What do the United States, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Qatar, Nauru, Palau and Tonga have in common?
They are the only countries that have failed to ratify the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) into law. Adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, at present 185 countries are party to the Convention. There are eight holdouts, of which the U.S. is one.
But one of these things is not like the others. Compared to Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Qatar, Nauru, Palau and Tonga, the U.S. is a …

The New Agenda will be hosting a Violence Against Women Forum on April 18th from 3-5 p.m. at the Benjamin Hotel in New York City. A cocktail hour will follow from 5-6 p.m. RSVP to tnavawforum@yahoo.com
The Violence Against Women Forum will feature four of the New York area’s preeminent experts on domestic violence. Each expert will speak about a specific topic that she feels is currently noteworthy.
One of the four panelists, Irene Weiser, President and Executive Director of stopfamilyviolence.org will speak on “The family court crisis – what’s happening, why, …

The following is an excerpt from an Associated Press article by Gregory Katz.  On behalf of the men of The New Agenda, my own husband, fathers, male friends, and all the men of this country, I was deeply offended.
Obama and his wife, Michelle — wearing a black and white dress, pearls and a black coat — were two of the first dignitaries to meet the queen, who wore a salmon-colored dress and her trademark pearls.
During their private meeting, President Obama and first lady gave the queen a personalized …

Help us spread the word! We’re pleased to present the online invitation and brochure for our upcoming Violence Against Women Forum in New York City:

We’ve created a new section on the website for the forum, as you’ll see if you look up on the top menu bar. In that section we’ve made the entire brochure available for download as a pdf or jpeg, and we’ve also created separate pages for each panelist with individual jpegs and pdfs.
You can download the invitation above as a jpeg or …

Meet-up Announcement!
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, May 9th at 4 p.m.
Peet’s Coffee and Tea
Join us for a Saturday afternoon cup of coffee or tea!  The New Agenda will be meeting in the Los Angeles area and YOU are invited to attend!  Bring a friend or twenty, and help us spread the word about The New Agenda! 

12215 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA  91604
818-487-1970
Contact cynthiaruccia@thenewagenda.net for more info.

Thanks to our friends at No Quarter for a great piece today on Nancy Keenan.
I have a growing intolerance for women who sell out other women.  This is a pattern that we all at TNA must work to bring into the light of day, and then make extinct!
When we started The New Agenda is August 2008, we collectively decided that we would focus on one person who was a misogynist, sexist or sell out and make an example of him or her.  There were loads of names to throw around …

Editor’s Note: Sexism? What Sexism? is a series highlighting sexism and misogyny in our culture, answers for those asking.
“What’s all this fuss about sexism?”
“Sexism? I just don’t see it.”
“Can you give me some examples of this sexism?”
Someone emailed me a lovely little piece of “journalism” today which perfectly provides an example of such sexism.
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MATTHEWS: What happened between those two?
FINEMAN: It was a lost weekend that didn’t go beyond the weekend.
MATTHEWS: He thought she was something special. He thought she was the genuine article.
FINEMAN: He …