Article here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'A congresswoman, a former Giants player, and a packed room of political and social activists pledged Thursday afternoon at a San Francisco nonprofit office to end violence against women by starting with educating men and boys.

The national daylong summit, "The Y Factor: Men Leading by Example," held at the nonprofit Futures Without Violence headquarters in San Francisco's Presidio in conjunction with the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention spent the day highlighting men who are leading the anti-domestic violence movement.
...
In videotaped remarks, Biden said when he first pushed to pass VAWA nearly 20 years ago he was told domestic violence was a "private matter and not OK to talk about."

The vice president said, "The solution lies in the hands of boys and men. Every man needs to know that no means no...no matter what circumstances."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Local agencies are teaming up this weekend to host a free program for all coaches throughout southeastern North Carolina, in an effort to prevent sexual assault and violence against women.

Wilmington’s Verizon Wireless is partnering with the UNCW Athletics department and Domestic Violence Shelter and Services to hold “A Call to Coaches” on Sunday, April 15 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at UNCW’s Trask Coliseum.

“Well-meaning men are generally unaware how their everyday attitudes, beliefs and language create a culture that empowers men -- at a great cost to women,” said Rick Houston, prevention specialist with the Domestic Violence Shelter and Services. “While they don’t personally perpetrate violence against women and girls, many accommodate and accept male domination in small ways every day and in so doing, support a culture in which unhealthy relationships and violence against women thrive."'

Article here. Seems that Australia has at least one barrister willing to advocate for men in a court of law. Excerpt:

'Mario Licha (Barrister at Law) is setting up a new AVO advice service for Australian men.

Mario Licha is a New South Wales Barrister who practises out of Ada Evans Chambers in Sydney, New South Wales. This Sydney Barrister practises in the areas of Criminal and Family Law.
...
On 17 April 2012 Mario Licha will be giving a talk about AVOs.

Michael Michalak, Student-at-Law assistant will also be giving a small talk about how he became interested and involved law. Michael has prior experience as a self represented litigant in the Family Court.

The location of this talk is: Talk to Men at Men construction zone (Men & Court) Inspire Church, Corner Hoxton Park Road & Illaroo Road Hoxton Park NSW 2171'

June is False Allegations Awareness Month, and we hope you'll be attending our second annual False Allegations Awareness conference, Connecting for Change.

Have you been falsely accused of domestic violence? Would you like to speak at our event? If so, send us a short proposal to participate in a panel of persons falsely accused.

You don't have to wait until June 29-30 to address this growing and devastating issue. You can educate others all month long. Why not start making your plans now?

Whether you set up a booth at a local event, call a radio talk show or write a letter to your editor, every effort helps. Visit the SAVE website for more ideas and information: http://www.saveservices.org/dvlp/campaigns/faam-resources

To register for the conference, or to submit a proposal, email info-at-saveservices.org.

If not us, who?

Sincerely,

Submitted by email, essay here. I would include an excerpt but the site spoils efforts to copy-and-paste. If you have the time, worth a read.

Story here. Excerpt:

'BLADENBORO, N.C. (CBS Charlotte) — A North Carolina middle school student has been suspended for hugging a teacher.

WECT-TV reports that Ryan Blackmon, an eighth grade student at Bladenboro Middle School, was suspended when he hugged his teacher after she broke up a potential fight between himself and another student.

“”I said, ‘Thank you,’ after she got done,” Blackmon told the station. “I went to hug her, then she just snatched me up by the arm and drug me to the other teacher and said that I needed to be written up, and that something serious had happened.”
...
Blackmon’s parents have filed a police report against the teacher and the school after a mark was left on the boy’s arm from where the teacher grabbed him.

“I don’t understand how she could feel threatened if I was showing my gratitude, but she could have told me politely to tell me to move away,” he told the station.'

Link here. Excerpt:

'They look like any other teenagers, but Western Australian police believe this gang of girls are responsible for a series of violent assaults in Perth's CBD over the past two weeks.

CCTV footage has been released of the group of girls suspected of attacking and robbing several young women in separate attacks.
...
Detectives also believe several other attacks are linked to the teen gang.'

Registration is free, and food is provided. From the registration site:

"Based within the Academic Diversity Initiatives of DDCE, Project MALES aims to create and cultivate a support network for Latino male students at UT-Austin, within local school districts, and throughout the surrounding community. The Project is a research-informed model that highlights mentoring as a way to leverage social capital among Latino males. Specifically, we hope to explore innovative ways to establish mentoring links between Latino male role models, current UT Latino male students, and younger Latino males within the Austin area and surrounding communities."

While men in general are underrepresented in higher ed relative to women (~60% of graduates are women), these disparities tend to be greater among men of color.

Register at http://latinomalesymposium.eventbrite.com/.

Learn more about Project MALES and their research at http://blogs.utexas.edu/projectmales

Link here. Excerpt:

'More unmarried women who live with their partners are having babies than ever before, a new government report shows.

Twenty-seven percent of births between 2003 and 2010 were to such couples -- a threefold increase from 1985, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

"It's thought that in births outside of marriage, one parent isn't present. But our data is showing that a large proportion do have two parents, even though [they're] not formally married," said report author Gladys Martinez, a demographer in the CDC's Division of Vital Statistics.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the resulting military deployments have significantly affected our service members and their families. These deployments have sometimes caused considerable disruptions in existing child custody and visitations arrangements between the parents. Current California law provides that upon return from deployment any temporary custody order issued during the deployment reverts back to the prior order.

AB 1807, sponsored by Representative Paul Cook, passed the House without a single ‘no’ vote. It clarifies the law protecting custodial arrangements for deploying parents to better protect the custodial rights of our servicemen and women, while still ensuring the best interest of children.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'FORT WORTH — For four years, a North Texas bodybuilder and former police officer has waged a court battle in California against a woman who sued him for support of children born to her from sperm he donated.

Only recently did an appeals court in California overturn a lower-court ruling that held 47-year-old national bodybuilding champion Ronnie Coleman of Arlington responsible for supporting twins born from his donated sperm, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

But after an April 2008 court order directed him to pay child support, Coleman paid thousands of dollars in child support until the March 19 ruling by California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles overturned that order.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'In recent years, the number of women earning college degrees has vastly increased. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, women earned the majority of almost all levels of degrees in 2008-2009 across various racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, the Council of Graduate Schools found that in 2008-2009, about 50.4% of doctoral degrees were awarded to women, marking the first time females have earned the majority of these credentials, The New York Times reports.

While this certainly marks a huge step for American women, other professionals say it also shows that men need to become more focused on earning a degree as well.

..........

Unemployment Falls Fast in U.S. If Men Get College Degree

..........

Press release here. Excerpt:

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The federal government spends $76 million a year for domestic violence education programs, but 90 percent of the claims made in these programs are one-sided, misleading, or completely untrue, according to a new report from Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The report, "Most DV Educational Programs Lack Accuracy, Balance, and Truthfulness," compares validated scientific research with the claims made by leading abuse-reduction groups: http://www.saveservices.org/downloads/SAVE-DV-Educational-Programs

The SAVE report highlights three offenders:

1. The American Bar Association frames its discussion of domestic violence with the broad claim that "2 to 4 million American women are battered every year." But the dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Work derides that statistic as a "factoid from nowhere."'

Article here. Excerpt:

'A bill making its way through the Missouri General Assembly would allow adoptions to go through without paternal notification.

House Bill 1258 is based on a case that went before the Missouri Supreme Court in 2007. The legislation would allow adoption without a father's consent, if he had not developed a "consistent and substantial relationship with the child."

The bill defines a relationship as:

1. Consistent prenatal financial support;
2. Consistent payment of prenatal and natal medical care for the mother and baby;
3. Consistent child support payments commensurate with his ability to pay;
4. Consistent contact and visitation with the child; and
5. Assistance with educational and medical care of the child
...
The bill passed in the House 126-15. It was read in the Senate, and referred to committee.