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Michigan advocate for women and children gets 2008 Sunshine Peace Award
Cathy Church, an Upper Peninsula advocate for protecting women and children from domestic violence, recently received the 2008 Sunshine Peace Award.
As an assistant prosecutor, Church put many abusers in jail.
The northern Michigan attorney has a long history of ongoing public service.
A longtime prosecutor of domestic abusers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Cathy Church (center) receives Peace Award from Doris Buffett (right) on August 9, 2008 in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The Sunshine Lady Foundation was established in 1996 through the vision and determination of Doris Buffett, the sister of financier and philanthropist, Warren Buffett.
Church was honored as one of twenty extraordinary individuals who have worked in the domestic violence field and made a positive difference in the lives of battered women and their children.
Candidates for the prestigious award are selected from across the nation for excellence in developing resources and facilitating the social change necessary to end violence against women and children. Cathy Church, an Upper Peninsula advocate for protecting women and children from domestic violence, recently received the 2008 Sunshin... more -
Oldest domestic violence shelter in world for women of color celebrates 31 years o...
The White Buffalo Calf Woman Society has a month-long series of events during October 2008 to celebrate 31 years serving all women and children on the Lakota Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Founded in 1977, it was the first domestic violence shelter in the world for women of color - although it also serves "our white sisters," according to Tillie Black Bear, one of several courageous native women who created the shelter. The White Buffalo Calf Woman Society has a month-long series of events during October 2008 to celebrate 31 years serving all women and... more -
Sarah Palin acting un-Christian
People should think through if she has been acting in Alaska the way they would expect of an authentic Christian act.
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Student visa fraud rampant
Canada places so few restrictions on foreign students and the schools that attract them that it has left the student-visa system open to widespread abuse and fraud, according to an internal government review obtained by The Vancouver Sun. Canada places so few restrictions on foreign students and the schools that attract them that it has left the student-visa system open ... more
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Female teacher gets 6 years in student sex case
elsey Peterson, 26-year-old female teacher from Lexington, Nebraska, plead guilty to federal charges of crossing state lines to engage in sex with a person under and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Peterson was a sixth-grade teacher and coach in small town of Lexington, until Oct. 25 2007, when school officials put Peterson on administrative leave after learning that she might be in a relationship with a 13-year-old student. The school had reason to believe that 25-year-old Kelsey Peterson was having sexual relationship with 13-year-old Fernando Rodriguez.
According to police, correspondence uncovered in an investigation shows the two have had a sexual relationship for some time. Letters allegedly sent by Rodriguez while living at a home for at-risk boys in Alliance refers to teacher Kelsey Peterson as his “Baby Gurl” and says that their relationship is about more than sex. It is also alleged that correspondence written by Peterson and found on school computers supports the allegations against Peterson. ... elsey Peterson, 26-year-old female teacher from Lexington, Nebraska, plead guilty to federal charges of crossing state lines to engage... more -
Priest jailed for molesting girls 30 years ago
A Catholic priest whose sexual abuse of seven girls was uncovered 30 years later was today jailed for a year.
Father Peter Carr, 73, was exposed when the two women now in their 40s - one a solicitor, the other a singer - swapped online recollections about how he rubbed paint on their naked bodies before school plays. They complained to police who found that other girls invited to join productions at the boys' school in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, were subjected to similar abuse.
Gloucester crown court judge Martin Picton told Carr that he had done the church "much damage". "What you did was not minor. They [the girls] have had to face life with a sense of being degraded and humiliated," he said. "The shows should have been the high points of their childhoods but the pleasure is forever tainted by the abuse they suffered at your hands."
The woman who went on to become a singer said after the sentencing that she had not expected Carr to be jailed. "I didn't think a prison sentence would necessarily change anything because he doesn't think he has done anything wrong," she said. "He doesn't even have an inkling of how he has affected our lives. I feel quite sorry for him now. If you had asked me in my 20s, I might have wanted revenge, but now I am just satisfied that he isn't going to die with everyone saying what a fantastic priest he is." A Catholic priest whose sexual abuse of seven girls was uncovered 30 years later was today jailed for a year. ... more -
Out of Control Fraud
The Bush Family Business
For four generations now, the Bush family has been involved in supporting the country's enemies (most notably the Nazi Party in Germany) and robbing the country blind.
The family was directly involved and profited from the Savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s and has participated in security fraud as well.
With this understanding as a background, the Iraq War can be viewed as their "masterpiece."
The Bush family and its associates have stolen countless billions of dollars in the course of the war. In fact, one of their motivations for pushing the war in the first place was the opportunity for theft.
Chances are the destruction of World Trade Tower Seven, the home of crucial and now lost forever SEC and other federal law enforcement evidence and case files was carried out to cover their tracks. The Bush Family Business ... more -
Taxpayers to Pay HALF-TRILLION in Latest Bailout
Struggling to stave off financial catastrophe, the Bush administration on Friday laid out a radical bailout plan with a jawdropping price tag — a takeover of a HALF-TRILLION DOLLARS OR MORE in worthless mortgages and other bad debt held by tottering institutions.
A grim-faced President Bush acknowledged risks to taxpayers in what would be the most sweeping government intervention to rescue failing financial institutions since the Great Depression. But he declared, "The risk of not acting would be far higher." Struggling to stave off financial catastrophe, the Bush administration on Friday laid out a radical bailout plan with a jawdropping pr... more -
Peasants in Heilongjiang Province Suppressed
Recently in Heilongjiang, a province in northeast China, a scandal involving local officials helping a private company to accelerate illegal sales of agriculture equipment erupted. About 300 victimized farmers gathered in front of the Committee of Heilongjiang Province to protest.
The authority mobilized about 500 armed police to expel the appellants. Several appellants and bystanders who tried to videotape the incident were arrested.
The Kedong County government in Heilongjiang carried out a policy to assist farmers buying agriculture machinery. The government proposed to pay for 30 percent of the cost, while the farmers were only required to pay 70 percent. Close to a thousand farmers paid the company for its products. The estimated amount of money involved added up to over 50 million yuan (US$7 million). However, the farmers never received the machinery they paid for.
The farmers constantly complained to Kedong County and the Qiqihar City officials, but were kicked around without answer. At noon on September 11, about 300 farmers gathered in front of the Committee of Heilongjiang Province in Qiqihar City and protested.
A middle age woman told the Epoch Times, “Because the Dongxing Agricultural Machinery Manufacturing Company did not deliver the machines. (The sales department) said the money had gone to the chairman of the company.”
Chairman and Magistrate Are ‘Close’
Lin, a local resident, said he did not hear anything about the government helping to pay 30 percent of the cost. “But I heard the sale was initiated by the county magistrate. The magistrate is very close to the chairman of the company. I think they used to be classmates,” said Lin.
That day the farmers came to the office of the Committee and the security did not allow them to enter the office. Later police cars and military vehicles came with about 500 special policemen in black suits. The police surrounded the appellants and started to expel and beat them. The police took away several protestors and a bystander who was videotaping the process.
The Epoch Times called the Kedong County government but the staff refused to talk about the incident. Nobody at the Dongxing Company answered the phone.
Province May Have Taken the Case
A retired teacher who lived in Kedong County said, “We have been talking about this incident a lot these days. The county magistrate, also a party secretary, Wang, is definitely involved. It’s a fraud! It is said the company chairman has been detained. It’s not an isolated incident. The same thing happened in several other provinces including Inner Mongolia. I heard the provincial government has taken over the case.”
This widely known case hasn’t been reported by the local news media according to about a dozen people interviewed. Recently in Heilongjiang, a province in northeast China, a scandal involving local officials helping a private company to accelerate i... more -
US: Congress acts to prosecute recruiters of child soldiers
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/09/15/usdom19818.htm
New legislation adopted on September 15, 2008 will permit the United States to prosecute foreign military commanders who recruit child soldiers abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. The Child Soldiers Accountability Act passed the House of Representatives unanimously on September 8 and was adopted by the Senate today.
The law makes it a federal crime to knowingly recruit or use soldiers under the age of 15 and permits the United States to bring charges under the law against both US citizens and non-citizens who are in the United States. The law imposes penalties of up to 20 years, or up to life in prison if death results, and allows the United States to deport or deny entry to individuals who have knowingly recruited children as soldiers.
“The exploitation of children as soldiers persists in many armed conflicts because child recruiters are rarely held accountable,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocate for Human Rights Watch. “This law tells military commanders worldwide that they cannot recruit children into their forces and then seek safe haven in the United States.”
Children are currently used in armed conflicts in at least 17 countries. Recruiters prey upon children, who are often the most vulnerable potential recruits and the most susceptible to threats and coercion. Child soldiers are used as combatants, porters, guards and spies, and for other duties.
The recruitment and use of children as soldiers was recognized in 1998 as a war crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. In 2007, four former military commanders from Sierra Leone were convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for recruiting and using children as soldiers. Rebel and military commanders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have also been charged under the International Criminal Court with recruiting and using child soldiers, though none have yet gone to trial.
“International tribunals are beginning to prosecute individuals for recruiting child soldiers, but almost no national governments have done so,” said Becker. “The United States is giving real leadership to efforts to end the use of child soldiers.”
Senator Richard Durbin authored the bipartisan bill, which he introduced together with Senators Tom Coburn, Russell Feingold, and Sam Brownback.
Countries in which children are known to have been used in hostilities between 2004 and 2007 include: Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Nepal, Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, and Uganda. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/09/15/usdom19818.htm ... more -
RNC host committee pushed for cancellation of Ron Paul, Rage Against the Machine e...
Here’s a behind-the-scenes postscript about the lengths to which the planners of the Republican National Convention went to ensure the appearance of a discord-free GOP: They tried to scuttle Ron Paul’s counter-convention across the river in Minneapolis and the next night’s Rage Against the Machine concert as well.
Speaking on background, well-placed sources at City Hall and Target Center have confirmed to MnIndy that in the days before Ron Paul’s Rally for the Republic at Target Center was publicly announced, representatives of the RNC Host Committee contacted officials at Target Center and the city of Minneapolis (which oversees the facility) to push for the cancellation of the event. They also sought the cancellation of the Rage Against the Machine concert that took place at Target Center on September 3, the third night of the RNC.
A City Haller familiar with the situation says that Mayor RT Rybak’s office was contacted by Host Committee members who wanted the mayor’s assistance in seeing to it that the events were canceled. He refused to cooperate, adds the source. I phoned Rybak’s office; he declined to be interviewed. But his communication director, Jeremy Hanson, had this to say: “We don’t dispute the characterization of events, but the mayor’s office doesn’t wish to comment further.”
I left a message this morning seeking a response from Jeff Larson, the RNC Host Committee’s CEO. He has not returned the call. If/when he does, I’ll add an update.
(Larson is perhaps better known as a founder of the Feather Larson Synhorst group, a top-drawer GOP fundraising/marketing outfit, and as Norm Coleman’s DC landlord.) Here’s a behind-the-scenes postscript about the lengths to which the planners of the Republican National Convention went to ensure the... more -
Consequences of Cindy McCain's Drug Abuse Were More Complex Than She Has Port...
Her misuse of painkillers prompted an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local prosecutors that put her in legal jeopardy. A doctor with McCain's medical charity who supplied her with prescriptions for the drugs lost his license and never practiced again. The charity, the American Voluntary Medical Team, eventually had to be closed in the wake of the controversy. Her husband was forced to admit publicly that he was absent much of the time she was having problems and was not aware of them.
"It's not just about her addiction, it's what she did to cover up her addiction and the lives of other people that she ruined, or put at jeopardy at least," Gosinski said in an interview this week.
Cindy and John McCain declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this article. The McCain campaign also declined to comment. Her misuse of painkillers prompted an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local prosecutors that put her in legal... more -
Women’s Prisons – A Global State of Crisis
“The strategy used in women’s prisons now is one of humiliation rather than rehabilitation,” said Jane Evelyn Atwood in her 2007 Amnesty International video documentary, “Too Much Time.” For nine years, Atwood photographed and documented the conditions for women in 40 women’s prisons worldwide including the US, Europe and Eastern Europe.
In numerous locations around the world the plight of women in prison is going unheeded.
Conditions of improper touching by persons of authority, sanctioned sexual harassment, unnecessary strip searches, lack of proper medical attention or proper food exists in numerous global prison locations. In addition to this, psychological coercion and/or threats of sexual assault by persons in authority create a constant, unending and intense universal pressure on many incarcerated women.
“Women in prisons all around the world are at risk of rape, sexual assault and torture,” said a recent June 2008, Quaker UN Office - Human Rights and Refugees Publications report.
In some of the most grueling prisons in the world, women in Afghanistan are commonly punished for “moral crimes.” These crimes of morality are considered crimes against the dignity of the family. Many of the crimes include adultery, running away from a husband after abuse, having a relationship without being married or refusal to marry. Women who have made public charges of rape have also been known to have been placed in detention at the same time only one wing away from their assailant. Elopement with someone else not chosen by the family after a dowry has been paid is another legal reason for arrest.
The unheated women’s section in the crumbling penal facility known as Pul-e-Charkhi, in the capital city of Kabul, was a place where women were often denied their most common basic needs. Known for its extreme torture and 1970s war atrocities, women and their children whe were housed at Pul-e-Charkhi were kept together in crowded unlit, often unsanitary rooms. Medical treatment and proper nutrition was almost non-existent. Conditions of severe hardship in the prison, including sexual assault with fear of reprisal, has caused numerous women loss of all personal dignity. In many instances the extreme conditions at Pul-e-Charkhi encouraged numerous suicide attempts among women prisoners.
In April 2008, women prisoners were moved from Pul-e-Charkhi to a new facility in Kabul. Even though the walls are new, the women are still only given one hour of sunlight each day. Continuing administrative denials in the mismanagement of Afghanistan prisons points to a need for vast improvement.
The desire to direct prisons to approve and manage facilities that exist strictly “for punishment only” crushes any future hope for programs that might focus on rehabilitation.
Afghan women prisoners, suffering from extreme poverty and lack of education, are trapped along with their children inside Afghanistan’s system of criminal jurisprudence. Without fair and equal representation, or any legal recourse to their needs, women flounder as they stay locked up for years under charges that would not stand up one day in most legal courts systems around the world.
In Pakistan, “The number of women in prison at any moment…soared from as few as 70 in 1980 to as many as 4,500 in 1990,” said Human Rights Watch in a 1999 report. Women in Pakistan are charged under the “Hudood Ordinances,” ordinances enacted in Pakistan in 1979 after General Zia-ul-Haq brought a decade of military rule to the country.
Under the current Pakistan Penal Code, women can be charged for a variety of crimes relating to extra-marital sex, or “zina.” Misrepresentations of rape crimes under the laws of zina have caused women in prison in Pakistan to be charged for numerous crimes they have not instigated or caused.
*****************************************CONTINUES**************************************** “The strategy used in women’s prisons now is one of humiliation rather than rehabilitation,” said Jane Evelyn Atwood in her 2007 Amnes... more -
Top 5 Things Teens and Tweens Worry About
Many adults feel that in the age of the Internet and screen obsessed kids, they must be worrying about completely different issues than previous generations.
1) Relationships
Teens frequently want to talk to other teens about relationships with parents, siblings, friends and teachers. This is a broad topic I know, but interactions, building relationships and friendships are extremely important to teenagers. This is why when teens and tweens get in a fight with friends or a significant other, they have trouble focusing in school or on any other projects.
2) Abuse
This includes sexual, physical, verbal and neglect as types of abuse. Many teens call in for ‘friends’ or people they know who are being abused to talk about what abuse actually means. Frequently, teens want to know where is the line between parents who are yelling and verbal abuse? What are the laws on spanking children? I always recommend for parents to talk to their kids about the different kinds of abuse they might be experiencing in their own relationships or with friends.
3) Sex
Despite the attempts of many school health classes, teens have lots of questions about pregnancy, condoms, abstinence and oral sex. Please have the talk with your kids…multiple times. I have found that most teens prefer to have different talks at the varying ages, appropriate to their stage and development.
4) Drugs and Alcohol
Issues with addiction and parties come up for teens when they know of friends who might be dealing or using drugs. The party scene is an issue of great concern for many teens because there is a lot of pressure to fit in.
5) Suicide
Unfortunately, a great number of teens think, worry about or know someone who is considering suicide. Many times teens feel isolated and alone and need someone to talk to, but do not know where to turn when they might get in trouble or have to divulge secrets they are not ready to tell.
Surprisingly, there is usually an equal number of male and female callers. All kinds of teens today are dealing with these issues, not just girls, not just poor kids, not just rich kids, not just kids in private school…everyone is dealing with these important, and sometimes very serious issues. Many adults feel that in the age of the Internet and screen obsessed kids, they must be worrying about completely different issues tha... more -
St. Paul taps two to review RNC cops — but not misconduct
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced late Tuesday afternoon that the city will undergo an outside review of the public safety effort tied to the Republican National Convention — but its limited scope may not satisfy calls from various quarters for independent review of police misconduct.
Leading the charge is former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger, who now works for Minneapolis law firm Best & Flanagan, and Andy Luger, previously an assistant U.S. attorney who is employed at Greene Espel in Minneapolis.
They’ll be putting a team together to perform the assessment and define its parameters, according to a statement from the mayor’s office. The timeline for the study and other details are yet to be nailed down, according to mayoral spokesman Bob Hume. He told Minnesota Independent that the city had always planned to “take a hard look at the events of the week,” but didn’t before know “what form it would take.”
“Today we basically said we would bring in a fresh set of eyes to work through the process of determining what went well and what lessons are to be learned,” said Hume.
Regarding the questions that members of the public have raised about security measures during the RNC, “We want to be able to answer those as best we can. Our feeling is these two [attorneys] will help us navigate that and will give an honest look at how things went,” he said.
But Heffelfinger is saying the team will not look into allegations of police misconduct, raising the question of whether St. Paul’s move will satisfy the various organizations and officials demanding independent reviews. An international human rights group, a national civil liberties organization and a smattering of local officials have issued calls — ranging in tone from livid to tepid — for investigations:
Amnesty International wants “city and county authorities to ensure that all allegations of ill-treatment and other abuses are impartially investigated, with a review of police tactics and weapons in the policing of demonstrations” — adding that it should be prompt and public.
The American Civil Liberties Union wants “an investigation into possible violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, including the arrest of reporters trying to gather the news; the mass arrest of hundreds of peaceful protestors; the surveillance and subsequent raids on several activist groups and private homes; and the confiscation by law enforcement agents of constitutionally-protected private property.”
Locally, St. Paul City Council Member Dave Thune has said he wants “a public airing of what went right and what went wrong.” To that end, he’s scheduled a “community conversation” on Sept. 24, 5:30 p.m., City Council chambers, to hear from interest groups — but no open mic for public testimony. He’s also is soliciting citizen comment for St. Paul’s official police “after-assessment.”
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak wants to investigate police actions personally — “just the mayor taking a look at how the police responded to the protests,” his spokesman told MPR. The mayor is eschewing any formal review.
Minneapolis City Council Members Cam Gordon and Gary Schiff want “an independent, blue ribbon panel to conduct a thorough investigation into the events, decisions and policies surrounding security issues and the RNC, hold hearings and make recommendations for future policy changes.”
Another parochial concern that may elude Heffelfinger are Minneapolis’ guidelines of recent vintage against which Minneapolis council members intended to measure police actions during the RNC, the “police policies regarding public assemblies” that the council passed in July 25. Gordon aide Robin Garwood and Schiff agreed city police appear to have violated at least one of the 29 policies regarding treatment of the press. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman announced late Tuesday afternoon that the city will undergo an outside review of the public safety effort... more -
What If We Legalized All Drugs?
How does a $50 billion boost to the US economy sound? Not bad? Well, what about all the new addicts we could see pop up on the streets? Theoretically, it's all possible.
Every year, about 2 million people in the U.S. are arrested for drug offenses, including using or selling marijuana, heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. About a third of the country's prisoners are held on drug charges or for crimes attributed to drug abuse.
But what if we legalized all street drugs?
More kids would decide to try drugs "just once," and more would get hooked. Some lives would be ruined. But other lives would be saved. Gang murders would fall sharply. Thousands of people now in jail would be free to find work and feed their families. We'd save billions on the war on drugs, and a new drug industry would create jobs and loads of taxable revenue.
More in the article. How does a $50 billion boost to the US economy sound? Not bad? Well, what about all the new addicts we could see pop up on the streets... more -
Palin abused travel allowance, stayed at home
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has charged her state a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.
Per diem payments are meant for meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business. State officials told The Post her claims — nearly $17,000 over 19 months — were permitted because her "duty station" is Juneau, the capital, and she was in Wasilla 600 miles away. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has charged her state a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at ... more -
Fake schoolboy jailed for sex with 13-year-old
22-year-old James Chester has been jailed for 30 months after posing as a 16-year-old boy and having a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl. Chester also enrolled at a secondary school (though the girl isn't from the school), with fake papers to pose as a Year 10 student. He lied to the girl's parents, claiming he was 16 and the alarm was only raised when he took her on a trip to Northern Ireland and her parents reported her missing.
Chester is said to be disturbed and confused, wishing to be 16 again after a violent childhood. He has been banned from entering into relationships with children under 16, going within 50 metres of secondary schools, playgrounds or children's events, wearing schools uniforms or trying to enrol in schools. He was also banned from working with children and ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders' Register for 10 years.
I think all the tabloids screaming about him being a pervert is a little overdone - he's obviously a very disturbed guy, possibly with peter pan syndrome and wishing he could reclaim his lost childhood. Sure, that doesn't make his actions right, but it gives more background to it. 22-year-old James Chester has been jailed for 30 months after posing as a 16-year-old boy and having a sexual relationship with a 13-y... more -
Mom gets life in prison for microwaving baby
A woman has been sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for killing her baby daughter in a microwave oven.
China Arnold was convicted for killing her baby by burning her in the microwave.
Twenty-eight-year-old China Arnold chose not to be in the courtroom for Monday's sentencing.
Arnold was convicted of aggravated murder in the 2005 death of month-old daughter Paris Talley.
She was spared the death penalty because jurors could not reach a consensus on the punishment.
It was Arnold's second trial; the first ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced.
Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion has asked for a third trial, saying a former cellmate who said Arnold confessed has now changed her story.
Arnold was accused of killing month-old Paris Talley in 2005. A judge declared a mistrial in February, and the retrial began August 18. The jury found Arnold guilty Friday of aggravated murder.
During the trial, an 8-year-old boy said he saw another boy walk into the kitchen of a nearby apartment with the baby, heard the microwave go on and then later saw the burned baby in the microwave. A woman has been sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for killing her baby daughter in a microwave oven. ... more -
Five Women Buried Alive -- and the Media Ignore It
Why is it that we get so outraged over war but look the other way when women and girls are beaten and murdered in the name of tradition?
Last month, the U.S. media were full of stories about the resignation of Pervez Musharraf as president of Pakistan. But another event that same week in Pakistan -- that tribesmen buried five young women alive for wanting to choose their own husbands -- got almost no coverage.
According to the Asian Human Rights Commission, the women's "crime" was that they defied tribal elders and arranged marriages to men of their own choosing in a civil court. They were abducted at gunpoint by some men and dragged off to a remote field, where they were beaten, shot, thrown into a ditch, and then, while still breathing, smothered to death with rocks and mud.
Yet not even when a member of the Pakistani parliament, Israr Ullah Zehri, defended these barbaric killings as "century-old traditions" -- when he said that killing women who defy male control by wanting to chose their own husbands is necessary to "stop obscenity" -- was there international outrage.
Why is this? And why is there no international outrage about the fact that violence against women and female children is indeed a "century-old tradition"?
* Every day, so-called "honor killings" of girls and women -- often by members of their own families, and even when they are victims of rape -- are unpunished, and even lauded, in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations.
* In Africa and parts of Southeast Asia and the Middle East, each year an estimated 2 million girls are genitally mutilated -- another "moral" tradition that not only kills but exacts a terrible lifelong toll of disease and sexual dysfunction from those who survive.
* In China and India, millions of baby girls have been killed or abandoned.
* Indeed, female infanticide, selective female malnutrition and medical neglect of girls, common in many world regions, can be so severe that, according to a U.N. Human Development Report, girls ages 2 to 4 die at nearly twice the rate of boys in India's Punjab state.
* According to a World Health Organization report, 20 percent of women have suffered sexual abuse as children.
* According to another U.N. report, thousands of girl children are enslaved -- often offered for sale by members of their own families -- in the global sex industry.
* Even in these United States, more women are killed by their husbands or boyfriends than by automobile accidents.
* And domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, according to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
Neither reporters nor pundits find all this violence against girls and women worthy of attention -- despite the U.S. media's seeming obsession with mayhem and murder. Nor have the world's religious leaders seen fit to speak out against this violence -- despite the fact that they often say they are against violence.
It's high time that we change the shameful fact that when it comes to barbarity against members of the female half of humanity, the silence of not only the press but also of political, religious and other leaders is almost deafening.
Women's organizations nationally and internationally have for years struggled to change this, and gradually human rights organizations have paid more attention to the pandemic of violence against women. But men -- and particularly men who identify themselves as moral leaders -- must also raise their voices. They too must voice their outrage about their "brothers" all over the world who are brutalizing women.
****CONTINUES**** Why is it that we get so outraged over war but look the other way when women and girls are beaten and murdered in the name of traditio... more
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