Women And Children

DOES IT make any difference when women are elected to Congress? That's a question we get asked all the time.Something that recently happened in the House may be instructive. Republican women used their newfound numbers -- there are now 17 of them -- to convince their leadership to change the welfare bill to benefit single mothers. New Jersey's Marie Roukema, now the senior Republican woman in the House, has been pushing for years for stricter federal enforcement of laws requiring absent parents (90 percent of them fathers)

For minutes on end New Year's Eve night, the names and ages of 216 men, women and children who were killed in Baltimore in 2012 were read out loud on the steps of the city's War Memorial — a somber recap of a violent year in which homicides rose. "In a city where so many people are immune to these senseless crimes, it is imperative that we remember the victims," said Victoria Kent, a member of the Baltimore Guardian Angels community watch group, as about 50 others stood by. The vigil, in its fourth year, was attended by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, council members Brandon Scott and Carl Stokes, members of the clergy and various city activists.

NEW YORK-A weary and defensive former Sen. Bob Kerrey expressed remorse again yesterday for the Navy SEAL action he led in Vietnam in 1969 that he insisted inadvertently killed a dozen or more Vietnamese women and children. But Kerrey said he does not intend to return the Bronze Star medal he received for the night action against a village he said was designated as a "free-fire zone" and that intelligence reports said contained enemy fighters. "We fired because we were fired on," he said at a news conference called to respond to a torrent of questions from the press.

Susan Reimer seems extremely misguided; her sympathy for Sgt. Robert Bales, who massacred men, women and children, is an enigma to me ("War makes you crazy, both there and here," March 26). But since these are her feelings, why is she ashamed to admit them? Geraldine Segal, Randallstown

WASHINGTON -- As many as 50,000 women and children from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe are brought to the United States under false pretenses each year and forced to work as prostitutes, abused laborers or servants, according to a CIA report that is the government's first comprehensive assessment of the problem. The exhaustively researched, 79-page agency report -- "International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery" -- paints a broad picture of this hidden trade and of the difficulties that government agencies face in fighting it. Law enforcement officials have seen episodic evidence for years of trafficking in immigrant women and children, some as young as 9. But the report says that officers generally do not like to take on these slavery cases because they are difficult to investigate.

WOUNDED KNEE, S.D. -- On crystal-clear nights, when winter winds whistle through the hills and canyons around Wounded Knee Creek, the Lakota elders say it is so cold that one can hear the twigs snapping in the frigid air. They called this time of the year "the Moon of the Popping Trees." It was on such a winter morning on Dec. 29, 1890, that the crack of a single rifle brought a day of infamy that still lives in the hearts and minds of the Lakota people. After the rifle spoke there was a pause and then the rifles and Hotchkiss guns of the 7th Cavalry opened up on the men, women and children camped at Wounded Knee.

BEL AIR -- A facility for homeless women and children will be dedicated today at a 9 a.m. ceremony to be attended by Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann and Archbishop William Cardinal Keeler.Anna's House, managed by Catholic Charities, will provide transitional housing for homeless women and their children. The location is not being disclosed to protect residents' privacy.Pub Date: 10/17/96

Susan Reimer seems extremely misguided; her sympathy for Sgt. Robert Bales, who massacred men, women and children, is an enigma to me ("War makes you crazy, both there and here," March 26). But since these are her feelings, why is she ashamed to admit them? Geraldine Segal, Randallstown

The collapsing building has trees growing through the roof, is contaminated with lead paint and asbestos, and needs renovation.But Carole J. Alexander, executive director of the House of Ruth, is happy to have it -- with a long-term, dollar-a-year lease approved last week by the state Board of Public Works -- as an addition to the organization's shelter for battered women.With grant money, government help and private and corporate donations, the House of Ruth is planning a three-year, $3.5 million project that will triple the shelter's capacity from 24 beds to 72."

Baltimore's homeless shelters are operating at capacity and have been forced to turn away people even though this winter's coldest weather is still ahead, according to a survey released yesterday.The survey by Action for the Homeless found that every shelter serving women and children in Baltimore was filled and that most shelters reported turning people away in recent weeks.The Dec. 1 telephone survey did not collect specific data on the numbers of homeless being turned away from Baltimore's 30 shelters.

The Italian liner Costa Concordia, with 4,200 passengers aboard, piled up in January on the rocky shoreline of Tuscany, tearing out its bottom and capsizing. The death toll has risen to 25, with the recovery of eight more bodies last week. Seven people remain missing. Capt. Francesco Schettino, the Costa Concordia's master, violated one of the noblest and most sacred traditions of the sea when he did not direct the evacuation of passengers and crew. There can be nothing more terrifying for passengers than to see crew members going over the side, as has been alleged by disaster survivors, who described a scene of panic and confusion.

Congress' recent efforts to balance the federal budget give new meaning to "women and children first. " The $500 million cut to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) that President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans agreed to as part of last month's budget deal pushes the nation's fiscal concerns onto the shoulders of babies. Because WIC actually reduces health care costs, it is not clear why it has been targeted for cuts. Economic analysis from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

An international relief organization based in Carroll County has re-established primary health care, battled disease and built basic infrastructure that will help ensure the health of nearly 8 million people in the remotest areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo. IMA World Health, headquartered in New Windsor, has released the results of its four-year project in the central African country, an effort funded with more than $40 million in U.S. aid. According to the group, the project trained more than 33,000 native health care workers, vaccinated nearly 1 million children and delivered treatment that has saved countless lives.

On Mondays, Fearon Wright serves food and drink to homeless women at a Baltimore shelter. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, he puts on football pads and a helmet at a Mariners indoor football practice. Now, as the undefeated team makes a run for the American Indoor Football Association championship, Wright manages to find time for the women and children of Sarah's Hope in Sandtown-Winchester because of one woman -- his mom. "I'm always conscious of my mom and how hard she works for us," said Wright, who played seven games with the Minnesota Vikings in 2001 before he was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Elizabeth S. Lottich, who established a Federal Hill soup kitchen and the Christ Lutheran Place Shelter for homeless women and children, died June 3 from heart failure at Augsberg Lutheran Home. The former Catonsville and Uniontown resident was 88. Elizabeth Virginia Smith, the daughter of a Lutheran minister and a homemaker, was born and raised in Selinsgrove, Pa., where her father was president of Susquehanna University. After graduating in 1942 from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Va., she returned to her father's college where she worked as his personal secretary for two years.

The words "domestic violence" typically invite images of bruised women and children - and male perpetrators. But the real picture of domestic violence isn't so clear-cut. And the solution to family violence is far more complex than our current criminal justice approach can handle. For about 30 years now, we've been throwing money and punishment at domestic violence with not enough to show for it. Estimates are that more than 32 million Americans are affected by domestic violence each year, with many of those in need of help never reporting their abuse.

The recent decision by the Baltimore YWCA to close its downtown shelter for homeless women and children is more than unfortunate. If the shelter goes out of business by Oct. 1, as announced, about 10 percent of the city's temporary beds for families could be lost. There's no question that permanent housing is the ultimate solution for getting the homeless off the streets. But in the meantime, families must not be left without a place to go. On any given night, an estimated 3,000 people in Baltimore are homeless; about 35 percent consist of families, usually women and children.

Time and again yesterday, people who work with Baltimore's neediest residents underscored the need for broadening the scope of services to an increasing number of homeless women and children.Bureaucrats and advocates who gathered for a forum on homelessness at Sojourner-Douglass College in East Baltimore stressed the need for additional family shelters and services such as counseling and job training."Many of the jobs available today are beyond the level of people coming to us," said Jacki Coyle, assistant director of Our Daily Bread, a downtown soup kitchen run by Catholic Charities that serves 600 to 950 lunches a day.Coyle said that every month, her organization is seeing a 10 percent increase in women and children seeking assistance.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- At least 28 people, including five Afghan lawmakers and a number of children, were killed yesterday in one of the country's deadliest suicide attacks since the ouster of the Taliban, authorities said. The bomber struck a sugar factory in Baghlan province, north of Kabul, during a visit by a delegation from the lower house of parliament. The legislators, on an economic fact-finding trip, were being greeted by local dignitaries and children at the time. "The explosion happened when the school students were singing songs to welcome the lawmakers to their province," said Zemeri Bashary, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

The recent decision by the Baltimore YWCA to close its downtown shelter for homeless women and children is more than unfortunate. If the shelter goes out of business by Oct. 1, as announced, about 10 percent of the city's temporary beds for families could be lost. There's no question that permanent housing is the ultimate solution for getting the homeless off the streets. But in the meantime, families must not be left without a place to go. On any given night, an estimated 3,000 people in Baltimore are homeless; about 35 percent consist of families, usually women and children.