can you imagine what horrors this woman

went through BEFORE her in-laws burned her alive? she was regularly beaten by her in-laws, her husband and husband's brother. she sought help from her parents. i guess they helped her a bit but then sent her back to the abuse. now, she may be at peace

this MUST stop

we are MORE than 'stuff'. we are humans. we are your mothers and sisters and aunts and wives and next door neighbors. we are NOT your possessions

Jaipur woman burnt alive for dowry
JAIPUR: In yet another dowry death in the district, a 32-year-old woman was allegedly set on fire by her in-laws at Kumharon Ka Mohalla under Bassi police station on Saturday. She was rushed to SMS Hospital in Jaipur where she succumbed to her injuries on Sunday morning. The victim’s father has lodged an FIR, but no arrest has been made as yet.

According to police, the deceased – Anju Devi – was repeatedly beaten up by her in-laws including her husband Mahesh Jangid and his brother Bhanwar Lal. “Anju’s father Laxminarayan said that Mahesh and his family were demanding dowry ever since they got married a few years back. On Saturday morning, Mahesh, Bhanwar Lal and his wife poured kerosene and set her on fire at their house in Bassi,” said Rameshwar Bagariya, in-charge of Bassi police station...........

join the pink chaddi campaign! (this is WONDERFUL)

the consortium of pubgoing, loose and forward women (yup i'm one of 'em. BUT for now, i CAN go to pubs and be loose and forward (should i wish to be) without fear of organizations beating me up and insisting i stay home or not celebrate valentine's day OR do what i will!)

from the website:
What is the Pink Chaddi Campaign?

The Pink Chaddi Campaign kicked off on 5 February 2009 to oppose the Sri Ram Sena. The campaign is growing exponentially (4,500 at this point in the life of our Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women) and that is not surprising. Most women in this country have enough curbs on their lives without a whole new franchise cashing in with their bully-boy tactics. Of course, a lot of men have joined the group as well.

Here is we want to do with the Pink Chaddi Campaign. Join in. Be imaginative, have fun and fight back!

What can you do?

Step 1: It does not matter that many of us have not thought about Valentine's Day since we were 13. If ever. This year let us send the Sri Ram Sena some love. Let us send them some PINK CHADDIS.

Look in your closet or buy them cheap. Dirt-cheap. Make sure they are PINK. Send them off to the Sena.

The address to send the package is:
The Pink Chaddi Campaign,
C/O Alternate Law Forum,
122/4 Infantry Road
(opposite Infantry Wedding House)
Bangalore 560001
Karnataka
Contact person:

Nithin (9886081269)
Divya (9845535406)
Nisha ( 9811893733)
Vivek(9845591798)

If you don't want to mail it yourself, you can drop it off at the Chaddi Collection Points. We will be collecting across the country through this week and sending the packages on February 12. More information about Chaddi Collectors in your city soon on our blog: http://thepinkchaddicampaign.blogspot.com/

Step 2: Send the Pink Chaddi Campaign a photograph of the package.

Tell us how many chaddis you are sending out and inspire other women in other cities. You can either mail the information to freelancehabba (at) gmail (dot) com or you can mail it at our facebook address. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49641698651&ref=mf


Step 3: On Valentine's Day we do a Pub Bharo action. Go to a pub wherever you are. From Kabul to Chennai to Guwahati to Singapore to LA women have signed up. It does not matter if you are actually not a pub-goer or not even much of a drinker. Let us raise a toast (it can be juice) to Indian women. Take a photo or video. We will put it together (more on how later) and send this as well to the Sri Ram Sena.

What happens after Valentine's Day?
After Valentine's Day we should get some of our elected leaders to agree that beating up women is ummm... AGAINST INDIAN CULTURE.

For right now, ask not what Dr VS Acharya, Home Minister of Karnataka can do for you. Ask what you can do for him. Here is his blog. Send him some love.

Nisha Susan
For the Pink Chaddi Campaign

PS. Our good friend L says we should not colour-discriminate. So if you really, really can't send pink chaddis, send those in other colours.

PPS. Both Women and Men are invited to send in their chaddi's/ pictures of chaddi's.

(ht: boing boing)

i guess women can't go out in india either

from feministe

she was between 16 and 20

she was blindfolded and gagged and tied to a pole. she was lit on fire while she was alive.

her crime? we don't know BUT it was probably sorcery or adultery. well her crime was JUST BEING A WOMAN actually.

chances are she wasn't an adulterer or she didn't give anyone aids and we all know she wasn't a sorceress. chances are she was raped and deserved to die a horrible death JUST BECAUSE she was a female.

Blindfolded woman burnt alive
Papua New Guinea police have branded as "barbaric" the murder of a young woman burnt alive after being blindfolded and gagged with her arms and legs lashed to a pole.

The body of the woman, believed aged between 16 and 20, was found on a rubbish tip at Mount Hagen in the notorious Highlands region yesterday.

Both PNG's national daily newspapers reported the brutal killing, with witnesses telling each paper a truck with a number of men on board was seen dumping the naked body, pouring petrol on it and setting it alight.

Highlands division police chief Simon Kauba told PNG's Post Courier newspaper he was lost for words........

well now the msm jumped on the bandwagon

perhaps NOW something can and will be done? perhaps one or two of those meetings where people testify before congress will happen. then another bunch of people will talk about it and meet and finally after months or years decide women getting harassed and assaulted in the military (or anywhere) is not a GOOD thing. of course almost nothing will be done (as usual). seems like this has been documented FOR YEARS. yet, it's not only still going on, it's being swept under the rug.
(take lavena johnson for example. her parents were told she committed suicide. while even a kindergartner could determine she was sexually assaulted and then murdered. what an insult to not only the parents of a war hero BUT THE WAR HERO HERSELF)

from 2004 One Hundred Twelve Women Assaulted in Iraq, Afghanistan

from 2006

Military Hides Cause of Women Soldiers' Deaths

i have NO idea when this article came out Women assaulted in military suffer depression, alcohol problems

from 2007

The private war of women soldier

from 2003 Sexual Assault Pervasive in Military, Experts Say

from august 2008

Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?

from 2003 Factors Associated With Women’s Risk of
Rape in the Military Environment

from 2007

Report: Sexual assault of women soldiers on rise in US military

from 2005

Violence Against Women in the Military

from 2007 Scandal Bigger than Walter Reed
The Rape, Assault and Harassment of Women in the Military
from july 2008

Women in Military Struggle to Overcome Sexual Assault

from 2007

The private war of women soldiers

from 2006 Military recruiters sexually assaulting young women

i'll stop now, but i could post links ALL day. anyone notice a pattern?

does anyone know why new articles (like the following) keep appearing daily? SHOULDN'T SOMETHING HAVE BEEN DONE ALREADY? SHOULDN'T IT?

and from yesterday:

Alarming Sex Assault Rate Found Among Vets

CBS Evening News: Records Show 1 In 7 Female Iraq And Afghanistan Veterans Treated By The VA Suffered Sexual Trauma

(CBS) For a soldier, the wounds of war can be felt long after a tour of duty ends, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports, and not all of them are inflicted by the enemy. Tuesday, researchers reported that an alarming number of female soldiers have sought treatment for sexual assault committed by fellow soldiers.

A Veterans Administration study found that one in seven female veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan seeking medical care from the VA suffered sexual trauma - everything from harassment to rape.

Medical records of 125,000 war veterans, both men and women, showed 15 percent reported sexual trauma. That works out to nearly 2,600 veterans, almost all women.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, since the study covered only a fraction of the 870,000 veterans who have fought - and none still on active duty.

"I do feel that it is much higher than that, and if they could get the records of all the women that have returned that had been sexually assaulted, those afraid to come in, they would find that it's a lot higher," said Wanda Story.

Story, who was raped twice during her military service 20 years ago, now heads the United Female Veterans of America. ................

oh no no no no and no

there is not too very much more i can say here. i'm in a state of disbelief

Canada judge tells woman not to call police if battered again

This story from Canada is just peachy:

Told by a judge she should have 'walked out' of an abusive relationship and never to call police if she goes back to her former partner, a London woman has complained to Ontario's judicial watchdog.

Melodie White said she felt 'embarrassed and humiliated' by Justice Gregory Pockele, who heard the case in a domestic violence court last summer.

White has requested that the Ontario Judicial Council discipline the judge by "re-victimizing" and endangering her by telling her to not call the police if she goes back to her partner. This was all in front of the abusive ex-boyfriend, by the way. "It was supposed to be about (the accused) being violent to me and the police felt it was serious enough to lay four charges. But it turned out to be about me," said White.

And he dismissed the charges. He also told her that women today were not "not weak and disadvantaged" and she should have been gone "in a flash."...........

it's 2008

the crime: wanting to pick out their OWN husband
the punishment: BEING BURIED ALIVE

the outcome: a senator from the province/village DEFENDS the action as a 'custom'

yes, it's real. yes, it's true

via feministing
Burying of women alive defended in Senate

By Ahmed Hassan
ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: Balochistan Senator Sardar Israrullah Zehri stunned the upper house on Friday when he defended the recent incident of burying alive three teenage girls and two women in his province, saying it was part of “our tribal custom.”

Senator Bibi Yasmin Shah of the PML-Q raised the issue citing a newspaper report that the girls, three of them aged between 16 and 18 years, had been buried alive a month ago for wishing to marry of their own will.

The barbaric incident took place in a remote village of Jafarabad district and a PPP minister and some other influential people were reported to have been involved. The report accused the provincial government of trying to hush up the issue.

Ms Shah said that the hapless girls and the women were first shot in the name of honour and then buried while they were alive. She also said that no criminal had been arrested so far.
.........

i'm speechless

well not really. i have plenty to say. i'll only say a LITTLE though.

according to this article the woman was DRAGGED out of a pub. where was everyone else? NO ONE came to this woman's defense. sure, at the outset the headline SOUNDS funny. it sure as shite IS NOT FUNNY THOUGH. this happened in italy but it could have happened here (and probably has) or anywhere else for that matter. why do we allow women to be treated like this?

Here’s a new wrinkle on male chauvinism

Italian man accused of kidnapping ex-girlfriend to get ironing, dishes done

ROME - An Italian man was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend from a pub, taking her home and forcing her to iron his clothes and wash the dishes, police said Monday.

The 43-year-old man dragged the woman out of a pub in the port city of Genoa, shoved her into a car and took her to his home, where he made her iron and wash dishes after threatening her, they said.

Police arrived at his house after being tipped off by a friend of the woman who watched the scene at the pub...

a shout out to U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison

f**k kbr and f**k halliburton. when someone signs an agreement with you and that agreement says they won't bring you to court, i KNOW they don't believe being raped is part of the deal.
Judge: Woman's rape case against Halliburton can go to trial
Judge: Lawsuit against Halliburton by woman claiming rape in Iraq can go to trial
Staff
A woman who said she was raped by co-workers while employed by a contractor in Iraq can take her claims to trial, a federal judge ruled Friday

Jamie Leigh Jones filed a federal lawsuit last year, saying she was attacked while working for a Halliburton Co. subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. Her lawsuit claims that after she endured harassment from some of the men where she lived in coed barracks, she was drugged and raped by Halliburton and KBR firefighters.
Jones, a former Conroe resident, said a KBR representative imprisoned her in a shipping container for a day so she wouldn't report the assault.
Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.
Washington-based attorney Stephanie Morris said her client is pleased that she will have the opportunity to bring attention to the case........

how much can they take?

a woman jailed for being raped. her prosecuter saying she got off easy, if HIS wife went out without his permission, HE'D KILL HER.

we MUST work to stop this
Blaming the victim: Abused Afghan women often end up in jail
Raped and then jailed: despite advances for Afghan women, old habits compound their misery
ALISA TANGAP News
.....................In parts of Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, where stern social codes prevail, a woman who runs away from home is typically suspected of having taken a lover and can be prosecuted for adultery. Simply leaving her house without her family's permission may be deemed an offense — as in Rukhma's case — although it is not classified as such under Afghanistan's penal code.
The chief prosecutor of eastern Nangarhar province who oversaw Rukhma's case suggested she got off lightly.
"If my wife goes to the bazaar without my permission, I will kill her. This is our culture," Abdul Qayum shouted scornfully during an interview in his office in the city of Jalalabad.
His colleagues laughed approvingly. "This is Afghanistan, not America," Qayum said...........

our best buds, those wild and wacky saudis

are up to their ol' hijinks again! what a bunch of cards they are, huh? i laughed and laughed over this. as a matter of fact, i'm STILL laughing so hard right now, i could just kick the shite out of those f**king asswipes
why don't we bring our 'democracy' over there i wonder to myself?
Saudis to execute a woman for witchcraft
Rights Group: Saudis Should Halt Execution of a Woman for Witchcraft
DONNA ABU-NASR

A leading human rights group appealed to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Thursday to stop the execution of a woman accused of witchcraft and performing supernatural acts. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the kingdom's religious police who arrested and interrogated Fawza Falih, and the judges who tried her in the northern town of Quraiyat never gave her the opportunity to prove her innocence in the face of "absurd charges that have no basis in law."
Falih's case underscores shortcomings in Saudi Arabia's Islamic legal system in which rules of evidence are shaky, lawyers are not always present and sentences often depend on the whim of judges.
The most frequent victims are women, who already suffer severe restrictions on daily life in Saudi Arabia: They cannot drive, appear before a judge without a male representative, or travel abroad without a male guardian's permission..........

The Saudi court cited an instance in which a man allegedly became impotent after being bewitched by Falih, the rights group said.

holy f**king shite

this ass thinks rape is NOT rape if a woman is NOT a virgin (or if she's assaulted by her husband). AND HE'S AN EFFING LAWMAKER on top of it

again, holy f**king shite
via feministing
Rape: They just don't make it like they used to
I can't believe we missed this. Last week, after a debate over legislation that would amend the state constitution to say that it does not guarantee the right to abortion or require funding for abortion, Tennessee state Sen. Doug Henry (at right), said,
“Rape, ladies and gentlemen, is not today what rape was. Rape, when I was learning these things, was the violation of a chaste woman, against her will, by some party not her spouse. Today it’s simply, ‘Let’s don’t go forward with this act.’ ”
In the modern era, now that all women are dirty whores, rape is really no big deal. After all, women can just say no!
Perhaps we should write Sen. Henry an email or two and let him know what has and hasn't changed about sexual assault in this country?..........

caren's story

from take back the tech

break the chains

because it's ALWAYS funny

to 'punch your wife out' after she 'disturbs' you! sure it is! a SMARTER person would have either turned their ringer off OR turned their entire cell phone off. but NOT bud. he's going to kick the shite out of his wife instead! he must be leading a hard life. you know, after spending all day investigating players on steroids and all.

i always say, you can't GET any funnier if you talk about abusing and beating your wife!
Bud Selig is casual about his spousal abuse
Posted by Michael Milici in The Clubhouse

Selig’s Call: “It’s Only My Wife, I’ll Punch Her Out”

It's not just me who thinks Bud Selig's a bad joke

Is Bud Selig Going to Have to Choke a Wife?

tory (victoria) bowen

i've written about her before

here

and here

yesterday i received the following email from her (i asked for her permission to publish it before doing so)

Family, Friends, and Supporters-
As some of you may have already heard, I received a phone call yesterday from the District Attorney saying that they will not retry my rape case. As you can imagine, I was and am devastated. The District Attorney (D.A.) cited that the Judge has made it too difficult to continue to prosecute Pamir Safi, a man who has been arrested for rape on three different occasions for three different women. The D.A's office stated that without the Judge allowing the prosecutors to allow the previous victims to testify (as they did the first trial), without the Judge allowing my entire testimony, without my vial of urine (which broke inthe mail), it is difficult to hope for a case that they could win due to all the evidence which has been gaged, bared, or thrown out of this case by the Judge.So today, Pamir Safi, is a free man for the third time. What is there to stop him from a fourth?Nothing.
For the past three years this trial has been a driving force in my life, and I pursued justice tenaciously. Ican not change this ruling, but I can change how the law works, and so can you. Please do not give up, for a broken system only means that it needs to be fixed.Please find below some ways to help - and forward this to anyone who you think can help.
Thank you for you kind emails, your prayers, hugs,tears, and everything else that you've done for me through the years. This has been a long journey, but now the focus needs to be to change state law, and other states that have archaic laws like Nebraska for the rape cases to come.
WAYS TO HELP:
Contact the Judiciary Committee. The DA sited that they possibly could have retried the case if the state had the authority to appeal a Judge's ruling. Make sure that there are checks and balances in the Judicial process that allows the state to appeal if a Judge continues to rule unfairly. Write a letter,call, or go to a session. The Judiciary Committee must determine which issues/bills they will hear/vote on by JANUARY 9th. SO START A LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN. The Judge can not act as both Judge and jury in cases like these. The jury should be able to hear testimony fully in the words of the victim, not a watered down list that only the Judge and the Defense Attorney approves of.

Contact Information:Phone: (402) 471-2622 Address: Room 1103, State Capitol, Lincoln NE 68509
Meeting Dates:During session, the Judiciary Committee meets on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in Room 1113 on the 1st Floor of the Capitol.
Chairperson: Sen. Brad Ashford (402) 471-2622
Vice Chairperson: Sen. Steve Lathrop (402) 471-2623
Members:Sen. Ernie Chambers (402) 471-2612
Sen. Vickie D. McDonald 402) 471-2631
Sen. Amanda McGill (402) 471-2610
Sen. Dwite Pedersen (402) 471-2885
Sen. Pete Pirsch (402) 471-2621
Sen. DiAnna Schimek (402) 471-2632

In addition, you can donate to the efforts that areoccurring at the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, please visit WWW.BOWENDC.COM for more information.
Lastly, for more information regarding my case, or ifyou have not signed the petition yet - please visit:http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/freespeechforsurvivors/index.html



Published Friday January 4, 2008No new trial in 'rape' ban case
BY PAUL HAMMEL WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

(No new trial in 'rape' ban case)
LINCOLN — A case that drew national attention after a judge barred the word "rape" from court testimony will not be retried, the alleged victim said Thursday.
Tory Bowen, a former University of Nebraska-Lincoln student who now lives in the Washington, D.C., area,said she was told Thursday by Lancaster County prosecutors that her case, the subject of two previous mistrials, would not be tried a third time.
She said she just recently had received a letter saying that a new trial of her alleged assailant,Pamir Safi, was scheduled to begin Feb. 19.
"I'm absolutely shocked," Bowen said in a telephone interview. "He's free. . . . I can't comprehend it."
Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey, whom Bowen saidshe talked to Thursday, declined to comment Thursdayevening.
Safi, a 34-year-old Army reservist, was accused ofsexually assaulting Bowen after a night of drinking ata downtown Lincoln bar following a Halloween party in2005.
Bowen has maintained that she doesn't remember leavingwith Safi and was unconscious and could not consent tosex. Safi claimed otherwise.
Clarence Mock, Safi's defense attorney, could not bereached Thursday night. Previously he has said thatthere was no evidence his client had sexuallyassaulted anyone and that the judge's rulings werefair in ensuring a fair trial.
Two previous trials ended in mistrials: the first, in2006, because the jury could not reach a unanimousverdict; the second, last summer, after the judgeruled that street protests had interfered with theselection of a jury.
In banning the term "rape" and other words during thetrial, Lancaster County District Judge JeffreCheuvront cited a state law that allows judges to banwords that could be unfairly prejudicial to a criminaldefendant, who is presumed innocent until provenguilty.
He also noted that the term "rape" had been deletedfrom the state's lawbooks in 1975.
Cheuvront later clarified his ruling, saying the"equally descriptive term" of "sexual assault" couldbe used.
Before the second trial, advocates for rape victimsseized on the judge's ruling, saying it was anunreasonable restraint of free speech that woulddamage a victim's credibility with jurors.
Street protests followed, as did unsuccessful attemptsto have a federal judge or the Nebraska Supreme Courtoverturn the ruling.
A federal judge ruled that although he would not"stick his nose" into the state court case, he saw noreason for banning the word "rape."
"For the life of me, I do not understand why a judgewould tell an alleged rape victim that she cannot sayshe was 'raped' when she testifies in a trial about rape," wrote U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf on Sept.25.
"Juries aren't stupid."
Wendy Murphy, a Massachusetts lawyer who took up Bowen's cause, is appealing the limits on speech to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Murphy, who is a former prosecutor, said she disagreed with the decision not to retry Safi, even if Bowen's statements were the only evidence that could be presented.
"If you believe in a case, you should proceed," Murphy said. "But if your hands are so tied that your witness cannot testify honestly . . . I can understand (not retrying the case)."
Bowen said she couldn't understand how Safi could be"walking the streets."
"This is justice denied," she said, sobbing.

an older article about the first two trials
Rape
Omaha woman FIGHTS court in SEXUAL ASSAULT case

..................Bowen’s Jessica Rabbit costume is something defense attorneys would later use against her and was quite a departure from the business suits she typically wore to her job in the state senate and her work as Director of Development for the College Republican National Committee.
Bowen and Safi shared a drink. There is video of Safi leaving the bar nearly carrying an intoxicated Bowen, who now believes she had been drugged. When she woke up the next morning Safi was allegedly raping her, or in Chaeuvront language translation, “having sex” with her.
“I went to the ER the morning that I was raped and filed charges then,” said Bowen. “I told a police officer what happened and the sexual assault nurse did an examination. I was at the ER for nearly seven hours and then the next day went in and made the initial police statement.
“I know the difference between sex and rape. If it was sex, I wouldn’t be speaking to you,” Bowen continued. “For me it is committing perjury. If I take and oath to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then am given a list of words that I am not allowed to say it isn’t right – it is just bizarre. When I was originally told by the state prosecutor that I would have to put language restrictions on my testimony I was heartbroken. It was difficult enough to come forward. It is difficult to use the words..............

daddy dearest

he didn't ask her dad for permission to marry - no, it's NOT funny.
(link via feministing

Father accused of killing pregnant daughter and her family
MARKHAM, Illinois (AP) -- A suburban Chicago man is accused of setting an apartment fire -- killing his pregnant daughter, her husband and their young child -- because the son-in-law didn't ask permission for the marriage, prosecutors said. Subhash Chander, 57, of Oak Forest, Illinois, was ordered held without bond Tuesday on three counts of first-degree murder, one count of intentional homicide of an unborn child and one count of aggravated arson.
Prosecutors allege Chander used gasoline to start the fire late Saturday. The India native told police he disliked his son-in-law because he belonged to a lower caste and had married his daughter without his consent, said Cook County First Assistant State's Attorney Robert Milan.
"His son-in-law was beneath him in his opinion," Milan said..........

please remember this name:

anne arundel county circuit judge paul harris

he acquitted a man who hit his girlfriend THREE TIMES IN THE FACE (this took place in public in a parking lot). how did the judge know he hit her three times? there was a witness. who was the witness? an off duty POLICE officer. IMPARTIAL POLICE OFFICER at that.

the victim didn't show up at the hearing so the judge decided she may have WANTED TO BE HIT (he mentioned in s&m or b&d that COULD be the case. oh, someday, i'm going to talk a bit more about THAT. i have a few things to say on that subject and some background to say it). ah, but we ALL know (all of us but the judge) how AFRAID victims of domestic abuse are. we also know how many are beaten to within an inch of their very lives OR KILLED because they either tried to get away from the abuser or had the abuser arrested.

judge, you get my gatsu piedi of the week award

Maryland Judge: Some Domestic Violence Victims Like Being Hit
Karen Houppert
Domestic violence cases are notoriously difficult to prosecute.
But every once in a while, prosecutors get handed the tools for a conviction on a silver platter: An impartial eyewitness who just happens to be a police officer.
Such was the case in a domestic violence trial that made the local papers here in Maryland last week. A cop pulling into an Exxon station saw a man hit his girlfriend in the face three times, called in back-up and had the man arrested.
But according to Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Paul Harris, who is "probably as against domestic violence as anybody, when the case is proven," one can't simply assume that a woman who is being hit didn't consent to the attack. "Sadomasochists sometimes like to get beat up," the judge reminded the courtroom--then acquitted the man. .........

michael webb is the acquitted WOMAN BEATERs name. he got let off of that, but according to a video at alternet recounting this story, the acquitted WOMAN BEATER michael webb is doin' time for a drug violation. well, he sounds like one stand up kinda dude!

repent, do your duty

even though you are only 14 or 15 (or goddess knows how YOUNG), spread your legs for your new (AND OLDER) 'husband'.

jeffs and everyone like him need to be locked up for good. taken off of the streets. it hasn't happened yet. whole towns are run by people with these beliefs. mayors and law enforcement and owners of hardware stores.....................

well after all it's ONLY a grrrl child isn't it?

Polygamy and Forced Sex in the Name of God

By Ellen Goodman, Washington Post Writers Group.

............To hear the alleged victim, known only as Jane Doe, describe her marriage is to be as deeply saddened as the jury was. After resisting Jeffs' order to marry her 19-year-old first cousin, she found herself at the altar, head hanging, forcing out the words, "OK, I do." After refusing sex, she went back to Jeffs for counsel and was told to "repent," to "do your duty," and be "obedient." And so the girl who didn't know what sex was or where children came from says she was forced to submit to her husband.
Did this teenager make her own choice? We forget how the rules governing consent have changed. Conflicting state laws now navigate between a girl's sexual maturity and her vulnerability. In many states, including Utah, a girl can marry with her parents' permission at a younger age than she can have sex.
But this case raises a different question about consent. How much power did the religious leader wield over the 14-year-old? If you refused to marry the chosen husband, Doe testified, you would "lose your chance at salvation." How could she refuse to obey the husband who was "my ticket into heaven"?...............

something you have to watch

the video is at the link below. it is in no way shape or form EASY to hear OR watch. the worse part is the couple's 13 year old son is filming it AND their younger son is also in the room.

'he beat me down to nothing'..........

please never, NEVER let this happen to you.
(it HAS a GOOD ending by the way. i'd also like to give a GIANT SHOUT OUT to the judge in this case. i missed his name but man, he's my kind o' dude)

Domestic Abuse Up Close: Man Beats Wife, Forces Their Son to Film It (VIDEO)



Posted by Amanda Marcotte at 2:00 PM on September 20, 2007.

This segment portrays how justified abusers feel about their behavior.


This post, written by Amanda Marcotte, originally appeared on Pandagon.
Here's an interesting video that I grabbed from Echidne. Warning: It's really distressing -- in part, it's a video a man made his son take of him beating his wife. What's fascinating is it really shows how justified abusers feel about their behavior. The end part is interesting, too, since they interview the judge on this case.

'i've got a mom, i've got a sister

i wouldn't rape anyone'



i WAS in a wonderful mood. i woke up at my ususal time, about midnight (give or take). there is going to be an eclipse later this morning. my coffee is hot and black and strong and good. i found some music cds with TONS of music on them. they went missing a while ago. i was downloading some of my other cds onto my (fairly new) mp3 video player (NOT an ipod. i got a creative zen and i LOVE it). i found those missing cds (with at least 200 songs on each of them) in the bryan ferry/roxy music jacket.



THEN I READ THIS


Horrifying.
Police: Man Rapes Woman As Bystanders Look On
(AP) St. Paul -- A 25-year-old man was charged Thursday for allegedly raping and beating a woman in an apartment hallway -- an incident apparently witnessed by as many as 10 people who did nothing.
Rage Ibrahim was charged with several counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for the attack early Tuesday. According to the criminal complaint, police responded to a call of drunken behavior in an apartment hallway, where they found both Ibrahim and a woman lying unconscious. The woman's clothing had been pulled up, she had fresh scratches on her face and blood on her thigh.
And despite the witnesses -- and the fact that the rape was captured on a surveillance camera -- the guy denies it.
"I'm so upset because of the situation I'm in," Ibrahim told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, as he headed to the county jail on Thursday to turn himself in. "I've got a mom, I've got a sister. I wouldn't rape anyone.".............