Human Rights at Home Blog

New Article: False Promises of Protection: Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales and The Supreme Court’s Failure to Protect Human Rights

Kylie Rhoton, False Promises of Protection: Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales and The Supreme Court’s Failure to Protect Human Rights, Immigration & Human Rights Law Review: Vol. 5, Iss. 1 (2024). Excerpt below.

Speaking in front of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Jessica Gonzales highlighted her struggle to get answers and justice after her abusive ex-husband’s murder of her three daughters. The United States’ justice system brought her no recourse. She was first failed by her local police department and then by the highest court of the United States which refused to recognize that Gonzales had any Due Process entitlement to having her restraining order enforced against her abusive ex-husband. Jessica Gonzales’ struggle encapsulates the United States’ systemic and continuous failure in adequately addressing the human rights issue that is domestic violence.

Event 5/25: Launch of the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action

On Thursday, May 25, 2023, from 11 A.M. to 1:15 P.M. ET, the White House Gender Policy Council will release the National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action. This first-ever National Plan advances an unprecedented and comprehensive approach to preventing and addressing sexual violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, and other forms of gender-based violence (referred to collectively as GBV). 

The White House Gender Policy Council will be hosting a launch event that will include two roundtable discussions. During the first roundtable, leaders from key federal agencies will highlight the role of their agencies in strengthening ongoing federal action and interagency collaboration to advance the goals of the National Plan through a whole-of-government approach. During the second roundtable, survivors, advocates, and other leaders from civil society, including community-based organizations and private sector organizations, will discuss the importance of mobilizing a whole of society approach to prevent and address GBV.

The event will be livestreamed. Register here.

Events on 9/21: ABA Listening Event on White House Gender Policy Council & Get to Know the ABA Commission on Immigration

Two ABA events are being held tomorrow that might be of interest.  

First, the ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence and the White House Gender Policy Council are holding a listening event on the White House’s development of a National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence on Tuesday September 21, 2021, at 2:30pm ET. 

Facilitators include:

• Vivian Huelgo (she/hers/ella), Chief Counsel, ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence
• Professor Andrew King-Ries (he/him), Chair, ABA Commission on Domestic & Sexual Violence

Guests:

• Rosie Hidalgo (she/hers/ella), Senior Advisor on Gender-Based Violence and Special Assistant to the President, White House Gender Policy Council
• Carrie Bettinger-Lopez (she/hers/ella), Special Advisor, White House Gender Policy Council

To register and for more information on House Gender Policy Council's National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence, please visit https://americanbar.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FdBlLL-QTJ-KiwYuP7RKaA. 

Second, the ABA Commission on Immigration is holding a webinar to present on the Commission’s work both nationally and locally in California and the Commission’s valuable resources available to practitioners on Tuesday September 21, 2021, at 3pm ET. Panelists include:

• Wafa Hoballah, WJH Law Group, APC
• Wendy Wayne, Commission on Immigration Advisory Committee and Director, CPCS Immigration Impact Unit
• Stephanie Baez, Pro Bono Counsel, ABA Commission on Immigration, ABA Commission on Immigration
• Adela Mason, Director, ABA Immigration Justice Project

To register and for more information on the ABA Commission on Immigration event, please visit: https://americanbar.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_niTbTm-QQIit9RpXSVWD6A. 

The Faulty Investigations of Kavanaugh and Nassar

By Co-Editor Prof. Justine Dunlap

Two extraordinarily inadequate investigations recently made the news—both involving the FBI and investigations of sexual assault allegations. In mid-July, the FBI Inspector General released its report on the multiple errors made by the FBI’s Indianapolis field office after it received allegations against Larry Nassar from U.S.A. Gymnastics.

Among the many shocking things in the report over which to be outraged, two stand out: First, had the field office done its job, perhaps 70—120 girls would not have been sexually abused. Second, the mendacious FBI agent responsible for this faux investigation was pursuing a job with the U.S. Olympics Committee whilst he was supposed to be pursuing the allegations against Nassar. Shameful. This man, W. Jay Abbot, has since retired. The Department of Justice should reconsider its decision to not prosecute him.

According to the New York Times, Rachel Denhollander, a Nassar survivor who pushed to get him investigated, said she was not surprised by the F.B.I. Inspector General report. “Botched investigations and cover-ups … are … what survivors are up against. … And they constantly get asked the question, ‘Why don’t [you] report?’    Indeed.

The FBI has also recently released a letter concerning its background investigation of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. The letter states that the FBI received over 4500 tips regarding Kavanaugh during his contentious confirmation process. It investigated ten and referred “relevant” others to the White House Legal Counsel office. Really?

It was certainly known at the time that the FBI was not conducting a real investigation. But the sheer volume of tips is incomprehensible. Can we be sure that there were unbalanced and off-the-wall tips? Absolutely. But all 4500? Not so much.

I absorbed these reports not as a survivor but through the eyes of one who has researched and written about the challenges of disclosing and reporting sexual assault and intimate partner violence. I stand in awe of Denhollander and Chrisine Blasey Ford and others like them who come forward in the face of heartbreaking and disgraceful investigative responses like these.

Inter-American Court of Human Rights Finds Honduras Responsible for Trans Killing

By Chris Hegwood, 2L at St. Louis University School of Law

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights set new protections for trans people throughout the Americas in its judgment in the case of Vicky Hernández et al. v. Honduras.  In its ruling, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found the State of Honduras to be responsible for the death of Vicky Hernández, a transgender sex worker woman and activist who was found murdered following her evasion of an attempted arrest by police patrol the night of June 28, 2009.

The Court found numerous indications of the State’s role in the violating Vicky Hernández’s right to life, personal integrity, and her right to gender identity. The Court found a lack of due diligence in the authority’s investigation into the murder, failure to consider the context of discriminatory practices and police violence against LGBTI persons and trans women sex workers. The Court also found that Vicky Hernández’s relatives right to a life free of violence was violated.

In response to these violations, the Court ordered eight reparations that included promoting and continuing Vicky Hernández’s murder investigation, performing a public act of recognition of international responsibility, establishing a scholarship in Vicky Hernández’s name for trans women, and several procedural undertakings which are enumerated in the Court’s press release.

Puerto Rico Declares a State of Emergency Due to Gender Based Violence

After years of demonstrations against gender-based violence.  The state of emergency, which will be in effect until June 22, 2022, responds to demands from those who protested increasing and unchallenged gender violence.  The demand for a state of emergency was voiced by demonstrators following a rash of killing many women including transgender women and other trans people.  One human rights activist said that transgender people were being hunted.  "At least 60 direct and indirect femicides were reported in Puerto Rico in 2020, according to the local group Gender Equality Observatory. "

The Governor of Puerto Rico said  "Gender violence is a social evil, based on ignorance and attitudes that cannot have space or tolerance in the Puerto Rico that we aspire to. For too long vulnerable victims have suffered the consequences of systematic machismo, inequity, discrimination, lack of education, lack of guidance and above all lack of action."

On a day when President Biden withdrew the ban on military service for transgender people, we are reminded that gender violence is on the rise everywhere.  The machismo culture that Governor Pierluisi recognized as the root of gender violence has yet to challenged publicly in the mainland U.S. This machismo culture was on display on January 6th but results in the terrorization primarily of women, LGBTQ+ people, and children.  

May the courage of Governor Pierluisi inspire others in the country to declare their own states of emergency to end gender violence.

 

 

Hysterectomies - The Latest Human Rights Deprivation in ICE Camps

News outlets reported today that an unusual number of hysterectomies have been performed on migrant women, particularly at Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia.  Tubal ligations are routinely performed there, as well.  The whistle blower, a nurse who previously worked at the GA detention center, reported that the outside gynecologist removed the uterus of nearly every women he saw, and for those he did not he frequently performed a tubal ligation.  

The court complaint filed on behalf of several detainees alleges a years-long record of "human rights abuses including lack of medical and mental health care, due process violations [and] unsanitary living conditions."

Women are vulnerable, immigrant and detained women more so.  The first line of attack on women is often assault on  their bodies.   Arbitrarily removing  women's sexual parts is not just an act of misogyny. Within the context of a detainee camp environment the actions are close to medical experimentation and appropriation.   

We have had similar alerts of government sanctioned atrocities against vulnerable populations, reminders of what occurred in pre-war Germany.  Yet our reactions are muted.   At this point there is sufficient liberty remaining that massive protests might bring change.  We cannot presume that this liberty will remain post-election.

 

 

 

Women and Disaster - Let's Plan Now

Hurricane Laura did serious damage to several states, primarily west Texas and Louisiana.   While the devastation was severe the damage was not as extensive as predicted, future hurricanes may prove to be more deadly.  Weather services predict that the number of hurricanes this season may not vary from prior years.  The difference will be in their intensity and the level of devastation.  

Women suffer more during disasters.  Whatever the disaster, war, flood, tornado, or earthquake women are at higher risk for sexual assault within and without of their homes.  Lessons from the 2005 Hurricane Katrina revealed horror stories of women being sexually assaulted while in temporary shelters.  Women were assaulted consistently and without any police protection, even when police or other security was available.  At the same time, proved through several studies, women experience increased domestic violence at home. 

With the warning of the likelihood of a devastating hurricane season, this is the time for planning to protect those who will be at risk of sexual assault and other gender violence.  Research confirmed this information at least two decades ago.  But still we do no disaster planning to protect women during disaster.  While we cannot change past victimization of women during disaster, we can plan for protection of women, particularly women of color and transgender women, from the horrors of sexual violence and the resulting trauma for those already traumatized by disaster.

DeFund the VAWA Police

The Violence Against Women's Act was pursued by well-intentioned advocates.   Much good has come from the funding that accompanied the act's passage.  Funded domestic violence shelters and other services for those experiencing intimate partner abuse has provided options to survivors and their children.  From the beginning, however, there were serious flaws in the act.  But those were not significant enough for advocates to abandon their advocacy.  

Women of color were mostly excluded from the VAWA drafting process.  If they had been, they would have raised objections to the stream of funding being primarily to and through the police.  Advocates quickly assessed the error of the overwhelming role that law enforcement was assigned under VAWA.  The act presumes that the criminal system - law enforcement and prosecutors - is entitled to lead anti intimate partner abuse efforts.  How wrong that presumption is. 

Had women of color, particularly Native and African American women,  been guiding  VAWA's development, they would have cautioned about the risks of criminal law involvement.  Certainly there are times when victims are safe only when the abusive partner is confined. But many downsides can result from survivors' participation in the criminal system.   Survivors complain of not having control over the criminal process.  When survivors do not wish to pursue charges, they can be subpoenaed or held in contempt.  In one case, the survivor was arrested for contempt for failing to appear at a scheduled hearing. Ultimately the prosecution decided that even with the survivor's testimony they did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute.  The survivor ended up with an arrest record for a case the prosecution never pursued.  

Further detrimental consequences from the criminal system abound.  Cooperation with police can be dangerous to survivors who fear and suffer worse abuse because of their cooperation.    Survivors suffering from PTSD or other mental health disorders may not have capacity to testify without suffering further health consequences.  Mothers, particularly women of color, may lose custody of their children to the state or to the abuser for "failing to protect" them from an abuser over whom the mother has no control.  The arrested abusive partner may not be able to find work, even after an acquittal.  With a conviction, employment may be even more difficult to obtain, leaving the the survivor and children financially desperate.

Drastically reducing funding to the criminal system and shifting those funds to civil services can provide what victims decide they need.  This could include permanent, safe housing and financial support until survivors can be self-sufficient; mental health resources for survivors and their children.  With a shift in funding, survivors could design their own restorative plans for them, their children and even their abusers if they desire.  

For critical thinking on the criminal legal system and it's sideways direction in domestic violence cases, I suggest reading Leigh Goodmark's book "decriminalizing Domestic Violence".

 

 

 

Crimes Against Female Gymnasts: An International Matter

In the U.S. we are familiar with the decades of abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar  of young female gymnast, other countries are reporting similar abuses of their girls.  Professor Dunlap followed Nassar in earlier posts.  

Now other countries are recognizing abuses against their young athletes. 

"Complaints by at least 20 former Australian gymnasts about physical and mental abuse during their careers has prompted Gymnastics Australia to ask a human rights group to investigate.  The gymnasts, including Olympic and Commonwealth Games gold medalists, have recently spoken of a toxic culture within the sport. They also used social media platforms to detail fat-shaming and other forms of abuse." While the identity of the gymnasts was not disclosed,  public fat shaming of male athletes has not been observed by this writer.  The Australian Human Rights Commission will investigate.

Meanwhile Dutch authorities are investigating similar abuses and in the meantime has suspended the women's training program.  British Gymnastics is conducting an investigation into the abuse of their female gymnasts. And Flemish Gymnastics Federation is conducting its own investigation.

The brave women who accused Larry Nassar empowered women and girls around the world to report abuse.  Another thank you to those brave women who came forward in Michigan. 

 

Betsy DeVos, Title IX and COVID19

By Prof. Justine Dunlap

It was the worst of timing.

The Trump Administration’s Title IX regulations governing sexual misconduct were issued in draft form in November 2018. A year later, word came that they would be released in final form in December 2019, along with leaked drafts of what the final regs would contain. This allowed a sneak peek into which of the more than 120,000 comments proffered during the notice and comment period were considered and incorporated, and which failed to budge the regulators. So those of us who follow these things were waiting for the regs to drop. Some waited with anticipation, some with dread, others perhaps with mere curiosity.

Then the coronavirus hit and the resulting COVID-19 illness required schools across all learning levels and ages to become vehicles of remote learning. Schools, including IHE, are continuing this mode of remote learning through the summer and are now considering what the Fall term will look like on campus—or whether it can even be on campus. Further, institutions of higher learning are undergoing significant financial challenges due to coronavirus closures. Layoffs and furloughs are inevitable.

Amidst this, on Wednesday, May 6th, the Title IX final regulations were released, with an implementation date of August 14, 2020 attached. So merits aside for a moment, the timing is abysmal. These regulations constitute a major shift in Title IX law in numerous ways. They require significant changes in how schools conduct hearings on alleged sexual misconduct. It will be extremely hard for IHEs to plan for the regs’ implementation from—quite literally—afar. Moreover, the staff needed to implement these new regs may be unavailable, perhaps because they have been redirected to deal with student COVID-19 related crises. The American Council on Education, eighteen state attorneys general, and at least three senators had asked the DOE to delay the already delayed final regulations until the COVID pandemic abated. Somehow, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’s response that “civil rights really can’t wait” is supremely unsatisfying.

At Last. DOJ Finds NJ Women's Prison Violates Constitutional Rights

The Department of Justice began investigating the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in 2018.  The Justice Department report was released this week.  The primary finding was of rampant sexual abuse of incarcerated women by correctional officers and other staff.  Since the investigation began DOJ reports:

In May 2018, an Edna Mahan correction officer was found guilty of five counts of sexually abusing prisoners. According to the sentencing judge, the “pervasive culture” at Edna Mahan allowed this correction officer to abuse his “position of authority to indulge in [his] own sexual stimulation.”
•
In July 2018, another Edna Mahan correction officer pled guilty to three counts of official misconduct after he admitted sexually abusing three separate prisoners.
•
In January 2019, another correction officer pled guilty to official misconduct charges after admitting that he repeatedly sexually abused two Edna Mahan prisoners over a period of several years. In sentencing him, the New Jersey court concluded that the officer had “sexually assaulted a vulnerable population.”

Others have been indicted. 

As reported by the NY Times, “Sexual abuse should not be a part of any prisoner’s punishment,” Eric S. Dreiband, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a statement accompanying the report, the result of an investigation by the division and the U.S. attorney’s office in New Jersey. “Women prisoners at Edna Mahan are at substantial risk of sexual abuse by staff because systemic deficiencies discourage prisoners from reporting sexual abuse and allow sexual abuse to occur undetected and undeterred.”

Incarcerated women have complained for decades of the sexual and other abuse they are subjected to while confined.  Edna Mahan's women were no different.  The women endured years of abuse, which included being forced to have sex with other women while staff observed.  The report went on to say that “Our society requires prisoners to give up their liberty, but that surrender does not encompass the basic right to be free from severe unwanted sexual contact.”  The question has to be asked - why did it take years of reporting for any significant investigation to be done?  Other incarcerated women report similar abuses at a wide number of facilities but life is often more difficult for them if they report the abuse.  The women of Edna Mahan were courageous in their reporting but not after years of being threatened into silence.

Most incarcerated women lost their liberty for non-violent crimes.  Most incarcerated women were abused during their pre-incarceration years.  These women do need prison.  They need services.  Whether the needed help is for substance abuse,  mental health, education or reunification with children, prisons to not provided supportive environments that will assist women to have healthy lives. The abolition of prisons for women and girls is a national movement, led by the National Council of Incarcerated Women and Girls.  

Those interested in joining the abolitionist movement will readily find local organizations leading the efforts locally.  Prisons for women have a sordid history of physical and sexual abuse of women and failure to provide services even at the level male provided to incarcerated men.   Time indeed is up on the incarcerated of women and girls.  

No Where To Go: Intimate Partner Abuse In The COVID-19 Pandemic

Many articles have surfaced reporting the increase in domestic violence since the beginning of self-quarantine imposed by many countries during the pandemic.  Survivors of gender violence have enforced psychological, if not physical, boundaries, dependent upon the whims of the abusive partner.  Targets of intimate partner abuse are accustomed to being tracked by their abusers.  Constant texting, following, and other surveillance are part of an abused partner's daily routine.  

Now many survivors are trapped with their abusers.  Because of lockdowns, self-quarantines and other measures designed to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, many families experiencing abuse are now forced to be with the abuser 24 hours a day.  Other additional stressors are unemployment, being with children 24 hours a day, and increased substance abuse. Calls to domestic violence hotlines have increased significantly.

The United Nations asked that countries make the safety of domestic violence survivors a priority and and few have made special accommodations part their response to the pandemic. But how?  No country has made anti-domestic violence a priority beyond basic and inadequate resources and certainly have not made significant inroads into changing the cultural acceptance of abuse.  Some countries have converted women's shelters into health facilities.    Some shelters have introduced measures barring new victims for fear of further spreading the virus.  Few replacement shelters have become available during the interim.

Chickens are coming home to roost.  Governments have not been aggressive in addressing the root causes of abuse or in providing adequate remedies for those who have experienced intimate partner violence.  Advocates are often only able to provide temporary relief to the abused.  Legal systems may provide limited relief but are not the answer to a long term solution. The tools needed to provide independence such as sufficient financial support, housing, and education are and always have been in short supply for survivors. 

Few tools are available to help under these circumstances. Police can conduct wellness checks.  Neighbors can report disturbances.  But those measures are stopgap, as well, unless backed up by long term remedies addressed in part above.  After years of education and advocacy addressing intimate partner abuse, the current reality is evidence that we have come no closer to eradicating violence from our culture than when we started. How will this inform advocates' next steps?

 

  

 

Unbelievable

By Co-Editor Prof. Justine Dunlap 

No doubt many of you are practicing social distancing but cuddling up to Netflix. Here’s a recommendation for you: avoid those pandemic movies and watch Unbelievable.   This eight-episode series chronicles the case of a young girl, called Marie, living in foster care, who reports being raped by an intruder. The series is based on a true story reported by ProPublica and The Marshall Project and published in December 2015.  It is compelling.

Back to the story but here’s your spoiler alert: a few details follow.  Marie’s story has holes, inconsistencies. Police officers and others make her repeat what happened repeatedly. Latching onto the inconsistencies, they push and she begins to doubt herself and recants.  She is later prosecuted for filing a false report. While this happens, her rapist moves on and continues raping elsewhere.  Two detectives who catch the cases in other cities believe their victims. They are dogged as well as compassionate.  That’s all I’ll say about the series so I don’t reveal all.

We’ve all heard it: tell the truth, it’s easier to keep your story straight. Turns out, that’s not necessarily true. Trauma affects one’s ability to recall exactly what happened.  Sometimes it is also said: details give a story the ring of truth. But trauma interferes with one’s ability to recall details. The truth may be being told even in an inconsistent story.

So what’s a truth-seeker to do? To paraphrase a former president, believe but verify.  Don’t disbelieve a crime victim just because the crime is sexual assault and the victim is confused. Become educated about the effects of trauma. Do due diligence but don’t gaslight. Oh, and be sure to watch Unbelievable on Netflix. Don’t take my word for it, it was Salma Hayek’s Women’s Day pick.

 

Bad Law Goes Into Effect

 

by Prof. Justine Dunlap

At the beginning of a year, many states see new laws going into effect. One that deserves special mention is SB 212 in Texas. Passed last summer and becoming effective on January 1, 2020, this law mandates that if any non-student employee of a postsecondary educational institution becomes aware of any incident of dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment or stalking, that employee must report the incident to their institutions’ Title IX coordinator. If an employee fails to comply with this requirement, he or she can be charged with a criminal misdemeanor. Further, the failure to comply will result in the employee being fired.

The law has received both praise and pushback. The organization “Help Save our Sons” calls it a terrible law. Survivor groups oppose it as well. A Forbes magazine opinion piece calls it “the worst of both worlds.”  The law likely had its origins in a Baylor University Title IX investigation that was beyond inadequate.  Although perhaps well-intentioned, this law heaps further trauma on a victim, as it requires reporting sexual assault (and allegations of a similar nature) even if the victim/accuser does not want that to happen. Making an official report further removes control and violates the autonomy of a person who has already been subjected to a violation of autonomy and loss of control. There are good ways to help survivors and demonstrate that a university is committed to combatting sexual assault. Sadly, this law is not one of those good ways. It is a bad law that should not be copied by other states.

The Regs They Are Achangin'?

by Justine Dunlap, who continues her exploration of the challenges facing survivors of gender violence and their advocates.

In the next several weeks, the Department of Education is set to finalize Title IX regulations it proposed in November 2018. During the notice and comment period, the proposed regulations received over 100,000 comments. According to some reports, DOE made modest modifications as a result. However, it appears that the final regs will largely track the proposed ones. The changes from the way Title IX complaints/investigations were handled under Obama-era guidance include: 1) allowing schools to use a higher level of proof—a clear and convincing rather than a preponderance of the evidence standard, 2) mandating some type of cross-examination, which had been previously discouraged, and 3) imposing a narrower definition of acts that would violate Title IX.

On December 10, 2019, four congresswomen—including Elissa Slotkin, the representative from the district encompassing Michigan State University, the situs of Larry Nassar’s crimes and an ineffectual Title IX investigation—introduced a bill that would prohibit DOE Secretary Betsy DeVos from implementing the regulations. What will happen next is unclear except for this: the battle will rage on. And at least partially obscured in the battle will be some of the problems that pre-existed the proposed regs. Prior guidance could be fuzzy and/or overinterpreted to err on the side of extreme policies that benefitted few but the cottage industry of Title IX trainers that has emerged over the past several years. New regs would be most helpful if they created a clearer process and implemented ways that actually supported victims who choose to report, without simultaneously creating the impression that the outcome was foreordained.

 

What Does The Constitution Mean To Me?

This past week I had the privilege of attending a performance of What The Constitution Means To Me in New York City.  This particular performance was special because domestic violence advocates from around the country were in the audience. As was Jessica Lenahan whose US Supreme Court Case is a topic addressed by actor Heidi Schreck in the play.  Schreck tells the story of traveling as a 15-year-old to various veteran's organizations giving her speech on the Constitution.  That is how she earned money to attend college.  The walls are lined with framed headshots of white male veterans wearing their slim double-pointed hats.   

The play movingly addresses the Supreme Court's refusal to protect women from violence, and the rollback of women's rights, particularly reproductive rights.  These topics are timely for discussion and are eloquently addressed.

The stage set silently reinforces the power that white men have over women.  And that was the greatest irritant for me.

I appreciate those who served in the military.  Those who were disabled from their military experiences deserve ongoing restorative support without the resistance that many veterans encounter from our government.   

But what we do not need is another veteran memorial, another military park or statue.  A public memorial honoring the women of all genders who have suffered violence at the hands of intimate partners would be welcome.  Memorials to individuals of all genders who experienced sex-based violence, including veterans, are urgently needed.  Public recognition of the indignities suffered by women of color and indigenous women would do much to bring awareness to the intersection of race, ethnicity,  and sex on the spectrum of discrimination and violence against women.  A memorial to all of the women who suffered and the many who died because of war would bring a face to the human suffering war creates.  Perhaps we could refocus suffering as well as heroism.  

Since only the work performed primarily by males is honored in this country -- police, fire, military for some examples -- that is the culture we honor.   The next time that your town wants to erect another statue to male culture, think about protesting.  I would argue that public statues and memorials are unnecessary.  But I realize in an age where civics are no longer taught, and women are largely ignored in history, education happens around public monuments and this is one place where the re-education of America can begin.

 

 

 

US IN TOP TEN OF MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRIES FOR WOMEN TO LIVE

A study by the  Thompson Reuter Foundation looked at what countries were the most dangerous ones for women.  One western country was included:  the United States.  

The Foundation queried 500 experts to ask in" which countries they believed women were most at risk. Countries were ranked in six key areas: health care, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural practices, discrimination and human trafficking."  Sexual and non-sexual violence against women was the factor that placed the United States in the top ten.  The experts recognized that the #MeToo movement exposed serious problems of sexual violence experienced by US women.  The US ranked third with Syria when assessing on " sexual violence, including rape, sexual harassment, coercion into sex and the lack of access to justice in rape cases." The US overall ranking is 10.  

The factors considered in determining the ranking were:  health care, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural practices, discrimination, and human trafficking.

The overall rankings considering all factors are:

1.  India

2. Afghanistan

3.  Syria

4. Somalia

5.  Saudi Arabia

6.  Pakistan

7.  Democratic Republic of Congo

8.  Yemen

9. Nigeria

10.  The United States

 

Women Might Forgive Joe Biden But He Is Not Asking

Whatever Joe Biden is, he is not a feminist.  Despite his original co-sponsorship of the Violence Against Women Act and his ongoing 20+ years support of the act, Mr. Biden does not understand what the #MeToo movement is about. 

During the 1991 Clarence Thomas hearings, Mr. Biden left Anita Hill isolated and vilified by men analyzing her credibility.  At the time, then-Senator Biden had control of whether to abandon the witness or permit other women to testify to the sexual harassment they endured from now Justice Thomas.  Mr. Biden chose to stand with the boys.  Now he refuses to apologize to Anita Hill.  Politically there are advantages to his apologizing.  Women of all colors would appreciate the acknowledgment of his role in further entrenching and institutionalizing the stereotype of women as liars.  Professor Hill suffered.  She was a target of controversy for years.  Eventually, she left the University of Oklahoma after being shunned by the University President.  The same President was previously a US senator and had voted for Thomas' confirmation.  There was also a movement to defund Hill's endowed chair and to revoke her tenure.  Biden's actions further entrenched the stereotype that women lie, and that what black women say can be further discounted. 

Mr. Biden may believe that supporting the Violence Against Women's Act, originally passed three years following the Thomas hearings, was sufficient penance and that women would forgive him any perceived misogyny.  Well, that might have been the case if Biden hadn't refused to apologize to Professor Hill.  Not a feminist, and not self-reflective, Biden is refusing to take responsibility for his significant role in postponing for decades the restoration of women's credibility.

 

 

 

Wind River - In Real Time

by Professor Justine Dunlap

“While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women.” 

This startling sentence comes at the end of the movie Wind River, a graphic 2017 murder mystery/thriller that has at its core the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW).  Since the release of that movie, a database that more thoroughly documents MMIW has been created. This database, which is housed at the Sovereign Bodies Institute website, was created by Annita Lucchesi, a doctoral student, and cartographer. Lucchesi used the Freedom of Information Act requests to obtain information from many law enforcement entities.

 Here is a description of the database from the Sovereign Bodies Institute website:

The MMIW Database logs cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people, from 1900 to the present. There are many lists and sources of information online, but no central database that is routinely updated, spans beyond colonial borders, and thoroughly logs important aspects of the data, and overall, there is a chronic lack of data on this violence. The Database works to address that need, by maintaining a comprehensive resource to support community members, advocates, activists, and researchers in their work towards justice for our stolen sisters.

Other efforts to reliably document murdered and missing indigenous women include proposed federal legislation.  Savanna’s Act was introduced in the 115^th Congress and unanimously passed in the Senate. Thereafter, it stalled in the House. A revised version of the bill was recently re-introduced by Senator Lisa Murkowski. It had 11 co-sponsors.

The congressional findings in the bill are as shocking as the Wind River coda. They include:

 (1) On some reservations, Indian women are murdered at more than 10 times the national average.

(2) American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.5 times as likely to experience violent crimes—and at least 2 times more likely to experience rape or sexual assault crimes—compared to all other races according to the National Congress of American Indians.

(3) More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native women, or 84.3 percent, have experienced violence in their lifetime according to the National Institute of Justice.

(4) More than 4 in 5 American Indian and Alaska Native men, or 81.6 percent, have experienced violence in their lifetime according to the National Institute of Justice.

(5) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, homicide is the third leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women between 10 and 24 years of age and the fifth leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women between 25 and 34 years of age.

(6) Investigation into cases of missing and murdered Indian women is made difficult for Tribal law enforcement agencies due to a lack of resources, … a lack of interagency cooperation, … and a lack of appropriate laws in place.

With efforts like the MMIW database and, one can hope, bipartisan federal legislation, perhaps the shameful failure to document missing and murdered native women and girls can begin to be rectified.