actress Mozhan Marn as Soraya
This weekend marks the film debut of The Stoning of Soraya M. As if by some cosmic coincidence, the film is set in a small village in modern day Iran.
I was invited to a pre-screening of the film in the spring. The Stoning of Soraya was one of the most upsetting films that I have ever seen. Many times I had to literally cover my face and turn away from the screen.
That said, it is extremely important that we all make the effort …

photo credit: McNew/Getty
Chris Brown is a convicted felon after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna “by means likely to produce great bodily injury” in a deal that keeps him out of jail.  Has justice been served?
On The Daily Beast, Linda Fairstein, former chief prosecutor of the New York County DA’s Office Sex Crimes Unit says:
While some will complain that he got off with “only” probation, the disposition in this case is harsher than my 30 years of prosecuting batterers had me betting it would be. In the average first arrest of a …

According to a new study by RTI published in the Journal of American College Health:

20% of undergraduate women are sexually assaulted during college and an additional 10% experience attempted assault
Over half of  assaults occured when the women were “incapacitated and unable to provide consent”

In sheer numbers, that means more than 97 thousand students  are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault EVERY YEAR, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.  And the problem is getting worse, with binge drinking having risen now to 45% of students.
Many colleges are implementing aggressive education and …

Tonight, my thoughts are with Rihanna, who is scheduled to testify tomorrow morning at a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles against Chris Brown, charged with felony counts of assaulting her.  It must take immense bravery for Rihanna to testify in the face of not only the hurdles that any abused woman faces, but also intense scrutiny from tone-deaf media.  For example in the CNN Showbiz Tonight clip below, host AJ Hammer says:
I’d have to believe that she’d rather have this whole thing just kinda go away so she can get on with her life.
Really?  Are you …

(This morning, The New Agenda issued the following press release on NY State Senator Hiram Monserrate, who continues to serve despite being indicted of slashing his girlfriends face. For those of you new to our website, you can read the full story here.)
For Immediate Release
New York State Senators: When You Roll with Dogs, You Get Fleas!
The New Agenda, a national organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls, declared the New York Senate wholly deserving of the extraordinary mess they find themselves in after Senator Hiram …

The Chicago Tribune says that domestic violence calls to the Indianapolis police department are up 13% this year over last. The Honolulu Advertiser says that Hawaii’s Domestic Violence Action Center is fielding a third more calls this year than last. Rates are up in Arizona and Texas, too. The economy is down; stress and violence are up. Here are some thoughts on places women turn for help:  law enforcement, spiritual advisors, and crisis hotlines.
A new Department of Justice study on Domestic Violence & Law Enforcement contains sobering statistics about reports …

CBS:  we are waiting. No, we are demanding that you make this fiasco into a teachable moment. We want an episode devoted to the national crisis of the sexualization of our teenage daughters, and the resulting violence against them.
Here’s some further suggestions for Letterman’s Top Ten List, tonight courtesy of Liz Claiborne, Inc. which runs a program called Love is Not Abuse. Here is our daily Top Ten:
TOP TEN FACTS ABOUT TEENAGE VIOLENCE

62% of tweens (age 11-14) who have been in a relationship say they know friends …

Dave – we thought you could use some help with your script for tonight.
TOP TEN FACTS ABOUT TEENAGE VIOLENCE
(Facts from ACADV)

About 1 in 3 high school students have been or will be involved in an abusive relationship.
40% of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.
In one study, 30-50% of female high school students reported having already experienced teen dating violence.
Teen dating violence most often takes place in the home of one of the partners.
1 in …

Hiram Monserrate: Poster Boy of Violence Against Women
We’ve just learned that NY State Senator Hiram Monserrate is one of two Democratic State Senators to switch parties this morning, now giving the Republicans control of the New York State Senate by a 32-30 count.
The New York Times is reporting:
It was a noisy and acrimonious scene on the floor of the Senate as Senator Thomas W. Libous, a Republican from Binghamton and the party’s deputy leader, shouted for a roll-call vote, while Democrats attempted to stall the vote by asking to …

We’ve just been informed of a horrific case. A 15 year-old woman who was gang raped by five men. While these scumbags were attacking her, they also thought it would be fun to capture the attack on film, so they took digital photos. This poor girl, like most victims of rape, did not want to press charges, so the police are dropping the case!
Read from the local CBS affiliate:
The Broward State Attorney’s Office has decided not to file criminal charges against two of the men accused of participating in the …