Police could take fingerprints of women who wear burqas – NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher

MUSLIM women who file complaints with police while wearing full-face veils may be fingerprinted in future to confirm their identity, New South Wales Police Minister Mike Gallacher says.

The suggestion arose after Sydney woman Carnita Matthews, 47, who had been sentenced in 2010 to six months’ jail for falsely accusing a police officer of trying forcibly to remove her burqa, won an appeal against her conviction.

The mother of seven had made a criminal complaint to police three days after she was pulled over in her car in Woodbine, southwest Sydney, for a random breath test on June 7, 2010.

Judge Clive Jeffreys yesterday overturned Ms Matthews’ conviction at an appeal hearing in the NSW District Court.

He said there was no evidence to confirm that it was Ms Matthews who had filed the complaint because the person who made it was wearing a face veil.

Mr Gallacher today said that in future criminal cases, complainants and witnesses who failed to remove their face veils may be required to have their fingerprints taken to confirm their identity.

“The suggestion that I have made to the attorney-general, that may well be considered … is that there be a provision on the statutory declaration or the statement for a fingerprint to be obtained from the person being interviewed,” he said in Sydney.

He said the fingerprint data could be destroyed at a later date, at the request of the complainant.

On the issue of police officers compelling women to remove face veils at the actual scenes of alleged crimes, Mr Gallagher conceded police powers were currently not clear.

He said he would speak to Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione to find ways to clarify the situation.

Officers currently have the power to compel the removal of face veils while investigating more serious or indictable offences, Mr Gallacher said.

But they do not have such power under the Motor Transport Act when stopping a driver.

“I want to look at the Motor Transport Act … to ensure where there is uncertainty at the scene, police have the ability to take the person back, which they currently do, to the police station and check their identity,” Mr Gallacher said.

Mr Gallacher said it was his understanding there was nothing in Islamic law which currently forbade women from removing face veils to assist police and the courts.

Any change to the law regarding crime scene identification would be done in a measured way, reflecting individual freedom while balancing police powers, he said.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/top-stories/veiled-women-may-be-fingerprinted-in-nsw/story-e6frg12l-1226079647682

Women seeking rights were ‘stripped, beaten’ in Beijing

Seven women say they were beaten up by a group of men all dressed in black after they went to Beijing from Gansu Province’s Hui County to allege corruption over earthquake relief funds.

The women published an online post yesterday in a microblog on weibo.com to tell of their humiliating experience on April 27 by the men who beat them, stripped them down to their underwear in public, and sent them back to Hui County in a van overnight without even allowing them to use the toilet during a journey which was many hours long.

One witness, who described himself as a retired soldier in his 80s, wrote on the microblog: “When I saw them beating the women, I scolded them for acting like bandits. It was the most horrible, shameful, and barbarous scene I have ever seen in my life.”

In a telephone interview, 43-year-old Liu Xiuhua, one of the seven women, told Shanghai Daily they had arrived at the Dunhuang Plaza in Beijing at 3pm on April 27 planning to report a number of county officials for corruption involving relief funds released after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which also affected Gansu.

After 30 minutes waiting at the entrance of the Gansu provincial government’s Beijing office in the plaza, more than 20 men arrived in two vans and demanded that they get into the vehicles.

“The office said they were policemen, but we saw some of them with tattoos all over their bodies,” said Liu.

The men dragged an 80-year-old women into the van and stripped the clothing off four others in the plaza, in front of several male security guards and office workers, said Liu.

“They kicked and punched us for over 30 seconds before we were all thrown into the van,” Liu said. “Then the engine started, I was sitting beside a woman who was beaten into a coma and the leader of the men kept punching and scolding us.”

She didn’t know how long it took them to arrive at their hometown in Hui County, but when they arrived, it was already nightfall on April 28.

During the long journey, the van made no stops to allow the women to use the toilet, Liu said.

According to the women’s online post, the van dropped the women off at Hui County’s police bureau.

The policemen there took no action against the men but just watched them leave.

Of the local police and county officials, Liu said: “They told us that ‘you deserve this’ and said the case was closed.”

Another woman, Wang Caihong, supported Liu’s account on the microblog.

One of the victims had a broken leg and others suffered bruising to their bodies.

Officials with the Hui County government could not be reached yesterday.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/7394788.html

Hundreds of Women Report Rapes by Qaddafi Forces

Dr. Seham Sergewa distributed a questionnaire to 70,000 Libyan families living in refugee camps after being driven from their homes, originally to measure how traumatized children were from the fighting, the AP reports. The 59,000 responses she received begin to quantify the full extent of the horror suffered.

10,000 people suffering post-traumatic stress, 4,000 children with psychological problems. Then came the unexpected: 259 women said they had been raped by militiamen loyal to Muammar Qaddafi.

Sergewa’s survey originally did not ask about rape, but when women began approaching her, she added a question about rape on the survey. Some of the women described the attacks to her in terrifying detail, such as a woman in Misrata who said she was raped in front of her four children after Qaddafi fighters burned down her home. And although 259 women came forward, Sergewa believes the numbers is many times higher as women are afraid to report the attacks.

It’s not unusual for rape to be used as a weapon of war, but this is one of the first indications of the extent it has been used in Libya, since Iman al-Obeidi burst into the hotel housing foreign journalists in Tripoli in March and accused pro-Qaddafi militiamen of gang-raping her. Despite her story and reports of condoms and Viagra found in the pockets of dead Qaddafi solders, some have found the evidence of a concerted rape campaign thin. Doctors in Benghazi said they had heard of women being raped but had not treated any. A consultant for Human Rights Watch reportedly said that the organization has learned of “a few credible cases of gender based violence and rape, but the evidence is not there at this point to suggest it is of a systematic nature, or an official policy. On Viagra and condom distribution we have nothing so far.”

But these new testimonies indicate widespread trauma behind a heavy code of silence. Another doctor reported testing victims for AIDs “who were terrified their families would find out.” Some victims have already been abandoned by their husbands, while others fear seeking treatment will result in retribution from spouses or banishment. Dr. Sergewa said of the 140 rape survivors she personally interviewed, not one could she persuade to prosecute.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/atlantic/20110529/wl_atlantic/surveylibyantraumarevealshundredsrapesqaddafiforces38273_1

Egyptian General Defends ‘Virginity Checks’ on Protesters

After previous denials by military officials, a senior Egyptian general has admitted to CNN that “virginity tests” were conducted on female demonstrators arrested in Tahrir Square.

During a March 9, nearly a month after Hosni Mubarak resigned, the Egyptian military targeted the demonstrators in Tahrir Square, arresting nearly 149 people. An Amnesty International report published weeks later claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges, and forced to submit to virginity checks.

Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or “virginity tests.” Now, a senior Egyptian general who asked not to be identified admits that “virginity checks” were performed, and his defense of the practice reveals a disturbingly bleak attitude towards women. “The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine,” the general said. “These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs).”

He then offered the bizarre rationale that the virginity checks were done so that the women would not later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities. “We didn’t want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place,” the general said. “None of them were (virgins).” He did not further explain this confounding logic.

Salwa Hosseini, a 20-year-old hairdresser and one of the women named in the Amnesty report, described how she and 16 other female prisoners were taken to a military detention center in Heikstep.  They were threatened that “those not found to be virgins” would be charged with prostitution. “The army officers tried to further humiliate the women by allowing men to watch and photograph what was happening, with the implicit threat that the women could be at further risk of harm if the photographs were made public,” Amnesty reported.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/05/egyptian-general-defends-virginity-checks-tahrir-square-protesters/38282/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlanticWire+%28The+Atlantic+Wire%29

Crowds Gather To Protest ‘Rape Cops’ Verdict

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY (PIX11) — An angry crowd of roughly 400 gathered outside Manhattan’s Criminal Court on Centre Street Friday to protest the not-guilty verdict of Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata, the two NYPD officers who were acquitted on felony rape charges yesterday.

“We are here to say rape is not ok,” chanted protestors. ”NYPD shame on you.”

Other chants included, “Why a victim wouldn’t trust the justice system. Look no further than the acquittal of NYPD officers Moreno and Mata.”

Moreno and Mata were only found guilty of three counts each of official misconduct — for entering their accuser’s apartment three times back in 2008.

Friday’s rally exploded in size and popularity overnight over Facebook.

Once the non-guilty rape verdict of now fired officers came down, activist Lori Adelman started a Facebook page, called “Protest The Acquittal Of Officer Kenneth Moreno and Franklin Mata.”

In less than 24 hours, her planned protest had 1400 followers.

“People are just so angry and infuriated because the evidence seemed so overwhelming in this case,” said Adelman.

This wasn’t the only protest that surfaced today.

Outside city hall, city leaders explained their frustration with the not guilty verdict.

“As a former criminal defense attorney I recognize the verdict yesterday demonstrated the imperfections of the system,” said New York Councilwoman Latisha James

Both officers were fired Thursday after they were found guilty of official misconduct.
Commissioner Ray Kelly stood by the department’s actions to terminate the officers.

“The jury has spoken.”

But protesters say firing is not enough. They want Commissioner Kelly to implement new sexual assault and anti-rape policies within the department.

“We want him to respond one week from today,” said Adelman.

http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-rape-cop-verdict-protests-planned-20110526,0,6007537.story

Relief offer for unwed mothers hits a raw nerve

PALAKKAD: Various tribes and social organisations in Attappady have come out against the decision of the State government on Wednesday to provide one acre (0.4 hectare) of land and a monthly pension of Rs.1,000 to unwed tribal mothers.

Eswari Reshan, district panchayat member, said on Thursday that the decision was “an insult not only to tribal women but also to womanhood.”

She said some tribal women had come to her protesting against the reopening of old issues, saying that to get financial assistance, they were being forced to file cases against the men who had deserted them. Doing so would aggravate the stigma they faced for giving birth out of wedlock.

Rather than give relief, she said, the government should bring to book the men who had deserted the women after having a child or two. Some women had been abandoned by men who had legally married them. The relief announced would only encourage those who wanted to exploit women.

Ms. Reshan said the government should enforce the law against such cheating and exploitation. Provision of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act should be invoked.

On the government’s promise of land, Ms. Reshan said most unwed mothers owned two acres to five acres of land, but had no resources to cultivate it. The government should fund cultivation and offer employment and educational opportunities.

‘Atrocities will go up’

P.R.G. Mathur, expert in tribal affairs and former Director of the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (KIRTADS), said the government’s decision would promote atrocities on tribal women, besides being an insult to them and womanhood.

Would the government apply the same yardstick to unwed mothers of other communities in various parts of the State, he asked.

Dr. Mathur said the government’s duty was to implement the law and bring the culprits to book. The men, not the government, should be made to pay for the crime.

He cited examples from Madhya Pradesh of men who had ditched tribal women being brought before the law and made to marry the victims and look after their family.

He said that Kerala government should immediately conduct a survey on unwed mothers in tribal areas.

M. Sukumaran, president, Attappady Samrakshana Samithi (protection committee), said no civilised society could accept the government’s decision, as it went against the law of the land.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/27/stories/2011052758170600.htm

Increase in old age, widow pension demanded

BERHAMPUR: The State government continues to provide Rs. 200 per month to widows, physically challenged and the aged as pension in this era of inflation when a cup of tea costs more than Rs. 2 at roadside kiosks.

The State government has named the pension scheme as ‘Madhu Babu Pension Yojana’. It is an irony that the beneficiaries do not get this amount every month. They are provided this allowance in bulk in four or six months. Both beneficiaries and social activists feel the pension amount is too meagre and it needs enhancement. “We feel it should be hiked so that the beneficiaries should feel they are getting a respectable assistance from the State government rather than alms,” said farmer leader Kailash Sadangi. In several other States amount provided through similar pension schemes is more. According to State secretariat member of CPI(M), in West Bengal beneficiaries of similar pension scheme get Rs.1,000, in Andhra Pradesh it is Rs. 500, in Kerala it is Rs. 750 and in Tripura the beneficiaries get Rs. 1,000 per month. “When the government could hike salary and perks of MLAs to around Rs. 60,000 per month in this poverty stricken State, no one in the government is thinking of providing a respectable succour to the poor beneficiaries of Madhu Babu Pension Yojana,” he said.

In the State the HIV positive persons are considered physically challenged and are also included under the Madhu Babu Pension Yojana. Some HIV positive beneficiaries say the amount they get under this pension scheme helps them travel to Berhampur for medical needs or to buy subsidised rice provided through the Public Distribution System (PDS). “The monthly pension is so low that the beneficiaries do not want to get it through cheque every month as they would lose more money for their encashmen,” said Soudamini Rath, social activist involved in rehabilitation of HIV positive persons.

Mr Sadangi also alleged that during disbursement of money to beneficiaries in rural areas, the local touts and panchayat members deduct a sum from the pension amount. “The money that these poor people get serves as pocket money for some and most prefer to buy their quota of subsidised PDS rice with it,” he said. According to him the meagre sum of Rs. 200 per month never helps in enhancing economic security of the beneficiaries as claimed by the scheme.

http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/25/stories/2011052561120300.htm

Groups consider withdrawing from missing women inquiry

Advocacy groups are considering withdrawing from the missing women inquiry to protest the provincial government’s decision not to fund their participation.

“I think we’ve got to be prepared to walk away,” said Terry Teegee, vice-chief of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council.

His group was granted limited standing at the Wally Oppal-led missing women inquiry that is set to begin next month in Vancouver. The inquiry will investigate the way police and other justice officials handled the disappearance of women from the Downtown Eastside in the 1990s.

Most of the women were – or are presumed – murdered by serial killer Robert Pickton. The DNA of Jackie Murdock, who belonged to one of the CSTC member First Nations, was found at Pickton’s farm.

The council and other groups, including sex-trade workers’ advocates and residents of the Downtown Eastside, are expected to provide valuable insight into marginalized populations at the inquiry.

But the province’s decision to fund only the missing women’s families has Teegee and the others rethinking their participation.

“We don’t have funding for this. We’re a society and we’re lucky if we have any extra funds for something like this, but we don’t,” Teegee said.

In a written statement sent to the media, Attorney General Barry Penner said the line had to be drawn somewhere.

“These continue to be challenging economic times, and there are limits to how many millions of taxpayer dollars we can provide to lawyers representing advocacy groups,” Penner said.

He went on to point out that the province already agreed to fund the less formal study commission that will travel to the North to learn more about the Highway of Tears and its victims, and make recommendations.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/122663034.html

Saudi Facebook Campaign Calls for Men to Beat Women Drivers

A campaign on Facebook is calling for Saudi men to beat women who plan to drive cars in a protest next month, AFP reports.

“The Iqal Campaign: June 17 for preventing women from driving” advocates a cord be used to beat women who plan to drive. Women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia.

Some 6,000 people have “liked” the campaign on Facebook.

It was created in response to female activist Manal al-Sharif, who created a page calling for Saudi women to defy the driving ban on June 17.

The Facebook page, called “Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself,” was removed after more than 12,000 people indicated their support. The campaign’s Twitter account also was deactivated.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women — both Saudi and foreign — from driving. The prohibition forces families to hire live-in drivers, and those who cannot afford the $300 to $400 a month for a driver must rely on male relatives to drive them to work, school, shopping or the doctor.

The issue is a highly emotional one in the kingdom, where women are also not allowed to vote, or even travel without their husbands’ or fathers’ permission.

About 800 Saudi people have signed a petition urging Saudi King Abdullah to release al-Sherif and to make a clear statement on women’s right to drive.

“We are fed up,” Waleed Aboul Khair, a lawyer and rights activists said. “Be frank,” he said, addressing the country’s rulers. “For the first time in the history of the kingdom, we have hundreds of people calling for the king to be frank.”

“The society has moved. The society is not silent anymore,” Aboul Khair said.

There is no written Saudi law banning women from driving, only fatwas, or religious edicts, by senior clerics that are enforced by police. King Abdullah has promised reforms in the past and has taken some tentative steps to ease restrictions on women. But the Saudi monarchy relies on Wahhabi clerics to give religious legitimacy to its rule and is deeply reluctant to defy their entrenched power.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/25/saudi-facebook-campaign-calls-men-beat-women-drivers/#ixzz1NVjss3Xt

2 NYPD officers acquitted of rape in ’08 encounter

NEW YORK – Two police officers were acquitted Thursday of raping a drunken woman they’d been called to help, with a jury convicting them only of misdemeanor official misconduct charges in a case that pitted a stunning claim of police abuse against the officers’ insistence that it simply didn’t happen.

Looking exhausted but relieved as they left court, Officers Franklin Mata and Kenneth Moreno said they felt vindicated by the verdict, though it could send them to jail and immediately got them fired. Moreno called it both “a lesson and a win.”

“My intentions were, from the beginning, just to help her,” Moreno said. He was accused of raping the woman, with Mata serving as a lookout; the two had returned to her apartment three times after an initial call to help her get home. Moreno, 43, said he did so to check on her, at her request, and to counsel her about drinking.

“I made a judgment call … and I paid for it,” he said.

Mata, 29, said he had “been innocent from day one. I’m glad everybody sees that now.”

Jurors, who left court without speaking to reporters, deliberated for about six days before returning the verdict. They found each officer guilty of three official misconduct charges for returning to the woman’s apartment without telling dispatchers or superiors where they were. They face possible sentences from no jail time to a total of two years behind bars at their sentencing, set for June 28.

The police department dismissed them within hours after the verdict; they had been suspended when indicted in 2009. At the time, Commissioner Raymond Kelly had called the allegations “disgraceful” and “a shocking aberration” in the department’s work. Moreno’s lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, had said Thursday before their firing that the two didn’t expect to resume police work.

Besides the rape acquittal, they were acquitted of other charges including burglary and falsifying business records.

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement that prosecutors “respect the jury’s verdict, which acknowledges that the defendants’ actions that night not only violated the law, they violated the victim’s rights, and the public’s trust.”

The verdict puzzled and outraged some observers, including women’s advocates. Several activists organize a protest outside the courthouse for Friday evening, while members of the City Council Women’s Caucus and the National Organization for Women planned a news conference Friday afternoon on the City Hall steps.

“Never mind professional behavior, and they’re held to higher standard because they’re police officers — to hear some of the facts in this case that they (the officers) put forward” was disturbing, Councilwoman Rosie Mendez said.

During the trial, prosecutors told a stark story of police misconduct and a perverse abuse of power. The officers acknowledged a number of missteps — including Moreno making a bogus 911 call about a sleeping vagrant as an excuse to return to her building — but said that they weren’t crimes and that the rape allegation was a product of the woman’s muddled memory.

“I thought she made the whole thing up,” Moreno said Thursday, adding later that “she was mistaken or confused.”

The officers were called to help the woman get out of a taxi on Dec. 7, 2008. A fashion product developer who’s now 29, the woman had gotten very drunk while out with friends celebrating her impending promotion and move to California.

The woman testified that she passed out and awoke to being raped in her apartment. Moreno told jurors that he lay alongside her in her bed for a while but that they didn’t have sex. Mata said he was napping in the living room while the others were in the bedroom.

While she acknowledged during days of testimony that her memory of the night was spotty, she said that she acutely remembered the rape, and that other vivid snippets — police radio chatter, flashlights, the same man’s voice urging her to drink water in her bathroom and later asking her if she wanted him to stay in her bedroom — made her certain that her attacker was an officer.

“I couldn’t believe that two officers who had been called to help me had, instead, raped me,” said the woman, who has sued the city seeking $57 million over the incident. Her lawyer didn’t immediately return a call Thursday.

After consulting prosecutors, she secretly recorded a conversation with Moreno a few days later. He alternately denied they had sex and seemed to admit it, particularly by saying twice that he’d used a condom when she asked him.

Moreno told jurors he was just “telling her what she wanted to hear” because she had suggested she’d go into the stationhouse where he worked and make a scene. He has been a police officer for about 20 years.

No DNA evidence was collected in the case, and experts debated whether an internal mark found during an examination of the woman could be interpreted as a sign of rape.

Moreno said he was only trying to console and counsel the woman about drinking during his series of visits, as he shared his own struggle with alcoholism some years before, killed a cockroach in her bathroom, made plans to have breakfast with her and sang to her a verse of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.”

On the last visit, Moreno said, he suddenly found himself fending off drunken advances from the woman.

“I told her, `There’s another time for this. Not tonight.’ … I kind of had her by the shoulders, and I said, `We’re not doing this,’” he told jurors.

But, he said, he wound up in her bed after she fell and got stuck between her bed and a wall and needed to be freed. He said he stayed there “snuggling” with her for a time, out of sympathy, but kept his uniform on and didn’t have sex with her.

Mata, a police officer for about five years, acknowledged during his testimony that he couldn’t be sure what had happened between the two while he was snoozing on the woman’s sofa. But he said he didn’t believe Moreno had raped the woman because “Ken wouldn’t do something like that.”

He was charged with rape under state legal principles that hold an alleged accessory as responsible for a crime as the main defendant.

Asked whether the official misconduct conviction was a disappointment, Mata lawyer Edward Mandery said, “We’ll deal with it.”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110526/ap_on_re_us/us_nypd_rape_complaint

Masked South Korean sex workers rally against police crackdown on brothels

SEOUL, South Korea — Hundreds of prostitutes and pimps rallied Tuesday near a red-light district in Seoul to protest a police crackdown on brothels, with some unsuccessfully attempting to set themselves on fire.

A crowd of about 400 people, mostly women wearing baseball caps, masks and sunglasses, chanted slogans like, “Guarantee the right to live!” during the four-hour rally.

At one point, about 20 protesters in their underwear and covered in body and face paint doused themselves in flammable liquid in an apparent attempt to burn themselves, but others stopped them from lighting any flames. Some of the women then sat in the street and wept and screamed, while other protesters consoled them.

Minor scuffles between protesters and police officers erupted after the rally, but there were no reports of major injuries.

Prostitution is illegal in South Korea but is widespread despite repeated government crackdowns.

The rally comes weeks after officials began stationing police cars near brothels in a bid to drive away people looking to pay for sex.

The sex workers accuse a nearby department store of pushing police to take such measures. Police deny the claim.

As part of their protest, a group of prostitutes on Sunday tried to buy expensive items at the department store with only coins; when they were rejected, they placed large piles of coins on the department store’s floors.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/masked-south-korean-sex-workers-rally-against-police-crackdown-on-brothels/2011/05/17/AFMCbW5G_story.html?wprss=rss_world

State budget panel trims university funding 15%, caps welfare

Lansing—Welfare benefits would be limited to 48 months and 124,000 children will no longer get an $80 clothing allowance under a joint House-Senate Department of Human Services budget approved by the Senate this afternoon.

The Senate earlier today approved by a 26-16 vote a joint House-Senate budget for higher education that trims 15 percent in funding from state universities that Snyder has proposed. Both budgets now head to the House, where they are expected to be approved by the Republican majority.

A $1.9 billion Department of Corrections budget passed out of committee and awaits action in the Senate. The plan would cut $70.8 million from the department’s budget, including $31.3 million to be saved by competitively bidding the housing of 1,750 prisoners.

The House and Senate are reconciling budget bills for various state departments. They must both concur and pass the final budgets before they can be sent to Gov. Rick Snyder for his signature. Earlier, the Legislature passed a tax reform plan that awaits Snyder’s signature. The plan eliminates the Michigan Business Tax, imposes a 6 percent corporate tax on some businesses, eliminates many business and personal tax credits and imposes a phased-in tax on pensions.

The House will roll all of the state budgets into two “omnibus” bills, one for higher education, community colleges and universities, and the other for the rest of the budget.

The Legislature hopes to send the complete budget to Gov. Rick Snyder by May 31 to be signed into law.

The 48-month lifetime limit on welfare is retroactive, and would begin immediately if the budget also passes in the House and is signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder. The Senate Fiscal Agency estimates 12,600 families, about 15 percent of state caseloads, would be immediately tossed off welfare rolls, saving more than $77 million from the state’s main checking account.

Democrats on the committee said the cuts will leave many families without help at a time when few jobs are available for laid off workers. People with a mental or physical disability, who are caring for a disabled family member, domestic violence victims and women in advance pregnancy or who recently have given birth would be exempt from the 48-month lifetime limit.

“Ninety percent of families on (welfare) are working, but not earning enough to leave assistance,” Sen. Vincent Gregory, D-Southfield, told the committee. “I would have preferred to see it phased out.”

Republicans said the cuts are necessary and noted they aren’t as harsh as either chamber had approved in their separate budgets. Children of working parents would no longer be able to receive an average $80 allowance for school clothes under the budget, but the bill would increase the amount their parents can earn while receiving benefits by about $4,000. Children in foster care aren’t affected.

“We actually gave more to those people and encouraged them to work, incentivized them to work,” said Rep. David Agema, R-Grandville.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110524/POLITICS02/105240398/State-budget-panel-trims-university-funding-15—caps-welfare#ixzz1NQcuRxYM

Transgender widow’s marriage debated at hearing

WHARTON, Texas (AP) — The transgender widow of a Texas firefighter will likely learn next week whether his family’s request to nullify their marriage and strip her of any death benefits will be granted, a judge said Friday.

State District Judge Randy Clapp made the announcement after hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by the family of firefighter Thomas Araguz III, who was killed while battling a blaze last year. The suit argues that his widow shouldn’t get any benefits because she was born a man and Texas doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage.

The widow, Nikki Araguz, said she had done everything medically and legally possible to show that she is female and was legally married under Texas law. She believes that she’s entitled to widow’s benefits.

“I believe the judge is going to rule in my favor,” Araguz said after the court hearing.

The lawsuit seeks control over death benefits and assets totaling more than $600,000, which the firefighter’s family wants to go to his two sons from a previous marriage. Voiding the marriage would prevent Nikki Araguz from receiving any insurance or death benefits or property the couple had together.

Thomas Araguz died while fighting a fire at an egg farm near Wharton, about 60 miles southwest of Houston, in July 2010. He was 30.

His mother, Simona Longoria, filed a lawsuit asking that her son’s marriage be voided. She and her family have said he learned of his wife’s gender history just prior to his death, and after he found out, he moved out of their home and planned to end the marriage.

But Nikki Araguz, 35, has insisted that her husband was aware she was born a man and that he fully supported her through the surgical process to become a woman. She underwent surgery two months after they were married in 2008.

Longoria’s attorney, Chad Ellis, argued that Texas law — specifically a 1999 appeals court ruling that stated chromosomes, not genitals, determine gender — supports his client’s efforts to void the marriage.

The ruling upheld a lower court’s decision that threw out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a San Antonio woman, Christie Lee Cavazos Littleton, after her husband’s death. The court said that although Littleton had undergone a sex-change operation, she was actually a man, based on her original birth certificate, and therefore her marriage and wrongful death claim were invalid.

Ellis presented medical and school records that he said showed Nikki Araguz was born without female reproductive organs and that she presented herself as a male while growing up and going to school. He also said her birth certificate at the time of her marriage indicated she was a man.

“By law, two males cannot be married in this state,” Ellis told the judge.

Nikki Araguz, who was born in California, did not change her birth certificate to reflect she had become a female until after her husband’s death, said Edward Burwell, one of the attorneys for Thomas Araguz’s ex-wife, Heather Delgado, the mother of his two children.

But one of Nikki Araguz’s attorneys, Darrell Steidley, said that when his client got her marriage license, she presented the necessary legal documents to show she was a female. He also noted changes made in 2009 to the Texas Family Code that allowed people to present numerous alternatives to a birth certificate as the proof of identity needed to get a marriage license. That was an example, he argued, of the state trying to move away from the 1999 appeals court ruling.

The changes in 2009 allowed transgendered people to use proof of their sex change to get a marriage license. The Texas Legislature is currently considering a bill that would prohibit county and district clerks from using a court order recognizing a sex change as documentation to get married.

After the hearing, the firefighter’s family and attorneys for his ex-wife criticized plans by Nikki Araguz to star in a reality television dating show and implied she was only interested in money and fame that the case would bring her.

“That is absurd,” Nikki Araguz said in response. “I’m after my civil equality and the rights that I deserve as the wife of a fallen firefighter.”

If the judge rules against the firefighter’s family in their motion for a summary judgment, the case would then proceed to trial. Araguz said if the judge rules against her, she would appeal, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Transgender-widow-s-marriage-debated-at-hearing-1388734.php#ixzz1NISN5qUn

Welfare recipient drug testing passes state legislature

Legislation to mandate drug testing for people on welfare is on its way to the governor’s desk.

The House signed off on the bill this morning, which was even tougher when it came back from the senate.

“Recipients of welfare benefits, commonly called TANF, would have a drug test if there’s reasonable cause to believe that they may be using drugs illegally,” said Rep. Ellen Brandom (R) of Sikeston

Under the bill, welfare recipients would lose their benefits for three years if they fail a urine test that screens for narcotics.

The House originally said one year, but the Senate pushed it to three. The measure would allow drug users to receive benefits again after a time if they complete a drug treatment program and do not test positive again.

Critics say the legislation will have little deterrent value without treatment…

“And until we solve the underlying problem of drug abuse, you can take the money away all you want, those parents are gonna find a way to get the drugs,” said Rep. Genise Montecillo, (D), of St. Louis

Others question the expense.

“We’re gonna cost the taxpayers of this state a million dollars. And we don’t actually know how much it’s gonna save,” said Rep. Jacob Hummel (D), St. Louis. 

The senate also added a provision to require that the electronic cards used to claim welfare benefits include a photo of the recipient and be renewed every three years.

Lawmakers say that comes from recipients selling their cards to third parties for cash.

http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=616537

5000 Edinburgh women face working longer for pension

AN estimated 5000 women in Edinburgh will have to work another year or more to qualify for their state pension under latest UK Government proposals – but many of them do not realise it.

Edinburgh Labour MPs today called for a rethink on the plans to speed up the raising of the pension age for women, warning the change would force many families to change their plans for the future.

Under the new Pension Bill proposals, women’s pension age will increase to 65, in line with men’s, by 2018 and the increase, along with men’s, to 66 by 2020, six years earlier than originally planned.
The change mainly affects women currently aged 57-58, but the worst hit are at the younger end of that group.

According to charity Age UK, women born between April 6 and May 5, 1953, will have to carry on working until July 2016, two months longer than under the previous timetable for increasing the pension age.

Women born between March 6 and April 5, 1954, will not be able to claim their pension until March 2020, a full two years later than originally proposed.

Mark Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, said the changes had been sprung on women without giving them fair notice.

He said: “Many people are unaware of what is going to happen because the Government has not properly publicised the changes.

“Across Edinburgh, about 5000 are likely to be hit. Most of these women are likely to rely on the state pension as a high proportion of women in this age group don’t have a private pension.

“Of course some people are happy to work on but it’s just not that simple for everyone to go on working – over a third of those affected are no longer in paid work because they are in ill-health or caring for others.”

Edinburgh East Labour MP Sheila Gilmore said: “Many of these are women who have juggled working lives with raising a family, and who, through no fault of their own, have very little retirement saving to fall back on. The lack of warning means they do not have enough time to adjust carefully-thought-out retirement plans, and leaves them feeling robbed of their pension.”

Trade unions and organisations such as Age UK and Saga say they accept the need for the pension age to rise but argue people must have time to prepare. Edinburgh South Labour MP Ian Murray said: “Despite the coalition agreement stating that they would not raise the state pension age for women before 2020, the Government has made another U-turn.

“I will be fighting these changes every step of the way to ensure fairness for those approaching retirement, not the feeling that the goalposts keep being moved.”

The Department of Work and Pensions said with forecasts that ten million people across the UK will live to 100, the country could not continue paying the state pension at an age which was set early last century.

Although women would experience the pension age rising more quickly than planned, they would still draw the state pension for an average of 23 years.

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/5000-Capital-women-face-working.6772078.jp?articlepage=2

CBI probe sought into attack on women in village

The demand for an independent probe into alleged atrocities against farmers of Uttar Pradesh’s Bhatta-Parsaul village intensified yesterday as the National Commission for Women (NCW) slammed the state government for molestation and rape of village women.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), effectively supporting the claims of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, demanded a judicial probe.
Yasmeen Abrar, acting chairperson of the women’s commission demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the incidents after a visit by its team to the affected areas.
“We have prepared a preliminary report which states that the women in the village have been molested and sexually assaulted. There are allegations that they have been raped but it could be confirmed only after all the investigations are over,” Abrar said.
The village in Greater Noida, near the Indian capital, has become the epicentre of the movement against land acquisition for an expressway project.
A protest on May 7 turned violent claiming the lives of four people, including two policemen.
An NCW team which visited the village on May 12 saw ransacked homes, horrified women, hungry and helpless children and bones of human beings lying in the ashes on the ground.
“There are bones of human beings lying with the ashes of burnt bodies. The family members of the villagers have been burnt alive. The burnt houses bear the marks of flames on the walls. Villagers, especially women, are not just broken, but terrified,” said Abrar.
BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said the original problem of the farmers was being overlooked in the controversy created by Gandhi’s allegations about rape of women and discovery of bones in ashes, which have been denied by the government of Chief Minister Mayawati.
“The NCW is a statutory body, they have found some facts and given a report, but what we are asking for is an independent inquiry. We are demanding a judicial inquiry in the action done by the state government,” Sitharaman said.
Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi also favoured a judicial probe. “A judicial inquiry will find precisely that (facts),” Singhvi said.
The NCW team visited Bhatta-Parsaul after a delegation of villagers met its officials and alleged rape, molestation and sexual assault of women by policemen. The report will be given to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Abrar said she did not believe in the forensic report of the state government which denied the presence of any human bones in the heaps of ashes in the village. “We have got certain proofs and pictures, which we cannot disclose now, to prove it.”

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=436049&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22

More women join dole queue as public sector cuts bite

The number of women claiming out-of-work benefits has hit its highest level since 1996, with public sector job cuts starting to bite last month.

Attempts by the government to nudge single mothers into the workforce have also pushed up the number of women claiming jobseeker’s allowance (JSA), as they are stripped of income support once their children turn seven.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that 474,000 women were receiving JSA in April. While the government took some comfort from the fact that total unemployment fell by 36,000 to 2.46 million in the three months to March, according to the broad International Labour Organisation measure, there was a rise of 12,400 in the more timely claimant count last month – with more than three-quarters of the increase among women.

It was the 10th consecutive month in which the number of women claiming out-of-work benefits had increased – although there are still more than twice as many men, 994,000, receiving JSA. The Department for Work and Pensions said part of the rise resulted from rule changes that have seen single mothers shifted on to employment benefits to encourage them to look for a job.

Since October, single mothers have joined the claimant count when their youngest child turns seven, down from the previous limit of 10. Single parents receiving JSA rose by 6,000 in March.

The DWP said the number of people receiving JSA was likely to go on increasing as incapacity benefit claimants were assessed for their readiness to work.

Since George Osborne announced the tightest fiscal squeeze in a generation last autumn, equality campaigners have been warning that the impact will be disproportionately felt by women, who make up much of the public sector workforce. Anna Bird, acting chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said women were acting as “shock absorbers” for the austerity measures.

“We are beginning to see the real impact of the government’s approach to cutting the deficit and, as we feared, women are bearing the brunt,” she said. “Combined with reduced benefits and increasing costs of childcare as state support dwindles, the lack of employment prospects risk rolling back women’s rights a generation.”

The figures also confirm that the pressure on household incomes is intensifying, as salaries fail to keep pace with rocketing inflation. While the inflation rate hit 4.5% last month, average pay rose by just 2.3% in the year to March.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/18/more-women-join-dole-queue-cuts

UK: Women and the coalition: mothers’ and child benefits

The coalition may present itself, like all the main political parties, as pro-family, but it is mothers who have become the “shock absorbers” for the coalition’s cuts in welfare benefits and childcare provision, say critics.

From cuts to maternity grants and child benefits, to closures of Sure Start centres, childcare schemes and after-school clubs, it is women – particularly single mothers on low incomes – who bear the brunt of attempts to reduce the deficit.

The changes will affect women’s incomes and ability to enter the job market, critics say, and put many at risk of poverty. “The disproportionate impact of the cuts on women raises issues of fairness and calls into question the idea of society sharing the weight of national debt reduction,” said Abigail Davies, assistant director of policy and practice at the Chartered Institute of Housing. “Overall the public spending cuts are known to impact disproportionately on single parent families, most of which are headed by women. Cuts to benefits and public spending, coupled with stricter job-seeking expectations for lone parents claiming benefits, will trap some women in an impossible situation.”

Benefit cuts that affect women include reductions in the childcare tax credit, the Sure Start maternity grant, and the health in pregnancy grant, and the freezing of child benefit rates for three years.

Katherine Rake, chief executive of the Family and Parenting Institute, said: “The targeting of family benefits for cutbacks in the last 12 months means women’s incomes have been disproportionately hit. For many women, child benefit was the only source of income they received directly, giving them independence and control over family spending. The coalition’s decision to end universal child benefit was therefore a particularly painful blow.”

There are concerns that single parents – most of whom are women – will also be unfairly affected by housing benefit reform. “This will require some families to move, which is expensive, unsettling, affects [children's] educational performance, and puts families into less economically successful areas with reduced employment opportunities,” said Davies. “Cuts to tax credits, Sure Start, after-school clubs and so on, create further barriers to employment for single parents.

“The government wants to encourage social mobility and tackle poverty, but these cuts do not create an environment which supports women or enables them to help themselves.”

Despite the government’s commitment to guarantee 15 hours a week free childcare provision, childcare support has been badly hit by local authority spending cuts. These have led to widespread cuts in Sure Start children’s centres and after-school and holiday play schemes. Although many councils have committed themselves to keeping centres open, most have reduced services drastically.

A survey of mothers using Sure Start centres, carried out in February by the Daycare Trust charity, found that 35% felt that the removal or reduction of services would leave them more socially isolated, and 32% felt it would be harder to see their midwife or health visitor.

Rake said there had been some positive policy developments for mothers over the past 12 months, such as proposals for shared postnatal parental leave, and to extend rights to flexible working. She added: “The government must deliver on these proposals if it is to make strides towards a truly family-friendly society.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/may/20/women-coalition-mothers-child-benefits

Fate of Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill Uncertain

Photo: AFP

A woman holding a placard as she takes part in an anti-gay demonstration in Jinja, Kampala, (File)

Some lawmakers and activists in Uganda say voting on controversial anti-homosexuality bill has been postponed.

Speaker of the Parliament Edward Ssekandi adjourned parliament Friday, saying there was not enough time to start debate on the bill.  The current legislative session ends Wednesday.

The bill calls for mandatory death sentences for some homosexual acts and has drawn condemnation from the United States and various human rights groups.  U.S. President Barack Obama has described it as “odious.”

The author of the bill said earlier this week that a new version of the bill would not contain the death penalty.  But no amended version was released.

The human rights group Avaaz said parliament’s refusal to take up the measure was a victory for all Ugandans.

On Thursday, the group Human Rights Watch warned that a Ugandan parliamentary committee was recommending the passage of the anti-homosexuality bill.  The international rights group also said the committee recommends adding criminal penalties for involvement in a same sex marriage.

A Ugandan gay rights activist who spoke out against the bill was murdered in January.  But Ugandan officials say the killing had nothing to do with his campaign against the legislation.

Activist David Kato had been the target of death threats since a Ugandan tabloid featured him on a list of what it called the country’s top homosexuals.

Uganda is widely regarded as an oppressive environment or gays.  Homosexuality is currently punishable by life in prison.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/Fate-of-Ugandas-Anti-Gay-Bill-Uncertain-121774624.html

Plans to recruit 20,000 women in paramilitary forces in 3 yrs

New Delhi, May 12 (PTI) The government is planning to recruit 20,000 more armed women personnel in paramilitary forces in the next three years.

According to the new plan formulated by the Home Ministry, all paramilitary forces — CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB and NSG — will essentially have 5 per cent of their total force strength as women personnel in three to five years and 10 per cent in the subsequent five years.

These women will be hired and deployed for general guard duties, patrolling, frisking suspects and other normal policing activities undertaken by their male counterparts.

Subsequently, the government plans to enhance the facilities being offered to women security personnel.

“We have to construct more barracks for women, toilets, creche, day-care centres besides being more considerate in granting leave. We hope that in ten years, there will be generational shift in the paramilitary forces,” an official said.

The CRPF is the first central force to have inducted women personnel in its combat ranks. The force presently has two operational battalions (2,000 women) while the third (around 1,000 personnel) is being raised currently. The total strength of CRPF is about 3 lakh personnel, making it the country”s largest paramilitary force.

The government has also begun to induct the first batch of 650 women personnel in the BSF for border guarding duties. The BSF has more than two lakh personnel on its rolls.

Other forces which have women in combat roles are the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), with about 700 women personnel, and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force with about 800 women combatants. The total strength of SSB and ITBP is about 50,000 personnel each.

The CISF has about 1,500 women personnel on its rolls out of the total strength of about 2 lakh personnel.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/plans-recruit-20-000-women-paramilitary-forces-3-130800195.html

Women in Saudi Arabia try to ‘buy’ their freedom to work

ABHA: Saudi workingwomen have embarked on new ways to win the consent of their male legal guardians or husbands to  take a job. This is so in jobs where there are still strong taboos about women working in them.

Many Saudi workingwomen set aside a portion of their monthly income, which enables them to win the consent of their male guardians as well as to enjoy full freedom to do job, according to a report in Al-Riyadh Arabic daily.

These women, who often managed to secure a job after a long period of waiting, see their job as a basic requirement of their day-to-day life. Hence, they are wary of safeguarding it by taking all the precautionary measures. Even if the job does not improve their economic status, it contributes substantially in upgrading their social status compared to jobless women.

Critics point out that legal guardians are cashing in on this particular state of affairs facing Saudi women. These women “bribe” their guardians to secure their permission to take up a job, mainly in the media, health, and educational sectors. They see this “monetary element” as the major factor that influences guardians to allow their women to work, in addition to the opening up of Saudi society with the advancement of the information technology. Some describe this tendency among guardians as “unsuitable utilitarian bargaining,” while others say it is a “medium solution” for women to satisfy their men while reaching out to realize their goal.

Take for example the case of Fatima. She was appointed by the Ministry of Education as a teacher in Al-Baqaa in Asir province in the beginning of the current academic year. Her workplace was located in a remote area where women teachers prefer not to work. Fatima said that she found it very difficult to reach her workplace, which is far away from her place of residence in Khamis Mushayt city. “It took me at least three hours to reach the school. So I asked my jobless brother to take me to school and back for a monthly fee of SR1,500. He grabbed it as a golden opportunity to earn an income, as well as to accompany me as mahram (legal guardian). My colleagues — 10 women teachers — decided to travel together with me. This resulted in my brother earning a huge monthly income of SR15,000 in addition to my share of SR1,500. This also helped me to overcome the objection of my parents to go to work at a remote place in the company of a foreign driver,” she said.

Similar was the case with Nadia, who lives with her husband and children in Jeddah. She got appointed at a school in Mikhwa in Baha province. Nadia was not in a position to abandon her job, due to her family’s financial position and her desire to earn some income for herself. “In the beginning, my husband rejected my request to allow me to take up the job. Later he agreed on condition that I arranged any blood relative to accompany me to and from the workplace. My brother Abdullah, who did not continue his schooling after completion of intermediate level, agreed to transport me to and from Mikhwa for a monthly payment of SR1,000,” she said.

Noura, a nurse, says that she joined a nursing course after promising her father that she attended the course for the sake of obtaining a certificate, and not to start working as a nurse. But after completion of the course, she started searching for a job without informing her father. Subsequently, she managed to secure a job at a primary health center.

“I tried to convince my father about the advantages of having a job, assuring him that there was no gender mixing at the workplace. But my father’s response was disappointing. He started abusing me as if I had committed a grave offense. This situation continued until I received my first salary. When I got two months’ salary, I set aside SR2,000 for my father and SR500 for my mother,” she said, adding that this had an electrifying effect. Her father changed his attitude toward her job. “Henceforth, he has been very keen on seeing me going to my workplace regularly. He does not like me staying away from work,” Noura said, adding that it does not bother her to allocate a portion of her revenue to her parents in return for them allowing her to enjoy freedom to work. “Moreover, my father now allows me more freedom, especially for travel to attend conferences anywhere inside the Kingdom,” she said.

At a time when legal guardians try to prevent women under their custodianship from taking up jobs on the pretext of mixing with men, a number of men block their wives from going out for work on the ground that they must be always available at home to take care of them as well as to bring up their children, says Muna. “Some husbands do not like to see their wives enjoying economic liberty by earning money for themselves. I managed to allay apprehensions of my husband in this respect by lending him a helping hand through meeting a portion of household expenses and settling a part of his debts,” she said, adding that she has been keen to keep a portion of her revenue to fulfill her personal needs. “I lied to him about the exact amount of my monthly salary. I told him that my monthly salary is SR9,000, even though I was drawing a much higher amount,” she said.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Zayed Al-Almai, a prominent writer and human rights activist, is of the view that this type of behavior toward women shows the degradation of values with regard to social integration and family bonds in addition to transforming these relations into a level of “utilitarian bargaining.”

Al-Almai also sees in this something that transforms social and human rights into a commodity, selling one’s dignity to buy one’s interests without any feeling of remorse. He also underlined the need for enacting stringent regulations aimed at protecting the weaker sections, such as women and children, in addition to enlightening male members of society on their duties and responsibilities toward women.

On his part, Abdullah Al-Towairqi, a prominent citizen, said that this attitude is common not only among legal guardians of women, like parents and brothers, but also on the part of their husbands, who see their women as a tool for exploitation and even for blackmailing in certain cases. He denounced the deprivation of women’s right to earn wealth as well as her right to work, in addition to choose her family life and future course of action.

Al-Towairqi ruled out the wrong notion that it is a disgrace for a man who faces financial difficulties to be supported by his wife.

Echoing the same view, Hala Al-Dosary, a human rights activist, said a job is something that enables a woman to have financial capabilities and enjoy more freedom. “It is significant if a woman can play her role in improving the financial level of her family by supporting her husband to meet household expenses,” she said.

http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20110512032752/Women_in_Saudi_Arabia_try_to_buy_their_freedom_to_work

Chinese babies reportedly trafficked into adoption

Authorities in China are investigating reports that about 20 babies born in violation of population-control policies were abducted and then trafficked into adoption by officials.

The investigation comes after Caixin magazine reported this week that family planning officials in central China’s Hunan province had abducted children and sold them internationally – some to people in the United States and the Netherlands.

Chinese officials do not always enforce the “one child” policy with much vigour and the worst that violators normally expect is a fine.

The case, which is not the first to accuse Chinese family planning officials of abusing population control policies for profit, sheds further light on the uneven implementation of child-population-control policy.

One family claimed they had not broken the law as the child was their first, but family planning “enforcers” nonetheless took the baby away.

“They mistook my daughter for being illegal when my wife and I were working in Shenzhen,” migrant worker Yang Libing told the magazine.

Mr Yang said he had tracked down his daughter, now seven years old and living in the United States.

Family planning officials in Longhui county allegedly received $142 for each child handed over to welfare agencies, which in turn received up to $2,760 for each child put up for adoption overseas, it said.

The abductions peaked in the middle of the last decade but had been occurring for 10 years, the magazine said.

Trafficking of women and children remains a serious problem in China, with many sociologists blaming the one child policy for fuelling the crime.

Under the policy, aimed at controlling China’s world-leading population of more than 1.3 billion, people who live in urban areas are generally allowed one child, while rural families can have two if the first is a girl.

This has put a premium on baby boys, while baby girls are often sold off, abandoned or put up for adoption.

Official penalties for violating the policy vary based on location, but usually include a fine. Rights groups however allege that much more draconian measures are often taken.

In a report released in December, the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) cited widespread abuse including forced abortions, sterilisations, insertions of intrauterine devices and coerced testing for pregnancy.

Both men and women found to have violated the policy have been beaten, detained, or fined. Others have lost their jobs, or been denied household registration permits for their children, CHRD alleged.

China is battling a severe gender imbalance. A census recently completed in the country found 118.06 males were born in China to every 100 baby girls over the past 10 years.

Up to 80,000 Chinese children have reportedly been adopted by overseas families in recent decades, with most finding homes in the United States.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/05/11/3213686.htm

Iman al-Obaidi, alleged rape victim, flees to Tunisia

Iman al-Obaidi, the Libyan woman who grabbed the world’s attention after she told a room of international journalists she was raped by military forces, was finally able to leave Libya last week, fleeing to Tunisia.

Obaidi was detained and later released by Moammar Gaddafi’s regime after she told journalists assembled in a Tripoli hotel that she was gang-raped by government troops. “I was tied up. They defecated on me. They urinated on me. They violated my honor,” she said to the reporters in March.

She described her recent escape from Libya to CNN, saying she was driven by two defecting military officers to the Tunisian border cloaked in a traditional head covering, leaving just one eye visible. Although the journey went off without disruption, she said it was “very tiring.” She was taken from a safehouse on the border to the French embassy in Tunis by European diplomats. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has reportedly taken an interest in her safety.

For obvious reasons, Obaidi seemed more relaxed than she had previously appeared, but she’s still concerned about being followed by government forces. She also wonders whether she can return to Libya to see her family again.

In an April interview with CNN, Obeidi said she had received death threats and was afraid for her life.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/iman-al-obaidi-alleged-rape-victim-flees-to-tunisia/2011/05/09/AFBtywXG_blog.html

Cambodia police beat striking garment workers

AFP – Cambodian workers attend a protest in front of a garment factory in Kandal province, south of Phnom Penh, …

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Rights groups in Cambodia accused police of using disproportionate violence on Sunday, alleging they beat protesters at a rally by 2,000 garment workers in the capital.

Around 100 officers, armed with anti-riot shields, electric batons and guns, moved in to disperse the mainly female crowd that had formed a roadblock near Phnom Penh’s airport, according to a joint statement by three rights groups.

It said the police fired warning shots into the air, deliberately drove motorbikes into the crowd, arrested two female workers and left another eight women in need of hospital treatment for their injuries.

But Phnom Penh police chief Touch Naruth said just one person was arrested, who is still in custody, and that he had seen just “one or two” of the crowd wounded, while nine of the security force were injured.

“The use of violence by police was totally disproportional to the workers? actions,” said Am Sam Ath, monitoring supervisor at the LICADHO, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights.

“The government should be supporting unions on the issue of expressive rights, rather than systemically cracking down on every form of rights activism,” he said.

The statement was also issued by ADHOC, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, and CLEC, the Community Legal Education Center.

The workers? dispute stems from the loss of jobs following a fire at a factory on March 30. The owner offered severance pay of $20 per year worked, which workers felt was insufficient, the statement said.

Sunday’s action was intended to temporarily block the road to draw the attention of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was scheduled to return from abroad via the airport, to the workers’ situation.

“Ordinary Cambodians have no leverage, no voice and no legal recourse in situations like this. They are simply brushed aside,” said Moeun Tola, Head of CLEC’s labour programme.

“People are increasingly resorting to acts of desperation. Police violence is not the way to resolve the problem.”

Naruth insisted police were “trying to help” the people, but said the crowd did not understand and started to throw rocks. “They cannot block the street on which all VIP people are travelling,” he said.

Cambodia has come under fire from activists and observers in recent months for stifling free speech and cracking down on opponents after it introduced laws that increase the risk of arrest for voicing dissent.

In a crackdown last month on a Phnom Penh rally against mass evictions, 11 protesters were detained and others were beaten by baton-wielding police, according to rights groups.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110508/wl_asia_afp/cambodiatextilelabourprotestrights_20110508133620

Recy Taylor Gets Alabama Apology for Gang-Rape, Waits on City of Abbeville

Sunday, 91-year-old Recy Taylor went to church in Abbeville, Alabama. Now a Florida resident, she made the trip to her old hometown for a special purpose: Taylor was finally receiving an apology from the State of Alabama for its “morally abhorrent and repugnant” conduct in response to her 1944 gang-rape.

The group of white men who admitted to the assault were never brought to trial, while Taylor and her family suffered threats and slander from law enforcement engaged in covering up the crime. Not even the concerted efforts of Rosa Parks and the NAACP could overturn the racist structure of the time to bring justice to this young Black woman. The long-overdue apology came after nearly 20,000 Change.org members signed a petition from Taylor’s youngest brother, Robert Corbitt, demanding an apology from the City of Abbeville and State of Alabama. Having won this amazing state level victory, Corbitt’s campaign now turns its focus to the city.

When Rep. Dexter Grimsley, himself an Abbeville native, introduced the state resolution, he vowed that he would personally deliver it to Recy Taylor upon passage, and Corbitt told Change.org that he made good on that promise this Sunday, giving Taylor the apology in front of family and friends at a local church. The resolution, which was signed by Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley on April 28th, expresses “profound regret for the role played by the government of the State of Alabama in failing to prosecute the crimes” (pdf).

Recy Taylor is also being honored this Thursday at a National Press Club event, “Reintroducing Rosa,” which was inspired by the excellent book that brought Taylor’s story to light: Danielle McGuire’s At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance — A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power. The event, where McGuire will be speaking, will “share a more accurate account of the role Rosa Parks played in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the civil rights movement.”

Corbitt, now in his 70s, has been working to get an apology for his sister — who he says was like a mother to him growing up — ever since his retirement. He was (pleasantly) shocked at how, after years of work, the launch of the Change.org petition motivated a state apology in less than three months. Corbitt often comments on how local politicians have been nervously watching the signature count climb as hundreds and then thousands of people stood up for his oldest sister.

Yesterday, Corbitt asked to have the Abbeville City Council consider an apology resolution for Recy Taylor at its upcoming meeting on Monday, May 16th at 6 p.m., in the hopes of wrapping up the final leg of this campaign. The agenda will be announced after Wednesday, and a representative of the Alabama NAACP, which has been supportive of the present day Taylor campaign as well as the historical one, is expected to speak in support of the apology.

Because it was the local Abbeville law enforcement of 1944 that Corbitt remembers threatening him family, slandering his sister, and lying in the protection of her rapists, he won’t be satisfied until the city follows in the state’s footsteps to provide a formal apology. Abbeville Mayor Ryan Blalock has already offered his personal regrets, but only the City Council can officially apologize on behalf of the city. Corbitt wants Mayor Blalock to call upon Council Members to pass such a resolution, and for the Abbeville Council to step up by doing so immediately. Please add your voice in support of a full apology for Recy by signing his petition here.

http://news.change.org/stories/recy-taylor-gets-alabama-apology-for-gang-rape-waits-on-city-of-abbeville