Violence Against Women

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court set the stage yesterday for a major ruling on Congress' power to pass new civil rights laws and, in particular, to protect women against sexual violence by allowing them to sue their attackers.Taking on new cases for decision in the term that formally opens Monday, the court said it will rule on the constitutionality of the Violence Against Women Act, passed by Congress five years ago.A federal appeals court struck down the key part of that law in March, saying Congress had intruded on states' authority to deal with domestic violence.

BOSTON -- Defenders of battered women have long struggled to persuade authorities to crack down on brutal men who reigned by the fist at home, but as laws and the police have become more aggressive, they have produced an unexpected consequence: In some places nationwide, one quarter or more of arrests for domestic assault are of women.Among residents of Concord, N.H., who were arrested for domestic assault this year, nearly 35 percent were women.In Boulder County, Colo., one-quarter of defendants charged in domestic violence cases through September were women.

The Carroll County state's attorney's domestic violence unit may have prevented a homicide last week.Members of the unit -- formed two years ago after three people were killed in domestic violence incidents in Hampstead -- happened to be nearby last week when a woman came to the courthouse seeking help.The man hadn't struck her or their child, but he had stalked and harassed her and burglarized her home, "and there were indicators flying all around" of potentially serious violence, said Gary W. Cofflin, the unit's full-time investigator.

YOU NO longer have to read between the lines to divine the National Organization for Women's agenda. In a way, it seems refreshingly simple: No men.That's the only conclusion one can draw upon reviewing NOW's objections to proposed federal legislation popularly known as the "fathers-count" bill.The bill isn't exactly a mainstream father's dream. Mostly, the bill creates programs to help unemployed fathers find jobs so they can produce child support for their welfare progeny.In fact, men's-rights activists aren't wild about the bill, saying that it addresses only the financial responsibilities of fathers while ignoring more pressing (child access)

Thankful for domestic violence courseOn Dec. 17, I had the privilege of attending a course on the Violence Against Women Act. I would like to extend my appreciation to Carroll County Sheriff John Brown for hosting this course and giving me the opportunity to attend. It was made possible by a grant from the state of Maryland.Retired Capt. Tony Bell, who currently teaches on criminal justice and domestic violence at Prince George's Community College, was the instructor.The course was developed to standardize the policies and/or procedures for handling cases of violence against women.

As a Baltimore judge handed a three-year prison sentence to her longtime boyfriend for the latest in a series of assaults against her, Denice Ringgold stood next to the prosecution table in Room 5 of the Eastside District Court. For a second, she smiled.She thanked District Judge Alan J. Karlin and Assistant State's Attorney Bobbie Dickens, who both told her that bringing charges against Lawrence T. Bell -- 43 and no relation to the politician of similar name -- may have saved her life. But Ringgold, 39, knew better: It was Bell's life, not her own, that likely had been saved.

A renewed federal grant of more than $50,000 will keep the state's attorney's domestic violence unit operating in Carroll County for another fiscal year.The money -- $51,805 -- provided through the S*T*O*P Violence Against Women Grant Program is paid to Carroll County government, which in turn provides the salary and benefits for Melissa O. Hockensmith, the county's domestic violence prosecutor, and some office equipment.The grant, which was announced by Michael A. Sarbanes, executive director of the Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention, became effective yesterday.

Nearly a year after controversy led Baltimore County Circuit Judge Thomas J. Bollinger Sr. to disqualify himself from trials involving sexual offenses or domestic violence, the judge has quietly begun hearing those cases again.His move has angered one of the women's rights groups that last year called for Bollinger's resignation after he wiped out the battery conviction of a wife beater. The man had sought the change so he could have a clean record to join a country club."This is just another illustration of [his]

WASHINGTON -- It is the mark of small minds that they seek to eradicate nuance and complexity. Communists saw a world of conniving capitalists arrayed against virtuous proletarians. Fascists saw master and inferior races. Modern feminists see violent, aggressive, uncivilized men victimizing helpless, innocent, peace-loving women. The fact that an idea is foolish, however, is no guarantee against its widespread acceptance.Writing in the summer issue of the Virginia-based Women's Quarterly, Dr. Sally Satel assays the current state of domestic-violence treatment and finds that the feminist understanding of the phenomenon has triumphed.

Reports of domestic violence in the city are escalating, with police expecting nearly 5,000 more calls for help than last year.In the first six months of this year, 10,694 calls have been made, according to police spokesman Robert W. Weinhold Jr., who estimates that figure will double to more than 21,000 by year's end.Last year, police received 16,464 domestic violence-related calls, from 14,415 in 1995.In an effort to help domestic violence victims who have called police -- and especially those who haven't -- Police Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier unveiled 10 eye-catching billboards yesterday.

As a researcher of domestic abuse against women in the U.S. and globally, I wasn't surprised when a survey last week linked the economic downturn to an upswing in domestic violence. I've seen time and again the brutal connection between financial stress and violence against women. Financial stress does not cause domestic violence, but can make a bad situation worse. And the new report highlights the ongoing, and largely ignored, problem of domestic abuse, a major public health problem for women everywhere.

As part of what he said would be a strengthened effort to protect victims of domestic violence, Gov. Martin O'Malley announced yesterday that $1.8 million in federal funds have been allocated for 63 agencies and organizations in Maryland that help such victims. The governor, speaking at a news conference in Towson, also announced the expansion of the 21-member Family Violence Council to include Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, Talbot County State's Attorney Scott Patterson and Vicki Sadehvandi, executive director of Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused, in Hagerstown.

Howard County Police Chief William J. McMahon has been chosen to join law enforcement leaders from around the nation this week at a national seminar on violence against women. McMahon is one of 23 participants selected to attend the National Law Enforcement Leadership Institute on Violence Against Women, sponsored by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The program is a three-day seminar to be held this week in Atlanta, according to the Police Department. The participants will explore approaches to investigating domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and human trafficking crimes.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of "V-Day," a global movement to stop violence against women and girls, Howard Community College will host two benefit screenings of the film Until the Violence Stops, at noon and 7 p.m. today in the Kittleman Room (ELB-100). The Domestic Violence Center and Specialized Trauma Treatment and Recovery Center are co-sponsors of the screening. Admission is free for students and $8 for general admission. Tickets are available in the HCC bookstore and at the door before each screening.

Women's Hall to hold ceremony County Executive Ken Ulman and the Howard County Commission for Women will host the 12th Women's Hall of Fame Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. March 13 in the Banneker Room of the George Howard Building, 3430 Courthouse Drive, Ellicott City. This year, the commission has selected four Howard County women for induction into the Women's Hall of Fame: Evelyn Bolduc, Pamela Mack, Ann Mech and Jane Walker. The commission also will honor the late Jeanne M. Simons with the Women's Hall of Fame in History Award.

The full scope of the violence against women in the Democratic Republic of Congo is hard to fathom. Gang-rapes by militias and government soldiers have been detailed in news reports. A United Nations official reported this year that 27,000 cases of sexual violence were reported in 2005 and 2006 in a single province, South Kivu. Yet what has been missing in the recent media coverage is any sense of how to end - or even address - the horrific violence that has racked the DRC and other countries in the Great Lakes region of central Africa.

In the 1980s, conservatives and feminists joined to fight a common nemesis: the spread of pornography. Unlike past campaigns to stamp out smut, this one was based not just on morality but on public safety. They argued that hard-core erotica was intolerable because it promoted sexual violence against women. "Pornography is the theory - rape is the practice," wrote feminist author Robin Morgan. In 1986, a federal commission concurred. Some kinds of pornography, it concluded, are bound to lead to "increased sexual violence."

It is a welcome change that as we begin Women's History Month, world leaders are giving attention to violence against women. Gender-based violence is rampant across the globe, and yet governments' responses remain appallingly inadequate. Violence against women is a public health issue and a human rights issue affecting society as a whole. Progress is visible on a variety of fronts. Representatives from U.N. member states and civil-society organizations are meeting in New York this week and next to discuss "the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child" - the theme of this year's Commission on the Status of Women.

The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq recently issued a frightening report documenting the growing practice of public executions of women by Shiite militias. One of the report's more grisly accounts was a story of a young woman dragged by a wire wound around her neck to a close-by soccer field and hung from the goal post. They pierced her body with bullets. Her brother came running, trying to defend his sister. He was also shot and killed. Sunni extremists are no better: Organization of Women's Freedom members estimate that at least 30 women are executed monthly for honor-related reasons.

On the Web site for Encounters International, a matchmaking service, the romance between Nataliya and James was portrayed as the perfect mail-order bride love story. When they met in 1998, Nataliya Mikhaylovna was 27, a pretty divorcee from Ukraine. American James Fox was 34, owned two airplanes, and had paid an $1,850 fee to meet available women from the former Soviet Union. With the guidance of Natasha Spivack, founder of the Bethesda-based Encounters International, the couple met, married and lived happily ever after in Loudoun County, Va., according to the online testimonial.