Story here. Excerpt:

'ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida woman was convicted of trying to murder her husband by setting the couple's bedroom on fire while he napped, in one of two suspected attempts to kill him, authorities said on Saturday.

Kimberly Boone, 46, who investigators believe tried twice over four months to kill Robert Boone for his life insurance money, was convicted of attempted murder and arson, a spokesman for the Seminole County Jail booking center said. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 5. A jury deliberated four hours on Friday before issuing the verdict.

Story here. Excerpt:

'Queensland's Minister for Women has criticised Bob Katter over his views on domestic violence, after the independent MP said overcrowding in homes was to blame for the social problem.

Karen Struthers said Mr Katter was oversimplifying the problem and called on the federal independent MP to show leadership on the issue.

"Mr Katter in his leadership role should be calling on men to take responsibility for their violence and end their violence against women and children andother men," she told ABC Radio.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'MANCHESTER - A city woman is accused of pimping a 16-year-old girl she met in Victory Park during the Occupy NH demonstrations.

Justina Jensen, 23, of 341 Hanover St., is charged with felony prostitution. Police allege Jensen met a teen at the local protest, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, and used the Internet to arrange a first liaison for the girl with a man who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Police said the teen's mother called them Thursday about noon to say her daughter was missing and that her photograph had been posted on a website advertising adult party entertainment.
...

The missing teen was found inside Jensen's third-floor apartment. Court documents show the teenage girl told police that Jensen had taken her photo and posted it on the website and said Jensen was going to start training her to be a prostitute, with her first customer scheduled to be “Mad Mike.”

Story here. Guilty on 16 counts of sexual battery and she gets... 4 years in jail, eligible for parole in six months. A sentencing disparity? Nahhh, none here! Sure. It's so outrageous that it's even gotten press time. Now it has to be pretty bad for that to happen. Excerpt:

'A popular Ohio high school gym teacher has been sentenced to four years in jail after a judge rejected her insanity defense and convicted her on 16 counts of sexual battery for sleeping with several of her former students.

Stacy Schuler, a former gym and health teacher, had sex with five former students, some of whom were football players, at the school in suburban Cincinnati, where she taught since 2000. During her trial, which ended Thursday, Schuler's lawyers defended her actions with explanations ranging from her vegan diet, the use of the antidepressants, blackouts from alcohol and even irritable bowel syndrome, claiming it rendered her unable to determine right from wrong.

Via email from Steven Svoboda. This report can also be downloaded here.

I participated in a conference organized by the UK-based Genital Autonomy organization and by the University of Keele. The conference, entitled "Law, Human Rights, and Non-Therapeutic Interventions on Children," was held on August 31-September 1 at the University of Keele in Keele, UK.

Genital autonomy refers to the principle that all minors--male, female, and intersex alike--should be protected from genital cutting that is not medically necessary. The conference organizers, including David Smith of Genital Autonomy and Michael Thomson of the University of Keele, used a very creative approach to the conference, bringing together a mix of, on the one hand, intactivists, and on the other hand, academics and officials whose interests and inclinations align somewhat with ours but who are mostly not associated with intactivism.

Via email from a reader:

Here is a way to send the FBI a letter through a feminist site. I wrote asking that the definition of rape not include when a woman is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Here is my letter. I wrote both men. Feel free to use it (though it does have a couple grammatical errors) if you want others to also write in. Thanks.

"Dear Mr. Mueller,

Article here. Excerpt:

'Between new billboards and new public speakers, it's becoming more clear that the next wave of the anti-choice war is to recruit men to talk their partners out of abortions.
...

“…[T]his study adds new depth to our understanding of this neglected population. The recurring meaning of abortion for the men in this study was that of profound loss and a common reaction to that loss was anger. The men experienced significant, multiple losses related to relationships with their partners, their masculine identify, their self of self-esteem or self-worth, and fatherhood. For some men, the abortion raised issues related to disappointment in their own fathers as well as to perceptions of themselves as fathers. For all of the men, abortion entailed a much more complex loss than has generally been recognized.”

Article here. Excerpt:

'Am I implying the “dumb dad” shtick and other negative stereotypes don’t exists? Not at all. However, pointing to the demigod-like fathers of the 50’s as the gold standard for pop culture paternity is a poor argument for demanding a modern reboot. In a sense, these depictions of infallible fathers were the least realistic of them all. Furthermore, to say that TV dads have only declined since is a faulty assumption too because for every bad dad shown over the ensuing decades, a good one can be found to counter it. Even today, for every Tony Soprano and Peter Griffin, there’s a Don Draper and Homer Simpson (Gasp! That’s right, Draper and Simpson. Ask me why in LA.)

Article here. Excerpt:

'CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - There is the public perception that women sexual offenders seem to get more sympathy than if the sexual offender is a man.

Attorney Lisa Wells says the Stacey Schuler case is a prime example.

"There is a bias in this case and it is of course based on gender. If we were talking about a male teacher here it'd be that he needs to go to prison and for a very long time," said Wells.

Stacey Schuler faced up to 18 years in prison, but only got four years and could be out in as little as six months.

"If we were talking about female victims there would be all kinds of backlash about it, but since these are male athletic students who are generally assumed to be popular, who have good GPAs and are going to college, we look at her and say they weren't that scarred so there's definitely bias in her favor." said Wells.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'… It takes an almost monumental amount of effort to help my son secure a place in his life where he can just be boy. I realize that as I single mother I can not replace the absence of his father and fatherly influences so I don’t even try.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Absentee fathers are driving high levels of addition, anti-social behaviour and crime, a new report has revealed. Children growing up in fatherless families are turning to self-harm as well as criminal activity, fuelled by their sense of abandonment and lack of self-esteem.
...
Many of the youngsters interviewed for the Dad and Me report, which was commissioned by charity Addaction, said they had sought affirmation and affection from gang membership and turned to drugs to numb the pain.

The fatherless young people were found to be almost 70 per cent more likely to take drugs and 76 per cent more likely to turn to crime.

The report says: ‘Young people are struggling to find a sense of purpose within their families, schools, and community , and believe that peers provide them with what they need.

It's totally taboo even to mention it, but by the way, did you notice this earth is getting pretty crowded? We just hit 7 Billion, with a B. Why is world population out of control? Why can't we talk about this topic in polite company? Is it because having babies is considered a sacred right of all women, no matter what the consequences on the rest of the world? Is it verboten to even mention the topic because it would in some way put women at a disadvantage? Is it verboten because it would mean that individual women would have to act more responsibly? Have we once again allowed women to be selfish, and in the process damaged a wide variety of others (including animals, plants, etc.)? Is this not the de facto credo of feminism -- giving every woman a right to be selfish, no matter what the consequences on others?

Press release here. Excerpt:

'Washington, DC/October 27, 2011 – Senator Patrick Leahy’s proposed Violence Against Women Act reauthorization would trample upon the due process rights of college students, according to Stop Abusive and Violent Environments (SAVE). The bill would make into law the Department of Education’s recently issued guidelines that reduce the standard of proof in sexual assault cases to the controversial “preponderance of evidence” level.

That unusually low standard requires only that 50.01 percent of the evidence be in favor of an assault having happened. SAVE previously requested the Department of Education to rescind its guidelines, which were issued without prior notice or opportunity for public comment: http://www.saveservices.org/wp-content/uploads/OCRLetter.pdf.

Via email:

Fathers and Families joined with Jane Doe Inc., The Massachusetts Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence this week in a joint letter to protest an advertisement from the luxury shoes, clothing, and bags company Jimmy Choo Ltd. The ad, which depicts a woman stepping on a man's head as he lies prone on the floor, appears on their website, in print ads, and in many of their storefronts. We explained:

'Unwittingly, your ad both trivializes domestic violence and makes it appear that partner abuse is acceptable. The man in the photo appears to be in fear and possibly in pain or even dead, and the woman pictured seems to be about to put her full weight on the man’s skull.'

Yesterday we asked our members to call Jimmy Choo Ltd to protest. Your response has been overwhelming, and we're pleased to report that Jimmy Choo Ltd has now agreed to remove the offensive ad from all of their stores, all print media, and their website. They emphasize that they did not mean to offend, and they apologize.

We commend Jimmy Choo Ltd for understanding our concerns and acting so quickly.

Story here. Excerpt:

'UNION, S.C. (AP) — Union police say a 53-year-old woman has been arrested after she attacked her nephew because he used her toilet paper.

Authorities said they were called to a home Tuesday night by a 27-year-old man who said his aunt threw an ash tray at him that missed, then punched him in the face and pulled his hair.

The man told officers that Linda Johnson was angry because he used the toilet paper she bought.

Police say Johnson was sitting on the porch at the home and told officers she was ready to be taken to jail.

Johnson was charged with assault and battery. It wasn’t clear if she had an attorney.'