Article here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Women are cracking boardroom glass ceilings all over Europe, spurred on by new quota requirements in many countries to put women at the top, according to the latest Corporate Women Directors International study of women directors in Fortune Global 200 companies, the biggest in the world.

"Something is happening, and it's driven by Europe," said Irene Natividad, chair of the Washington-based international research group CWDI which releases its 17th annual report on Nov. 18. "The momentum for more women on boards will change the face of the biggest companies in Europe, in the midst of the region's ongoing financial crisis. They are ahead of the ball game."

The major influence on many European companies -- government quotas for the number of women required to be in the boardroom, was initially propelled by Norway, but since adopted in Spain, France, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy and Belgium.'

Article here.

'LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — University of Louisville Pediatrics has opened a health clinic for girls only.

The UofL Pediatrics-Young Women's Health said in a statement that it will limit its practice to girls and young women ages 11-21. The clinic's focus will be to help girls as they develop in their teen years.

Attending physician Monique Howard said many teen girls feel too old to see a pediatrician, but sometimes require attention that a family doctor might not be able to provide. In addition to routine medical checks, Howard is trained to help patients with issues such as eating disorders and reproductive health.

UofL Pediatrics Division of Adolescent Medicine chief Ken Schikler says the goal is to "bridge the gap" between pediatricians and adult medicine.'

Story here. Excerpt:

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women who trick men into fatherhood are the lowest of the low. If you think it doesn't exist, think again. It happens all the time.

The Daily Mail had several examples of men who were duped into becoming fathers by women who lied about birth control or, worse, used the sperm in the condoms to impregnate themselves. Sometimes it seems like all the rhetoric around childbearing is about women's rights and men's responsibilities, but what about in cases like these where the man is clearly duped into becoming a father because of the woman's biological clock?

It's hard to imagine anything that could be more irresponsible than bringing an unwanted child into the world and then, adding insult to injury, suing the man you tricked into paying for that child for at least 18 years. It's wrong to the man, yes. But even more, it's wrong to the child.

Story here. Good move. (See previous MANN story here.) Excerpt:

'STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A new judge was assigned Wednesday to handle the child sex abuse charges against former Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, whose televised defense earlier this week drew a rebuke from a lawyer for one of his accusers.

The change removed a State College judge with ties to a charity founded by Sandusky for at-risk children, The Second Mile.

Harrisburg attorney Ben Andreozzi said he represents a client who will testify against Sandusky, who is accused of abusing eight boys, some on campus, over 15 years.'

Reference: http://news.mensactivism.org/node/17530. Article here. Excerpt:

"Andréa Edwards has made a number of roles in film and television. Last seen her in a small role in "Easy Money". She has also had roles in, among other things Wallander movie "The weak point" and "In the Shadow of the heat."

Edwards went out Theatre Academy in 2000 and has worked at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm's City Theatre and Theatre Guillotine.

Now she has been sentenced to 11 000 SEK in fines for having shoplifted a Filippa K sweater Åhléns City of Stockholm.

Edwards has been convicted once before for shoplifting."

Article here. Excerpt:

'False allegations of abuse are common in family court, and have been used to separate many fathers (and some mothers) from their children. The reasons for this problem are many, but one of the biggest is the low evidence standard for upholding abuse claims.

The common evidence standard for domestic violence restraining orders is “preponderance of the evidence,” often conceptualized as a mere 51/49% likelihood of guilt. By contrast, when someone seeks a civil restraining order, the more stringent and appropriate “clear and convincing” evidence standard is used.
...
Fathers and Families wants abused women (and men) to be afforded the protection they need. However, we have relentlessly publicized and fought the common problem of false allegations being used as child custody and financial maneuvers in divorce. And one of the key components in this fight is to replace the “preponderance” standard with the “clear and convincing” standard.

Article here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON – More than three years ago, a Maine district court judge ruled that Geoffrey Fisher no longer had to pay child support for a child that wasn't his.

But that didn't stop the state from revoking Fisher's driver's license and coming after him for thousands of dollars it says he owes in back payments.

Last year, Maine sent Fisher, 35, a letter seeking $11,450 in child support, even though officials know that DNA tests proved he isn't the father of the child in question.

As the nation experiences an unprecedented increase in unwed motherhood, more men are finding themselves named as "fathers," for purposes of child support, simply because of their ability to pay, say several recent studies.

It's called "paternity fraud," and one state that examined the problem found as many as 30 percent of those paying child support were, indeed, not the biological fathers of the children being supported.

The most recent comprehensive study took place in New Hampshire under the auspices of the Commission on the Status of Men.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Taking a cue from Howard Beale, feminist bloggers are banging their keyboards to say “I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

Just what are these women so angry about? Misogyny. And not just any misogyny, but Internet misogyny that ends up in their email in-boxes, comment sections, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.

While women decrying the hatred of women is nothing new, what is new is the number of women bloggers coming out of the woodwork to openly share their experiences of hurt in an effort to launch a campaign against online misogyny.
...

Being from Great Britain, Lewis-Hasteley explained that they have laws against “hate speech” which allow female bloggers to turn their negative comments into a criminal case. In the United States, however, no such remedy exists, so American women bloggers have to find other avenues to combat the hate.

Story here. Except:

'A paternity lawsuit against Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber has been dismissed, according to TMZ.

The suit brought by an American woman, Mariah Yeater, was quietly dropped last week, according to the celebrity gossip website, which first reported the legal action earlier this month.

Lawyer Jeffrey Leving confirmed Wednesday the suit had been withdrawn, but said the two parties were trying to address the matter out of court.'

Article here. Apparently there's a whole lot of paternity fraud going on in Wales. Excerpt:

'ALMOST six out of 10 Welsh men who take a paternity test turn out not to be the biological father.

Private DNA testing service BioClinics, which runs a clinic in Cardiff, found that a staggering 57% of hundreds of analysed paternity tests conducted in Wales were negative.

Dr Nichola McChrystal, the company’s director, said: “I was not particularly surprised by these results but I think some people will be. There are serious medical implications to not knowing the identity of your biological parents. There are also serious emotional factors.”
...
Dr McChrystal said there were many reasons why people got the DNA testing done and results were often a shock to people who had not even considered their child’s paternity.

Via an IA email:

I’ve got something to say.

Anybody who knows me knows I’m outspoken and passionate about ending infant circumcision. I have written about it extensively, I speak with the media every chance I get, and I talk with friends, colleagues, and my own family about it all the time.

But I need a regular forum for conversing with YOU, the supporters of Intact America. I need to talk with you when a conversation with a pediatrician makes me cringe. I need a bullhorn when a new article in a major medical journal breaks my heart with its misguided promotion of circumcision. I need a platform for shining a spotlight on the victories we see and hear about day after day.

So we've launched the Intact America blog. Through the blog and your comments, I hope to explore new ways of framing our discussion with others, and increasing the pressure on the perpetrators and practitioners of infant and childhood circumcision to cease and desist.

It's time for high-fives and, "Congratulations on a job well done!"

Your calls and emails have caused Senator Patrick Leahy to remove the Dept. of Education's (DED) new sexual assault policy from his draft of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). See: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111111/NEWS03/111111020/Leahy-scraps-provision-upcoming-bill-following-complaints Great job! Enjoy that sweet smell of success.

One down, many more to go...

Unfortunately, Sexual Assault was not the only section of VAWA with civil rights violations. Sen. Leahy's draft:

• Continues funding mandatory arrest policies.
• Provides legal assistance to accusers, yet not for the accused.
• Perpetuates sex-based discrimination through biased predominant aggressor policies.
• Doesn't distinguish between those making allegations and those with probable-cause evidence.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Quebec Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette wants to force corporations, parent Crown corporations and some financial institutions to have their boards of directors include at least 40 per cent women. She is reintroducing a private member’s bill into the Senate to remedy what she views as proof positive of discrimination against women. (A Financial Post survey found that women comprised 14 per cent of directors at the 500 largest corporations in 2009.)

Critics of Ms. Hervieux-Payette’s plan will bristle at further extending government into private sector decisions. They will point accusingly to the decline in productivity that would result from business decisions based on gender, not merit. Braver voices may even whisper that it is women who are currently privileged under law; it is men who are falling behind.

Article here. Excerpt:

'LEXINGTON, S.C. -- Lexington County School District Three is investigating after a first-grader complained about having to rub her teacher's feet.

A district representative said the district has launched a full investigation, appropriate action has been taken and the situation has been rectified. But that's not nearly enough for some parents.

"She admitted to the children rubbing her feet," said Brenda Norris. "Just the thought of it... They immediately sent her home, but she's back there today."

Norris is far from satisfied after her 6-year-old granddaughter, who is in first grade, came home from Batesburg-Leesville Primary School last Wednesday to said she was "tired of rubbing her teacher's feet."'