s spokesperson Hans Laven says high male suicide rates and high employment deaths are not being addressed by the Government.

After hounding Members of Parliament about the issues and getting no response, Mr Laven says he decided to make his own unofficial Government department.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Eva Longoria has reportedly decided to open up an upscale steakhouse in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve - but it's for ladies only.
...
The Desperate Housewives star is, according to folks at Perez Hilton, apparently geared up to open a women-only steakhouse in Las Vegas, so that women can give into their secret cravings for delicious meat WITHOUT the judging eyes of their male companions upon them.
...
Pardon? Is that genuinely a thing that women are worried about when tucking into a juicy plate of peppered steak?
...
The man-ban restaurant is set to focus on a 1920s theme, complete with sexy female performers a la Cirque du Soleil. Sounds classy!

What do you think of single-sex restaurants?'

Article here. Excerpt:

'About two months ago a German court ruled that circumcisions for religious reasons constitute illegal bodily harm to newborn babies and that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents."

Beyond the knee-jerk responses accusing the Germans of anti-Semitism, the latest developments obligate us to reexamine the bris (circumcision ritual).

It is time to replace the fear and ignorance surrounding the subject - due to its religious-traditional roots and due to the fact that it has become the norm – with educated dialogue that will bring about cultural progress.'