Parity-the state or condition of being the same
in power, value, rank, equality.

 

Recession Can Be Deadly for Domestic Abuse Victims by: Mary R. Lauby and Sue Else, The Boston Globe Thursday 25 December 2008 via truthout.org The ripple effect of the economic crisis has multiplied in ways that many of us could never imagine: banks folding, stock markets diving, and an astronomical government bailout. For victims of domestic violence, the impact of this downward economic spiral could be deadly. Economic stresses often lead to more frequent abuse, more violent abuse, and more dangerous abuse when domestic violence already exists. Domestic violence programs report that victims experience an increase in abuse in part because out-of-work abusers have more opportunity to batter. Rhode Island, for example, has recently seen a 25 percent increase in felony-level domestic violence crimes. Victims end up with fewer opportunities to contact programs for help, attend support groups, or get away from the batterer. Compounding the problem, domestic violence programs face a trio of economic factors - cuts in federal funding, increased demand for services, and decreased private donations as people lose their jobs or see a downturn in their personal finances. These budget constraints make it more difficult for local programs to meet the needs of their communities. Read more about how Recession Can Be Deadly for Domestic Abuse Victims posted 26 December 2008

US: Soaring Rates of Rape and Violence Against Women More Accurate Methodology Shows Urgent Need for Preventive Action Sarah Tofte, researcher for the US Program at Human Rights Watch December 18, 2008 via truthout.org A new government report showing huge increases in the incidences of domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault over a two-year period in the United States deserves immediate attention from lawmakers and the incoming administration, Human Rights Watch said today. The statistics show a 42-percent increase in reported domestic violence and a 25-percent increase in the reported incidence of rape and sexual assault. The National Crime Victimization Survey, based on projections from a national sample survey, says that at least 248,300 individuals were raped or sexually assaulted in 2007, up from 190,600 in 2005, the last year the survey was conducted. The study surveyed 73,600 individuals in 41,500 households. Among all violent crimes, domestic violence, rape, and sexual assault showed the largest increases. Except for simple assault, which increased by 3 percent, the incidence of every other crime surveyed decreased. "The numbers in this survey show an alarmingly high rate of sexual violence in this country," said Sarah Tofte, researcher for the US Program at Human Rights Watch. "This should serve as a wake-up call that more must be done to address the problem in the US." Read more about the Soaring Rates of Rape and Violence Against Women posted 22 December 2008

Black Women Struggle in Criminal Justice System First Place, NAM D.C. Ethnic Media Awards Editor's Note: James Wright's profile of black women in and out of prison won best investigative/in-depth article in New America Media's D.C. Ethnic Media Awards. The Afro-American Newspapers, News Report, James Wright, Posted: Dec 13, 2008 WASHINGTON -- If one were to see Shawn Mallory or Jennifer Gaskins in public, they could easily be indistinguishable. Not because they are invisible, for they are attractive, self-assured women but because their demeanors would not draw attention to themselves. Mallory, a light-skinned woman with a full-figured face, could be a co-worker, a singer in the church choir or a frequent customer at clubs such as Love's or The Chateau. Gaskins could be your neighborhood association president, your child's teacher or the saleswoman at a department store. These women are neither. Despite their non-threatening personas, it would be a shock to some to find that Mallory, 39 and Gaskins, 55, are veterans of the criminal justice system. Read more about Black Women Struggle in Criminal Justice System posted 19 December 2008

Anti-Immigrant Fervor Translates to Terror for Women by: Melissa Nalani Ross, On the Issues Magazine Fall 2008 Issue truthout.org In my work on civil and human rights, especially with immigrant populations, I was contacted recently about a woman without documentation who worked at a fruit stand in the northeast. A male customer approached her and asked if she had any waitressing experience, as he needed servers at his restaurant. Seeing this as an opportunity to make a little more money to support herself and her family, the woman agreed to stop by the establishment for an interview. When she arrived, instead of sitting down and discussing a job opportunity, the woman was met by a group of men who took turns raping her. They then told her that if she went to the authorities, they would have her deported. Too afraid to go to the police out of fear of being separated from her family and livelihood, she will be left in isolation, with no recourse, no justice and no security. Her tale will not be covered by the mainstream media. The men who raped her will never be brought to justice. . . . .Anti-immigrant fervor in the United States makes injustice for immigrant women tolerated - even encouraged. As a result, immigrant women are living in situations of sheer terror. Read more about the anti-immigrant terror for women posted 13 December 2008

When Men Rule Society Rape Exists by Nancy Kallitechnis, Tue Dec 09, 2008 at 09:20:19 PM EST MyDD:Direct Democraccy for People-Powered Politics "Rape is not a natural act for men. A study by anthropologist Peggy Reeves Sanday found that in cultures with a high incidence of rapes, the economic, religious, and political structures are controlled by men. In Sanday's study of 44 societies that were not patriarchal, there was virtually no rape"http://tinyurl.com/5peugt). The evidence shows that male dominance causes rape. Men dominate women in our society politically, economically and socially, thus we suffer rape. I read one of Sanday's books about a gender equal society: the Minangkabau. The book called Women at the Center describes the Minangkabau society where women have as much power as men (http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~psanday/). Read more about male dominance and rape posted11 December 2008

Lack of Women on Court List Draws Fire By Sewell Chan December 3, 2008, 12:29 pm NY Times Gov. David A. Paterson and Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo expressed outrage on Wednesday about the lack of women among the seven nominees for chief judge of the State Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. They said they were exploring their legal options, but it appeared that Mr. Paterson might have no option but to select from the list, which was put forward by the State Commission on Judicial Nomination last week. The next chief judge will replace Judith S. Kaye, the chief judge since 1993, who is retiring at the end of this year, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 70. “All we’re saying is it seems highly unusual that in a class of seven individuals considered to be capable of supervising the Court of Appeals, that not one of them would be a woman — not one,” Mr. Paterson said. “I think it’s very unfortunate.” Read more about lack on women on NY court list posted 5 December 2008

Feds Focus on Disabled as Hidden Victims of Abuse Run Date: 11/28/08 By Annemarie Taddeucci WeNews correspondent (WOMENSENEWS)--Domestic violence among women with disabilities rarely if ever gets this kind of national attention. But next month, representatives from 150 programs that receive funding from the Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women will meet in Nashville, Tenn., to discuss this particular safety problem. Cindy Dyer, executive director of the Office on Violence Against Women--which provides $10 million in yearly funds to state and community organizations--said the focus of the Dec. 16-17 meeting will be on improving coordination between disability-service providers and the array of institutions involved with domestic violence: battered women's shelters, the police and the courts. Read more about domestic violence among women with disabilities posted 1 December 2008

FGM Asylum Cases Forge New Legal Standing Run Date: 11/25/08 By Zainab Zakari WeNews correspondent (WOMENSENEWS)--Ami Doumbouye was 10 when five women in her village in the Ivory Coast held her head, arms and legs as another woman tried to slice her clitoris off with a sharp thumbnail. Thirty minutes later, when that method did not work, the women turned to the knife they'd used on seven girls before her. Doumbouye couldn't walk for a week. Now 38 and across the world in New York City's South Bronx, she said she doesn't feel anything between her legs. Doumbouye joined her husband in 1994 in the United States using a borrowed visa, a common practice before Sept. 11 brought new security regulations. She applied for political asylum in 2005 and within three months the government granted her residency. Doumbouye is one of a small number of African immigrant women who are securing legal residency in the United States through political asylum. They had reason to believe the process would be smooth going since a 1996 precedent-setting case. Now it is anyone's guess whether experiencing FGM, and related practices, will qualify women for political asylum in the United States. Four recent FGM survivors have had their requests for asylum rejected. However, in a rare move, U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey intervened and asked the immigration board to reconsider a case involving a woman from Mali. Read more about asylum for Female Genital Mutilated women posted 1 December 2008

'Sexism's Coming Out Party' By HANNAH SELIGSON November 21, 2008 Wall Street Journal | JOURNAL WOMEN In 2005, when Carol Jenkins was making the case for creating the Women's Media Center (a non-partisan organization which aims to give women a more visible role in the media, and of which Ms Jenkins is now president), she was told by potential supporters, board members, people in the media and other women that "there is no such thing as sexism in the media." . . .Ms. Jenkins believes the 2008 election was "sexism's coming out party." She notes: "People now seem to intrinsically understand that sexism is an issue that has to be talked about. You see that it's now coming up when we talk about people in the new Obama administration. Sexism has really become a barometer." Read more about "sexism's coming out party." Posted 26 November 2008

Despite Army's Assurances, Violence at Home By LIZETTE ALVAREZ Published: November 22, 2008 NY Times On Christmas Day two years ago, Sgt. Carlos Renteria, recently back from his first tour in Iraq, got drunk and, during an argument, began to choke his wife, Adriana. He body-slammed her. He threw her onto the couch, grabbed a cushion and smothered her, again and again - until, finally, he stopped, she told the police in San Angelo, Tex.. He was arrested and charged with assault, and she went to the hospital for her injuries, which included bruises and a severely swollen knee. It was his second domestic violence arrest. Assured by an Army officer that the military would pursue the case, the Texas prosecutor bowed out. Yet Sergeant Renteria has faced no consequences. Instead, since his arrest, he has been redeployed to Iraq and promoted to staff sergeant. . . . More than five years ago, after a series of wife-killings by soldiers, a Pentagon task force investigation concluded that the military was doing a better job of shielding service members from punishment than protecting their wives from harm. The Department of Defense began to make noticeable improvements, including expanding protections and services for victims. But problems clearly remain. Read more about the military's lack of protection for wives posted 24 November 2008

Enlisting the Aid of Hairstylists as Sentinels for Domestic Abuse By LESLIE KAUFMAN Published: November 19, 2008 NY Times Martha Castillo knew her client had a problem because their weekly hair-straightening sessions were always interrupted by phone calls from a boyfriend angrily accusing her of being with another man. Magda Florentino noticed cigarette burns on a woman’s temples when she pulled back her hair for washing — and did not buy the explanation that they had happened accidentally while she was bartending. And Candida Vasquez received a hysterical call from a customer soon after she had spent three hours knitting extensions into the woman’s hair. Her boyfriend hated the look, and in a fit of rage he had cut off not only the extensions, but also the rest of her hair. ... The privileged, often therapeutic relationship between hairdressers and clients has long been the subject of magazine articles and movies. A growing movement in New York and across the nation tries to harness that bond to identify and prevent domestic violence, a pervasive problem that victims are often too ashamed to reveal to law enforcement or other public officials. Read more about the Hairstylists' New Program posted 22 November 2008

The Barrier That Didn't Fall by The Daily Beast The Daily Beast An exclusive Daily Beast poll reveals the depth of women’s anger in the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s and Sarah Palin’s campaigns. American women overwhelmingly believe they are being treated unfairly in the press, in the workplace, in politics, and in the armed forces, according to a poll by The Daily Beast of 1,000 U.S. voters. The poll comes on the heels of the first-ever presidential election with two high profile women candidates who ran but did not win. Read more about The Daily Beast's poll posted 20 November 2008

Women hope to fill ranks of Obama’s Pentagon By JEN DIMASCIO | 11/18/08 4:47 AM EST politico.com As President-elect Barack Obama mulls the gender balance of his Cabinet and White House staff, some women’s groups are hoping he’ll help put some cracks in one of Washington’s thickest glass ceilings: the Pentagon. Army Gen. Ann Dunwoody broke through it last week, becoming the military’s first female four-star general. But groups representing women in national security roles want the obstacle to shatter completely. “Gen. Dunwoody’s promotion is the major advance we’ve been waiting for for 10 years,” said Lory Manning, director of the Women’s Research and Education Institute’s Women in the Military Project. Women make up about 21 percent of the senior civilian ranks of the Pentagon and about 14 percent of the uniformed military. Read more about women in Obama's Pentagon posted 20 November 2008

Domestic Violence Abusers Could Get Gun Rights Tuesday 11 November 2008 by: David G. Savage, The Los Angeles Times The Supreme Court will decide whether people convicted of misdemeanor assault against their spouses or partners should have their Second Amendment rights restored because of a flaw in federal law. Washington - Thousands convicted of a misdemeanor for threatening or assaulting a spouse or girlfriend could once again own guns because of a flaw in the federal law. That prospect grew more likely Monday after the Supreme Court gave a skeptical hearing to a government lawyer who argued that a crime of domestic violence should result in a loss of gun rights. Neither families nor police officers should face "the powder keg situation of a domestic offender with a gun," said Nicole Saharsky, a Justice Department lawyer. Read more about the possiible Supreme Court decision posted 15 November 2008

Raped in the Military? You May Have to Pay for Your Own Forensic Exam Kit By Penny Coleman, AlterNet. Posted November 11, 2008. Sarah Palin's decision not to pay for rape kits when she was mayor of Walsilla was an issue in the campaign for the White House. But allow me to introduce the large pink elephant that has been sitting quietly in the corner of the room: At the Winter Soldier Investigation in March, Spec. Patricia McCann, who served in Iraq with the Illinois Army National Guard from 2003-4, read a memo issued to all MEDCOM commanders clarifying that "SAD kits"-- which are forensic rape kits--"are not included in TRICARE coverage." * TRICARE, the United States Department of Defense Military Health System that covers active duty members, will only pay for rape kits if the victim is seen in a military or a VA facility. Read more about the Army's policy on rape kits. posted 12 November 2008

Area Immigrants With Wounds That Won't Heal: Mutilated Women Seek Asylum in U.S. By Pamela Constable Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 3, 2008; Page B01 The women's stories all begin with a searing childhood memory they cannot describe without weeping. The stories stretch back to villages in North and West Africa, where tribal traditions include various rites to protect family honor. For generations, mothers there have passed on the practice of genital circumcision to their daughters, believing it will make them respectable and chaste for marriage. The stories leap to present-day America, where foreign-born victims of forced circumcision have been allowed to apply for political asylum since a landmark immigration ruling in 1996, but where, in the past year, some immigration courts have been trying to narrow the grounds on which they can receive legal sanctuary. Read more about the mutilated women seeking aslylum posted 5 November 2008

Gender equality in military debated Jerome L. Sherman / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette When Staff Sgt. Tabitha Williams completed basic training for the U.S. Marine Corps at Parris Island, S.C., it was the proudest moment of her life. The 13-week course -- the longest of any military branch -- ends with the Crucible, three days of sleep and food deprivation and obstacles that both men and women must overcome. "I realized I could do anything I wanted to do," said Williams, 27, a 5-foot-tall Marine recruiter who had the nickname "Little Tabby" as a teenager in eastern Pennsylvania. Today, the Marine Corps has more than 11,000 women in uniform, including more than 1,100 officers. About 200,000 women serve in active duty posts in the armed services, and make up 14 percent of the U.S. military force. Yet Williams and her fellow female soldiers and Marines are far from being able to do "anything" in the military, a fact that irritates proponents of full gender equality. Read more about the military debate over gender equality posted 26 October 2008

How Can More Than 30 Million Women Be Invisible? by: Mable F. Yee, The Women's Media Center Friday 17 October 2008 This election cycle, media pundits and analysts have blanketed the coverage ad nausea with discussions of the black versus the white vote. They occasionally address the brown vote. But the conversation remains largely superficial: What happened to the women? How come no one ever hears about the Asian American women and other women of color who happen to number over 30 million registered voters in the United States today? Perhaps it's the startling revelation that in the 2004 elections 70 percent of Asian Americans, 69 percent of Latinas and 40 percent of African American registered women voters FAILED to vote. Think back about the 2000 elections and how the United States Supreme Court stopped the recount and declared Bush the winner by 537 votes. What kind of impact could these women of color have had on our 2000 elections if even 2 percent more women turned out to vote? Read more about the "invisible" 30 million women posted 21 October 2008

Whistleblower Claims Custody Verdict Was Reprisal Run Date: 10/06/08 By Alison Bowen WeNews correspondent (WOMENSENEWS)--"Michele Egan-Byron filed a petition two weeks ago asking a state family court to vacate a four-year-old ruling awarding custody to her ex-husband. The lawyer who helped her file for a new hearing was arranged by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Florida. It's rare that a public official takes an active role in a custody case but Egan-Byron's case is unusual: She says she lost custody of her son after she lost her job for revealing financial misdeeds in the workplace. Thus, hers is not only a custody case; it's a custody-injustice case combined with accusations of whistleblower backlash." Read more about the Custody Verdict posted 7 October 2008

Trans Woman Wins Bias Suit Against Library of Congress September 23, 2008 The Library of Congress unlawfully discriminated against a transgender woman whose job offer was revoked when her plans to transition from male to female were revealed, a U.S. district court ruled Friday. Judge James Robertson decided that Diane Schroer was discriminated against on the basis of sex, a groundbreaking conclusion, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented her. Read more about the bias suit posted 24 September 2008

AG: Don't deport genital mutilation victim From Terry Frieden CNN Justice Producer "Attorney General Michael Mukasey ordered an immigration court to reconsider an African woman's case. In a stinging order overriding federal immigration courts, Mukasey blasted a decision that said a 28-year-old citizen and native of Mali should be expelled "because her genitalia already had been mutilated [so] she had no basis to fear future persecution if returned to her home country." Calling the rationale "flawed," Mukasey sent the case back to the Board of Immigration Appeals with orders to reconsider. The woman, a native of Mali, begged the court not to send her back to her Bambara tribe. The 28-year-old said if she returned and had a daughter, the child also would be subject to mutilation. The woman also said she faced forced marriage if she had to go home." Read more about Mukasey's order to the immigration court posted 23 September 2008