Human rights groups are up in arms on the account of the myriad of suicides committed by foreign maids who have been severely abused while working in Lebanon. To make matters worse, it seems as if the Lebanese government is doing little to prevent such abuse. According to CNN, 10 women working in Lebanon as maids have died by either hanging themselves or falling off a tall building in the last 7 weeks!
After the craziness of finals season, it’s time to catch up on some of the headlines we’ve missed: a case of alleged rape in a CA middle school is being referred to as a case of hormones gone wild, charges have been dropped against a 9-year-old defendant in this past summer’s Phoenix gang rape case, new statistics regarding sexual harassment at work have us scared to graduate, Uganda has taken a big step by finally banning female circumcision, and a sexually-frustrated husband in New Zealand intentionally infected his wife with HIV.
Already on campus, we have encountered some resistance. In the six weeks since our organization’s launch, our roster still lacks a single male participant. One friend mentioned the other weekend that he was “going to stop by a meeting, but checked out the site, saw something about a man beating his wife, and realized he probably wouldn’t be welcome.” This comment was disappointing on several levels…
New York has implemented domestic violence courts that specialize in family issues to improve the treatment of both victims and offenders in domestic violence situations. The role of the courts is to provide one judge to preside over one family’s different legal needs. The reasoning for these courts is to provide current and accurate court decisions and meet the needs of families suffering from abuse. This new court system provides programs to ensure the safety of the victims (wife and children primarily). It also ensures programs for the offenders to gain treatment and possibly be reunited with their families.
Check out this often-overlooked battle in the ongoing health reform war: according to the Huffington Post, victims of sexual assault can be denied health coverage by insurance companies. The HP article recounts the heartbreaking stories of a few women, who were shocked to find out that they became “high-risk” individuals following their attacks.
