crime stoppin’ in stilettos
One need only watch the nightly news to see that violence against women and young girls is escalating. Doubtless the severity of economic hardship facing families today only exacerbates tensions and despair, which all to often trigger domestic violence. Not only is this a concern for all of the women out there (one in four women are victims of abuse at the hands of intimate partners in their lifetimes) but also for teenage girls (one in three teenage girls fears for her safety in a dating relationship). The ongoing, often ignored issue has been given added weight in the aftermath of the highly publicized 
Chris Brown-Rihanna incident. Tragically, some polls show over 50% of teenagers view that abuse as "her" fault.
Now our savvy sisters and feministas over at The New Agenda are kicking up their heels by sponsoring a Violence Against Women Forum in NYC at The Benjamin Hotel on Saturday, April 18th from 3-5 p.m.
Panelists include: Judge Leslie Crocker Snyder (retired justice NY Supreme Court and possibly the next Manhattan DA) along with renowned experts in the area of domestic violence, Karen Cheeks-Lomax of My Sister’s Place, Manhattan Deputy Borough President Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, and Irene Weiser of Stop Family Violence.org.
Violence against women, whether random or domestic, is not an American issue but a global one. Yesterday, The Council of Europe began the work on a new Europe-wide convention on action against violence against women. And the Committee on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (CAHVIO) are meeting in Strasbourg to discuss an international, legally binding framework based on the trademark Council of Europe approach – protect, prevent and prosecute. The collective cry must be blaring and glaring…so much so that law enforcement and governments worldwide finally say: "ENOUGH!"
But you don’t have to travel to Europe or even New York to be heard. If you do live in and around NYC, I encourage you to attend The New Agenda’s bold forum next weekend (I am doing my best to do so). But regardless of whether you are able to be there in person, please plan to visit them online to stay apprised of the critical steps being taken by these fierce feministas.
NOW WATCH THIS!
on April 7th, 2009 at 2:07 am
on April 7th, 2009 at 9:40 am
hey princess i take it that you had no problems with the partying 4-some..
yes BM – i’m still alive & kicking – and they were quiet as church mice last night! Guess even they get tired!
on April 7th, 2009 at 10:29 am
The atmosphere in the Suffolk (Boston) Probate Court Clerk’s office was truly frightening last week. And the state wants to cut the court budget. We have good judges here, but there’s a limit to what they can do without enough social workers, mediators, and probation officers.
on April 7th, 2009 at 11:29 am
it’s true back bay style….these are the areas that typically get slashed…it takes public outcry and activisim, usually, to light a fire….or, even more tragically, it takes a high profile murder to bring the issue back into the spotlight!
on April 7th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Thank you for bringing this worthwhile cause to the forefront. Can’t make new york but will review new agenda. Let us know how we can get involved without attending!
on April 7th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
princess looks like you got think that you got your message tru to the partying 4some …
on April 7th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
hmmm mabey one reason they got quite was went something like this when you went over there the other day & they did,nt awsner .. one said 2 onther hey aint that the lady that lives next door.. yea it is her is an she looks pissed… i herd shes got one of those pink tasers . we better not mess with her again ..
on April 7th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Any violence, whether in your home or out in the open, is unacceptable. Why women stay, go back, is a mystery to me . . . and a bigger mystery is why they allow their children to be witnesses and often subject to the same violence. Until public condemnation of violence against women and children is taken seriously (especially in the media, our court system and our government with more money devoted to social workers, foster care, etc.), we will forever be condemning our children and future generations. Its always easier to call it “domestic” and close the door . . . breaks my heart.
on April 7th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
to me any man that hits a woman is a coward .. these guys are the lowest of the low..
you said it!
on April 8th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Earlier this week, we stated that as promised, PUMA delivered, a lot of folks thought we had lost our marbles. Well, it seems the MSM itself has validated our claim that the reason McCain/Palin lost the election is because the GOP base did not come out and vote.
Firstly, it seems despite all the hype of new voters coming out to vote, turnout in 2008 was the same as in 2004, or at best slightly higher:
A new report from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate concludes that voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was the same in percentage terms as it was four years ago — or at most has risen by less than 1 percent.
The report released Thursday estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country.
and then this:
“A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,” the report said. Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.
Exit polls however showed that:
Democrats who supported Sen. Hillary Clinton during the primaries overwhelming voted for Obama in the general election, 84 percent to 15 percent for McCain.
In other words, by conservative estimates, there are close to 3 million PUMAs (2.88 million to be precise ) for that is what 16% of 18 million is. More importantly, 2.7 million put country first and actually voted for John McCain / Sarah Palin.
Let’s recap. In 2004:
George Bush: 62,040,610 (an increase of 22.96% fpr the GOP)
John Kerrey: 59,028,444 (an increas of 16.99% for the Democrats)
in 2008 with all states reporting (NC and MO haven’t finalized numbers yet, but this is with 100% of precincts in both states reporting:
Obama has 65,002,864 (an increase of 10.12% for the Democrats)
McCain has 57,143,022 (54,443,022 if the PUMA vote is removed) (a decrease of 12.25% for the GOP)
All that was required to win the popular vote for McCain was a 1% increase in the GOP vote (620,000 more votes than 2004), and the PUMA vote of 2.8 million would have put him over the top.
I guess in the final analysis, the reason Obama won the election is because he played one hell of a mind game on the GOP base, a mind game that ensured a 12% decrease in the number of votes over 2004.
this mabey be old news but i thought i was worth a 2nd look
on April 8th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I just got around to reading the Emory article on “one thing” and I am left gasping at the results. And this is a Boston Public Health survey. Who has twisted these young woman’s minds to think that the bad behavior of reading someone else’s text message justifies punching, biting, hairpulling, and lacerations?
A number of years ago I worked on a well-known domestic violence project with the Women’s Bar Association is MA. It is disheartening to feel that, although we may have helped a few women, we seem to have moved backward in the cultural perceptions of violence.
on April 8th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
i will try to attend …thanks for this!!!
on April 8th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
That is an intense video…well done!
on April 8th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
glad to see you are ok.Hireheels..
on April 9th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NO-WE-WONT
on April 19th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Hey, boogieman’s suggesting we do a national commiseration/commiseration day for the one year anniversary of the RNC meeting. Any interest?