By Bradley Bouzane , Canwest News Service on January 30, 2009
The B.C. Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of child-sex tourism charges against Canadians overseas in a landmark decision Friday.
Kenneth Klassen, a married father of three, now appears likely to become the first Canadian to go on trial for sex tourism charges. He is accused of 35 sex crimes involving underage girls — some as young as nine — in Colombia, Cambodia and the Philippines, between 1997 and 2002.
His lawyer argued that the sex tourism law was unconstitutional because the offences are alleged to have occurred outside Canada. But Justice Austin Cullen of B.C. Supreme Court said a nation has a sovereign interest in preventing the sexual exploitation of children, regardless of where it occurs.
If convicted, Klassen faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Cullen's decision potentiallt sets the stage for Canada to catch up to other countries with similar legislation.
The ruling could give the Crown more confidence to prosecute sex tourism cases and result in an influx in charges coming to light, said Benjamin Perrin, assistant professor of law at the University of British Columbia.
"The case of Kenneth Klassen is the first decision we have from a court which confirms that Canada's child-sex tourism law is constitutional," said Perrin. "This is a landmark decision that affirms Canada's step to hold our child-sex offenders accountable, wherever they commit their crimes.
"It's a very significant decision which creates an additional tool for prosecutors to point to in pursuing Canadian sex offenders abroad. It also removes one of the excuses for inaction that Canada has relied on in terms of our very poor record in enforcing this law in comparison to other countries like Australia and the U.S., which routinely enforce their legislation and bring their sex offenders home to face trial."
Just three people have been convicted of committing sex crimes against children in other countries since 1997, when Canada introduced its extraterritorial child-sex tourism law.
In 2004, Donald Bakker of B.C. was charged under the law in Canada and pleaded guilty the following year. Another two men — a pair of Quebec aid workers stationed in Haiti — were convicted of sexual exploitation in November 2008.
"Before (Bakker) pleaded guilty, his lawyer was threatening to challenge the constitutionality of the law and that created a bit of a chilling effect on police and prosecutors, who began to wonder if the law would withstand a constitutional challenge," Perrin said. "Canada was not seen as being very active internationally (in) enforcing its laws."
The track record in Australia and the U.S., however, is more impressive, said Perrin.
Perrin said that in the U.S., from 2003 to early 2008, there have been 67 arrests, resulting in 47 convictions with other cases still before the courts under similar laws.
The U.S. Court of Appeal upheld the validity of that country's child-sex laws in 2006.
In Australia, 158 investigations were conducted from 1995 to 2007. Of the 28 individuals facing charges, 19 were convicted, while others remain before the court. The basis of those charges were also upheld in 2006 by the Australian High Court.
Perrin said he hopes the decision by the B.C. Supreme Court can help put some weight behind Canada's law and result in a higher rate of enforcement.
"Now that his constitutional challenge has been rejected . . . (Klassen) will have to face these very serious allegations and be exposed to the potential sentences for the charges if he's found guilty," Perrin said.
"More than that, it creates a great deal of pressure on the federal government to begin to consider whether the government will accept some international criticism and act on it. The federal government needs to make enforcement of this law a priority."
With files from the Vancouver Sun
B.C. court upholds child-sex tourism charges
Testimony wraps up in Cornwall sex-abuse scandal; lawyers’ final submissions next
Three years, 175 witnesses later, inquiry nears end, By Neco Cockburn, The Ottawa Citizen on January 29, 2009
After almost three years, the Cornwall inquiry into the institutional response to allegations of historic sexual abuse heard from its final witness Thursday.
The long-running inquiry resumes next month with lawyers’ final submissions. Inquiry head Justice Normand Glaude has until July 31 to submit his report and recommendations.
Judge Glaude heard testimony from about 175 witnesses ranging from victims of sexual abuse to contextual experts and current and former officials at institutions such as the Alexandria-Cornwall Catholic Diocese, Ontario Provincial Police, Cornwall police, Ministry of the Attorney General, Upper Canada District School Board and Children’s Aid Society.
“We had a very large mandate, and a challenging one. It dealt with the institutional response of abuse cases for over 50 years,” said lead commission counsel Peter Engelmann. “We’ve heard about the institutional response of individual institutions, we’ve also heard about how they, as institutions, need to act together to deal with this issue. There’s a lot of material to work with here.”
The inquiry was called in 2005 and testimony started in February 2006. Counselling support and workshops have also taken place throughout the proceedings, Mr. Engelmann said.
In October, Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley ordered the inquiry to finish testimony by today, which had been the date targeted by Judge Glaude.
Involved parties had hoped for more time to write their final submissions, but Mr. Bentley denied their request.
One important witness the inquiry did not hear from was former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop, whose investigation of an alleged pedophile ring had helped to touch off a sex scandal in the city.
Mr. Dunlop was jailed for more than seven months for contempt of court after refusing to testify at the inquiry, saying he had lost faith in the judicial process.
Mr. Engelmann said the inquiry “just decided to put in as many of the documents as we could” that related to Mr. Dunlop, through witnesses and additional documents such as transcripts, notes and affidavits.
Vancouver advocacy lawyer Peter Ritchie
Don't count on Libs listening to calls for reform by Joey Thompson
The Province Friday, January 30, 2009
It's not the first time Vancouver advocacy lawyer Peter Ritchie has sounded the siren over the staggering costs of Joe Average suing the big guys in the quest for justice.
And hopefully, it won't be his last.
Fault the B.C. Liberals for this cash-grab frenzy -- they have been relentlessly revving up the costs a citizen must pay before stepping inside a civil courtroom.
Ever since their climb to power, the government has been inexorably increasing the hearing fees, the amount a plaintiff must pay for use of the courtroom, facilities and staff, the jury fees for exercising the right of Canadians to be heard by their peers, as well as the add-on registry charges for filing a writ of claim and other documents.
User fees that started out as reasonable decades ago are now in the thousands of dollars a day, out of reach to anyone but the wealthy, powerful and publicly funded.
Coincidentally, it describes the government.
Richie, known as the "fight-the-Man" lawyer in judicial circles for the way he battles for reform, is just one of many members of the legal community who warned of B.C.'s rapidly rising fees four-plus years ago, about the time the Liberals took a carving knife to other essential justice resources, namely Crown services to survivors of crime and programs providing compensation and benefits to crime victims.
In fact, the lack of affordable access to civil justice in B.C. has been a topic on every lawyer's lips for the better part of this decade.
Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin has been calling for change for years, most recently Wednesday at a gathering hosted by the Law Society of B.C. which, by the way, passed an AGM resolution last fall calling on the B.C. government to nuke jury fees and drastically cut the hearing charges.
B.C.'s Justice Review Task Force has been at full throttle on the topic practically since 2002; its arm, the Civil Justice Review Working Group, since 2004; the UBC Law Review published a warning article in 2007; and so on.
Former B.C. Supreme Court justice John Bouck even took a swipe at the government last year, saying the Liberals treat access to justice like it was just another bureaucracy charging user fees, unlike their counterparts in other provinces.
A B.C. resident would have to pay Victoria about $15,000 in hearing and jury fees for a 10-day civil jury trial -- the same trial in Washington costs about $480 US, Oregon $817 US, Alberta $800, Ontario $645.
"Excepting the super-wealthy, this user-pay policy could shut down all provincial civil courts, giving the executive branch of government even more autocratic control over citizens," he warned at the time.
In today's statement Ritchie, touted for battling the high-profile but unpopular cases such as the Robert Pickton murders, Gillian Guess's obstruction of justice trial and the Doukhobors who peeled off their duds in court to defend religious freedom, made the point that we can't put a price on the B.C. government's shameless greed.
But that the daughters of Gerald Foisy and Shirley Rosette, who died in the 2006 B.C. Ferries disaster, can.
Because the girls can't afford the gargantuan costs of suing B.C. Ferries for the loss of their mom and dad, they will never know why and how they died or if anyone's negligence was a contributing factor.
Given the Liberals never listened to the legal reformists before, don't count on them listening to the girls now.
The Vancouver Province 2009
Intimate Partner Abuse Against Men
This edition of the National Clearinghouse on Family Violence (NCFV) E-bulletin focuses on intimate partner abuse against men, one of the least understood issues in the field of family violence.
The January edition aims to raise awareness and understanding of this complex issue by highlighting some of the research and information resources available in Canada.
The NCFV E-bulletin is a bi-monthly newsletter for those interested in family violence prevention. It is produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), on behalf of the Family Violence Initiative (FVI) of the Government of Canada.
We want to hear from you – please send your comments and feedback to our editor at: ncfv-cnivf@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
Update on the horrible murder of Wendy Hewko..
This from Holly/Admin,
The 10 years for the horrible death and dismemberment of Wendy Hewko does not seem to be fair! No wonder the family is so upset!
Daryl Slade Article from the Calgary Herald January 30, 2009
Family members of Wendy Hewko will always lose sleep over how or why she was slain, but they will likely have nightmares about the gruesome indignities inflicted after death.
January is National Stalking Awareness Month
January is National Stalking Awareness Month, a time to focus on a dangerous crime and seek ways to protect its victims.
The Stalking Resource Center of the National Center for Victims of Crime is pleased to join our partner, the Office on Violence Against Women of the U.S. Department of Justice, in presenting a versatile set of resources to help you plan your 2009 National Stalking Awareness Month and your outreach throughout the year.
We hope these tools will inspire your efforts to know, name, and stop stalking in your community.
Mary Lou Leary, Executive Director
National Center for Victims of Crime
Michelle Garcia, Director
Stalking Resource Center
http://www.stalkingawarenessmonth.org/
Lauterbach Rape Case Review Postponed
This from Holly/Admin,
Not surprising, sad...and he fighting extradition!
Lauterbach Rape Case Review Postponed on January 30, 2009
Jacksonville Daily News
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. -- The Defense Department's Inspector General has agreed to postpone an investigation into how the military handled the rape investigation of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who later was found buried in the backyard of the Marine she had accused of rape.
Lauren fled to Mexico and has been charged in Lauterbach's murder. He is now in jail in Mexico, fighting extradition.
Click here to read entire story
http://www.military.com/news/article/lauterbach-rape-case-review-postponed.html?col=1186032310810
Calgary convict sent home to India By BILL GRAVELAND
THE CANADIAN PRESS
A man who was questioned by RCMP in the murder of a B.C. newspaper publisher a decade ago has finally been returned home to India.
Manjit Singh Rattu had been held in the Calgary Remand Centre since May 20, 2008.
A deportation order had been issued in 2000 after Rattu was convicted of fraud in Delta, B.C. But his Indian passport had been revoked and Rattu had refused to sign travel documents the Indian government required for his transport back to that country.
The Canada Border Services Agency had asked the High Commission of India in Ottawa to get Rattu travel documents without his consent.
"That was an issue. He was refusing to sign the travel documents," said Lisa White, a spokeswoman with the agency.
"While I can't say what the successful factor was in his removal I can say that we do work closely with our foreign authorities to obtain the necessary documents that we need to remove somebody to their country."
The agency declined to say what day Rattu was flown out of Canada or where his final destination was but there is a relief that the case is now closed.
"Any time we can close the book on a case, any time a removal has been successfully completed, we're very happy," said White.
Rattu was questioned and then cleared in the murder of Tara Singh Hayer, the founder of the Indo-Canadian Times. Hayer had agreed to be a witness in the Air India bombing trial. He was shot to death on Nov. 18, 1998.
Rattu's lawyer, Rekesh Dewett, had argued his client would be in danger if sent back to India.
"In a Third World country, if you don't have status, they can do anything. They can put him in a central jail where he's not locatable," Dewett said at a hearing earlier this month.
Marco Khairi Mohamed, 25, was arrested by Canadian Border Services Agency
German fugitive to stay locked up By DAVE DORMER, SUN MEDIA
Offering "no excuses for my behaviour," a man wanted by Interpol to stand trial for fraud in Germany has been ordered to remain in custody in Calgary until he is deported on Monday.
Marco Khairi Mohamed, 25, was arrested by Canadian Border Services Agency officers in Calgary on Tuesday while riding in a car with his girlfriend.
At a detention review yesterday, hearings officer Darryl Kane said Mohamed is wanted by Interpol for fraud valued at $180,000 and there is a significant risk he would not show up to be sent back to Germany if released.
Mohamed entered Canada in Montreal with a visitor's visa on May 31, 2007, said Kane, allowing him to stay until Dec. 1, 2007.
"By his own admission, Mr. Mohamed remained in Canada continually since that time and has been without status since Dec. 1, 2007," said Kane.
Kane said Mohamed is a flight risk as he had been using the alias of Jason Dupuis and had a fake social insurance card with that name.
Kane said Mohamed also admitted to officers he made arrangements to get a new alias, including a social insurance card for $2,500 next week. Wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, handcuffs and leg shackles, Mohamed appeared with a shaved head and was polite throughout the half-hour long hearing.
The postcode lottery of Violence Against Women support services in Britain
This from Holly/Admin,
Very interesting report Map of Gaps 2 by Maddy Coy, Liz Kelly and Jo Foord
The pdf file link is http://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/data/files/map_of_gaps2.pdf
Acknowledgements
Map of Gaps 2 builds on the first report, as a project born of and nurtured by many minds. Many thanks are due to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) for funding the second phase of the project. Special thanks go to the Roddick Foundation for providing CWASU with the opportunity to pursue research that we wanted to do. We again dedicate this update, and the campaigning which it will inform, to the memory of Anita Roddick who believed, like us, that women have the right to live free from violence. She championed women’s services, understanding the unique and vital role they play in undoing some of the harms of violence and in holding societies to account to ensure they accord all women respect, dignity and redress for human rights violations.
Alongside the authors a number of other women contributed to the data collection and analysis: Val Balding, who began the initial database for Map of Gaps 1; Kathryn Nichol, who provided information on the Westminster Government response to the Corston Report; and colleagues in the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit who provided input and editorial support. Members of the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) Coalition and the Map of Gaps working group contributed expert advice on the project as a whole. Holly Dustin, manager of the EVAW campaign, and Heather Barclay at the EHRC have provided invaluable input throughout.
Umbrella organisations and individuals across the nations and regions have again checked our data against their own records and, in conjunction with member groups, completed surveys that inform this report.
Final acknowledgement must again go to the services mapped here, which continue to provide specialised and quality support to women on limited resources and recognition.
Legal threat to councils over rape victims by Amelia Gentleman
The Guardian, Friday 30 January 2009
More than 100 councils will today be threatened with legal action over their failure to provide rape crisis centres and domestic violence support services, with a strongly worded warning issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Research reveals that one in four local authorities in Britain offer no specialised services for women who have faced violence or abuse, and shows that a quarter of those rape crisis centres that are still operating believe they will either have to close or radically cut services in 2009.
The findings, published jointly by the EHRC and the End Violence Against Women campaign, offer a stark illustration of the large areas of the country where there is now no provision at all.
The research shows that those services that do exist are losing their battle to secure long-term funding both from the state and from charitable sources. Trevor Phillips, chair of the EHRC, said: "In many parts of the country, services for women who have experienced violence are chronically underfunded or simply do not exist. Women shouldn't be subjected to this postcode lottery.
"Urgent action is needed to provide funding and support to ensure that all women can get help whenever they need it - wherever they live."
He said he hoped the report would prompt councils to act, but added: "For those who continue to ignore the dire need to shore up services, we have a stark reminder: the commission is ready and willing to use its enforcement powers."
The EHRC will send a letter to around 100 local authorities giving them a month to explain why they have no provision in place. If their response is unsatisfactory, it intends to take legal action under the Equality Act 2006, which requires local authorities to promote gender equality.
"Because violence against women is such a major cause of women's inequality, public bodies should ensure adequate support for women in such circumstances," the EHRC said in a statement. The commission will issue formal compliance notices to those local authorities that fail to address the problem, and this could ultimately lead to court action.
Vera Baird, the solicitor general, appeared to support the EHRC's initiative, and issued a statement saying: "There are still too many local authorities not providing support. Women shouldn't have to face a postcode lottery of service provision."
The Local Government Association described the initiative as "irresponsible and alarmist" and said: "Threatening legal action against individual councils is not going to help the situation."
The study highlights the patchy state of provision, citing cases of victims who have been forced to make 120-mile trips to receive counselling. It shows that ethnic minority women, who often require very specific services (relating, for example, to issues such as forced marriage) are especially poorly served, with just 10% of local authorities offering dedicated support.
The piecemeal way in which these groups have had to gather funding in the past has always made their long-term existence precarious. But groups say they have found it increasingly difficult to persuade local authorities to fund their work, and blame a preference for funding large-scale service providers rather than small charities, and a failure of central government policymakers to prioritise sexual violence support services.
Only 38 remain rape crisis centres remain in England and Wales, many of which may close soon. Workers in the sector claim there are more pet rescue centres than women's violence support groups.
Yvonne Traynor, chief executive of London's only remaining rape crisis branch, in south London, said the nature of the violence made it hard to launch powerful, opinion-forming campaigns.
"Victims are not normally strong enough to tie themselves to the railings outside Downing Street, shouting: 'This has happened and I don't have any help.' Survivors of sexual abuse don't want people to know what happened to them: they won't be marching to Whitehall," she said, adding that the branch faced closure this year unless new funding emerged.
Although the government has increased provision of support for victims of domestic violence, there has been no parallel rise in funding for rape victims. The NHS offers some counselling to those victims who report attacks to the police, but these are believed to be a small minority. A large proportion of victims have always relied on the charitable support services - and these are the groups who now find themselves without support.
Every year an estimated 3 million women experience rape, domestic violence, stalking or some other kind of abuse, the EHRC said.
The Agent from Iran By Deirdra Funcheon
This from Holly/Admin,
Very interesting story!
How a mother of two ended up in a plot to smuggle high-tech gear to the enemy.
Published on January 07, 2009
On November 29, 2004, Shahrzad Mir Gholikhan and her ex-husband, Mahmoud Seif, checked into the Le Meridien Hotel in Vienna, Austria. The following morning, Gholikhan used Seif's cell phone to call the man they had flown there to meet. "Alex," a weapons dealer from Fort Lauderdale, told the couple to go to the InterContinental Hotel. His bodyguard would be waiting in the lobby.
Click below for the entire story....
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2009-01-08/news/the-agent-from-iran/
Sex Offenders' GPS Devices Not a Silver Bullet, States Say
Click here to read entire story...
http://www.govtech.com/gt/596099?topic=117699
Jan 26, 2009, By Jim McKay
GPS monitoring -- embraced as a simple technological solution for tracking the whereabouts of convicted sex offenders -- is proving to be something less than a silver bullet for state and local public safety agencies.
Convinced that GPS monitoring was the answer to the sex offender problem, judges and lawmakers began mandating the technology for high-profile parolees. Beginning in 2005, the technology was widely deployed as means to ensure that offenders complied with the terms of their release, such as staying a safe distance from schools or a victim's home.
County: 800+ rape kits untested with no suspects by The Associated Press
This from Holly/Admin,
Horrible! How many crimes would have been solved if this was not happening?
Posted: 01/28/2009
LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has acknowledged that DNA evidence in more than 800 rape and sexual assault cases sits untested despite the absence of suspects in the crimes.
In 51 of at least 815 cases with untapped evidence in county freezers, the 10-year statute of limitations has expired and the rape kits cannot be used for prosecution, Sheriff's Cmdr. Earl M. Shields told county supervisors Tuesday.
"You've got a bunch of evidence sitting there that is potentially a smoking gun," County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said to Shields, who heads the department's Technical Services division. "It could be the silver bullet to getting a suspect in a sexual assault case, and it's just sitting there."
The Sheriff's Department tested DNA evidence only when case investigators asked until November when Sheriff Lee Baca announced that DNA evidence would be examined in all sexual assault cases.
The evidence kits include items such as fingernail scrapings and body fluids, which provide valuable DNA evidence that is used in court.
There are currently 4,738 untested sexual assault kits in county storage, some from smaller police agencies that rely on the Sheriff's Department for lab work.
Sheriff's officials had downplayed that number, suggesting that most of the cases had been resolved or pursued by other means.
But after examining two-thirds of those, they found 815 with no suspects, a number that could grow as the inventory continues. Shields said "we were hoping the number would be much smaller."
The supervisors requested the tally in the wake of recent controversy over the Los Angeles Police Department's backlog of 7,000 rape kits waiting to be processed.
The LAPD has yet to reveal how many of those case lack suspects and have gone unresolved.
———
Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
3.4 MILLION PEOPLE REPORT BEING STALKED IN THE UNITED STATES
BUREAU OF JUSTICE STATISTICS Contact Sheila Jerusalem:
WASHINGTON ...An estimated 3.4 million persons identified themselves as victims of stalking during a 12-month period in 2005 and 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. About half of these victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from the offender and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years.
Stalking is defined as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Individuals must have feared for their safety or that of a family member as a result of the course of conduct, or have experienced additional threatening behaviors. Individuals were classified as stalking victims if they responded that they experienced at least one of seven types of stalking behaviors on two or more separate occasions.
The most common types of stalking behavior reported by victims were receiving unwanted phone calls from the offender (66 percent), receiving unsolicited letters or email (31 percent), or having rumors spread about them (36 percent). Nearly a third of victims reported that offenders were equally likely to show up at places with no reason to be there or wait for the victim at a particular location.
Technology has become a quick and easy way for stalkers to monitor and harass their victims. More than one in four stalking victims reported that some form of cyberstalking was used, such as email (83 percent of all cyberstalking victims) or instant messaging (35 percent). Electronic monitoring of some kind was used to stalk one in 13 victims. Video or digital cameras were equally likely as listening devices or bugs to be used to track victims.
Nearly 75 percent of victims knew their offender in some capacity, and about one-tenth of all victims were stalked by a stranger. Stalking victims most often identified the stalker as a former intimate (22 percent) or a friend, roommate, or neighbor (16 percent).
Depending upon the severity of the stalking, victims suffered a range of emotions as they experienced stalking. The most common fears cited by victims were not knowing what would happen next (46 percent) and being afraid the behavior would never stop (29 percent). Nine percent of stalking victims reported that their worst fear was death.
About 130,000 victims reported that they had been fired or asked to leave their job because of the stalking. About one in eight of all employed stalking victims lost time from work because of fear for their safety or to pursue activities such as getting a restraining order or testifying in court. More than half of these victims lost five days or more from work.
This report is based on the largest data collection of stalking behavior to date. Data were collected by the Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS), a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, and was sponsored by the Office on Violence Against Women. The SVS data collection was conducted over a six-month period in 2006. All survey respondents age 18 or older were eligible for the supplement.
The report, Stalking Victimization in the United States (NCJ 224527), was written by BJS statisticians Katrina Baum, Shannan Catalano, Michael Rand, and Kristina Rose of the National Institute of Justice. Following publication, the report can be found at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/svus.htm.
For additional information about the Bureau of Justice Statistics' statistical reports and programs, please visit the BJS Web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs.
The Office of Justice Programs (OJP), headed by Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey L. Sedgwick, provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist victims. OJP has five component bureaus: the Bureau of Justice Assistance; the Bureau of Justice Statistics; the National Institute of Justice; the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; and the Office for Victims of Crime.
In addition, OJP has two program offices: the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed strategy, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).
More information can be found at http://www.ojp.gov.
Highway of Tears
Families of victims in Highway of Tears investigation to get update. By Neal Hall, Vancouver Sun, January 22, 2009
The Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System (ViCLAS), which investigates serial crime, had identified more than 200 similar cases, which was eventually narrowed down to nine other cases that had "commonalties," which have not been revealed by police...
Here are the 18 cases under investigation:
1. Gloria Moody. Murder. Williams Lake. 1969
2. Micheline Pare: Murder. Hudson Hope. 1970
3. Gale Weys. Murdered. Clearwater. 1973
4. Pamela Darlington. Murder. Kamloops. 1973
5. Monica Ignas. Murdered. Terrace. 1974
6. Colleen MacMillen. Murder. 100 Mile House. 1974
7. Monica Jack. Murder. Merritt. 1978
8. Maureen Mosie. Murder. Kamloops. 1981
9. Shelly-Ann Bascu. Missing. Hinton, Alta. 1983
10. Alberta Williams. Murder. Prince Rupert. 1989
11. Delphine Nikal. Missing. Smithers. 1990
12. Ramona Wilson. Murder. Smithers. 1994
13. Roxanne Thiara. Murder. Burns Lake. 1994
14. Alishia Germaine. Murder. Prince George. 1994
15. Lana Derrick. Missing. Terrace. 1995
16. Nicole Hoar. Missing. Prince George. 2002
17. Tamara Chipman. Missing. Prince Rupert. 2005
18. Aielah Saric Auger. Murder. Prince George. 2006
Montreal man who is 93 avoids jail time for sexually abusing his daughters
January 27, 2009, EDT.By THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - A 93-year-old Montreal man will not go to prison for sexually abusing his daughters when they were children some 50 years ago.
Philippe Hamelin, who is deaf, nearly blind and suffers from a disease similar to Alzheimers, has been given a sentence of two years less a day to be served in the community. That is what his lawyer was asking for, while the Crown wanted a prison term of between seven and nine years.
Hamelin was convicted last year of incest, sexual molestation and assault causing bodily harm against his daughters between 1956 and 1963.
His daughters Marcelle and Michele, now in their 60s, had the publication ban on their identities lifted at their own request last year.
The Canadian Press, 2009
Rape in War Is Common, Devastating, and Too Often Ignored
The PLoS Medicine Editors
Citation: The PLoS Medicine Editors (2009) Rape in War Is Common, Devastating, and Too Often Ignored.
PLoS Med 6(1): e1000021 doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000021
Published: January 27, 2009 Copyright: © 2009 The PLoS Medicine Editors.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abbreviations: DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo; DWI, Dirty War Index
The PLoS Medicine Editors are Virginia Barbour, Jocalyn Clark, Larry Peiperl, Emma Veitch, Mai Wong, and Gavin Yamey.
Provenance: Written by editorial staff; not externally peer reviewed
Rape in war is by no means a new phenomenon, but its escalation as a deliberate, strategic, and political tactic is now undeniable. Most of its victims are women and girls, but men and boys suffer too. Whether isolated or systematic, rape's effects are devastating to individuals and damaging to whole communities. The physical consequences can include unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and genital injury including fistula, all of which can leave women scarred, disabled, unable to conceive, and deemed unsuitable for marriage [1,2]. The brutality of war rape is evident in genital mutilation, forced captivity, gang rapes in public or in front of family members, and rape with objects such as glass, sticks, gun barrels, and machetes [1,3]. Psychologically the effects are no less devastating. Traumatized by the event, women are often unable to care for their children or households, fear leaving their homes, can become socially ostracized and isolated, and may be rejected by their husbands, families, or communities [1–3].
U.N. official to visit slain women's families in Juárez
This from Holly,
Very interesting story by Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times on the numbers of women murdered. Posted: 01/26/2009
EL PASO -- A record number of women were murdered last year in Juárez, and so far this year, eight have been killed in a city whose unprecedented drug-related violence has eclipsed the slayings of women, according to Chihuahua state statistics.
Chihuahua state authorities reported 86 killings of women in Juárez in 2008, 38 more than in 1995, when the next-highest number of slayings was reported during the past 15 years.
The United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is sending its Mexico representative to Juárez on Tuesday to meet with officials and victims' relatives, in response to complaints about the escalating violence against women and threats to advocacy groups that keep pressing for investigations.
After the meetings in Juárez, Alberto Brunori, the U.N. official based in Mexico City, will make recommendations to the U.N. High Commissioner in New York and the Mexican government. The commission is the main human-rights arm of the United Nations, which monitors human rights throughout the world.
Last year, Juárez had 6.6 murders of women per each 100,000 population, compared with El Paso County, which had 1.08 per each 100,000 population. Total murders in Juárez for 2008 were 1,609, or 123.76 per 100,000, compared with 20 homicides for El Paso County, or 2.7 per 100,000 population.
In addition to the slain women, 12 young women were reported missing in 2008, said Marilu Garcia, a member of Nuestras Hijas de Regreso a Casa (May Our Daughters Come Home), an advocacy organization.
"These girls are considered high-risk victims -- they shared common features and practically all of them disappeared in the downtown area," Garcia said. "They were seen waiting for a bus or shopping or on their way to do other things. We believe human trafficking is involved in some of these cases.
"We're going to talk to the U.N. representative about the worsening violence against women, and we're going to ask the Chihuahua governor to create a special unit to search for the missing women."
Lydia Ramos Mancha, 17, a biology student at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juárez, is among the missing. She was last seen Dec. 1 catching a bus on her way to the university to check on her final exam grades.
"My family is desperate to know what happened to my sister," said Gerardo Ramos Mancha, 21, the missing teen's brother.
"We know the investigators are overwhelmed with numerous cases, but I would like for the governor to hire or assign more agents to these cases. My sister was pursuing a career in medicine, and she was normal, like any other girl her age."
Garcia said many law enforcement officials have left the ranks of the state attorney general's office because of threats from the drug cartels.
Of last year's 1,609 homicides, 125 of the victims were police and soldiers. Other law enforcement officers quit or were fired, leaving hundreds of cases unattended.
Nevertheless, the Chihuahua state attorney general's office has maintained that investigators have solved or have strong leads in 80 percent of the women's murders.
Canadian women’s equality & social justice web sites and directories
Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights ( www.womensequality.ca )
Canadian Social Research Links (www.canadiansocialresearch.net )
WomenNet - Canadian Women’s Virtual Information Centre/Directory of Women’s Resources (www.womennet.ca )
CharityVillage Resources and Library (www.charityvillage.com/CV/charityvillage/ires.asp )
Childcare Resource and Research Unit (www.childcarecanada.org )
DisAbled Women’s Network Ontario links page (http://dawn.thot.net/links.html )
Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (www.fafia-afai.org )
F-email Fightback (http://cupwsisters.blogspot.com )
Native Women’s Association of Canada (www.nwac-hq.org/en/index.html )
National Association of Women and the Law (www.nawl.ca/ns/en/index.html )
National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada (www.noivmwc.org/noivmwcen/index.php )
Netfemmes (www.netfemmes.cdeacf.ca )
Pauktuutit Inuit Women’s Association (www.pauktuutit.ca )
University of Toronto’s Women's Human Rights Resources Database (www.law-lib.utoronto.ca/Diana/mainpage.htm )
Women’s Future Fund - Help women’s organizations survive and thrive! (www.womensfuturefund.com/home.php )
International women’s equality/social justice web sites and directories
Amnesty International's Stop Violence Against Women campaign (http://web.amnesty.org/actforwomen/index-eng )
Association for Women's Rights in Development (www.awid.org )
Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals (www.mdgender.net )
Global List of Women's Organisations (www.distel.ca/womlist/womlist.html )
Hot Peach Pages (www.hotpeachpages.net )
Inventory of hotlines, shelters, refuges, crisis centres and women's organizations, searchable by country, with information in over 70 languages.
Nobel Women’s Initiative: United for Peace with Justice and Equality (www.nobelwomensinitiative.org/home.php )
PeaceWomen links (www.peacewomen.org/contacts/int/Int-index.html )
WomenWatch (www.un.org/womenwatch )
Social action resources
Code Blue for Child Care (www.buildchildcare.ca )
Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research
(http://www.cemcor.ubc.ca )
Community Action Resources for Inuit, Métis and First Nations: Making it Happen (www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hl-vs/pubs/adp-apd/makingithappen-realisation/v_e.html )
DisAbled Women’s Network Ontario - Media Tool Kit (http://dawn.thot.net/media.html )
DisAbled Women’s Network Ontario - Planning for Accessible Meetings (http://dawn.thot.net/accessible_meetings.html )
DisAbled Women’s Network Ontario - “Tell It to Ottawa” Legislative Workshop: Advocacy Tool Kit (http://dawn.thot.net/advocacy_toolkit.html )
DisAbled Women’s Network Ontario - Using the Internet for Outreach and Activism: A Virtual Activist Training Reader (http://dawn.thot.net/virtual_activist_training.html )
Women's Health Matters
(http://www.womenshealthmatters.ca )
The Violence Against Women...in Canada!
This from Holly's Fight for Justice and Holly's Fight to Stop Violence,
The Violence against Women in Canada...from Statistics Canada. Check out the website below with this information.... http://www.statcan.gc.ca
Homicides
198 - the number of female victims of homicide in Canada in 2004. On average, 182 females were killed every year in Canada between 1994 and 2003.
62 - the number of female victims of spousal homicide in 2004. Of these, 27 women were killed by their legally married husband, 20 by a common-law partner and 15 by a separated or divorced husband. Among solved homicides involving victims aged 15 and older in 2004, one-half of all women were killed by someone with whom they had an intimate relationship at some point, either through marriage or dating. The comparative figure for men is 8%.
13 - the number of women killed by a current or former boyfriend in 2004.
Source: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051006/d051006b.htm.
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Violence against women
7% - the estimated percentage of women in a current or previous spousal relationship who experienced spousal violence during the five years up to and including 2004. Rates of spousal abuse were highest among certain segments of the population: those aged 15 to 24; those in relationships of three years or less; those who had separated; and those in common-law unions.
23% - the percentage of female victims who reported that the most serious form of violence experienced was being beaten, choked, or threatened by having a gun or a knife used against them.
44% - the percentage of female victims of spousal abuse who indicated that they suffered injury because of violence, with 13% seeking medical attention.
38% - the percentage of women who reported the abuse to the police who sought a restraining order.
24% - the percentage of Aboriginal women who said they had suffered violence from a current or previous partner in the five-year period up to 2004. The overall rate of Aboriginal spousal violence (both men and women) was 21% during this period, compared with 6% for the non-Aboriginal population.
Source: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050714/d050714a.htm.
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Stalking
11% - percentage of women aged 15 and older who stated that they were stalked in a way that caused them to fear for their safety or the safety of someone close to them. This was the equivalent of 1.4 million women. Among the victims of stalking, 9% of women reported that they had been stalked by either a current or previous spouse, or common-law partner.
Source: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050714/d050714a.htm.
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Shelters for abused women
58,486 - the number of women who sought refuge in one of 473 shelters across Canada between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004. Overall, there were 543 known shelters in Canada providing residential services to abused women and their children. Of these, 473 participated in the Statistics Canada survey.
76% - the percentage of women who sought refuge in a shelter on April 14, 2004 who were escaping abuse. The vast majority of women staying in shelters to escape abuse were fleeing psychological or emotional abuse. Almost 7 out of 10 reported physical abuse, 50% threats, 46% financial abuse, 31% harassment and 27% sexual abuse. About one in three abused women in shelters on April 14, 2004 had reported their most recent abusive incident to police. Of the women who had stayed in shelters previously, 40% had been there once in the previous year, 38% had been there two to four times and about 1 in 10 had been to a facility five times or more during the previous year.
221 - the number of women, along with 112 children who could not, or would not be accommodated at one of 93 shelters on April 14, 2004. Of these 93 shelters, 62% reported the reason for referring them elsewhere was because the shelter was full, down from 75% in 2001/02. Other reasons for turning away clients relate to problems with alcohol and substance abuse as well as mental health issues.
3,519 - the number of women admitted to 31 on-reserve shelters between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004.
Source: http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050615/d050615a.htm.
Gwenda Yuzicappi says people need to speak out when there's been a sexual assault, a murder or any type of abuse.
Mom of slain Sask teen says First Nations need to speak out when women are abused
January 23, 2009 THE CANADIAN PRESS
REGINA - The mother of a murdered aboriginal woman in Saskatchewan says the First Nations community needs to "stop keeping secrets."
Gwenda Yuzicappi says people need to speak out when there's been a sexual assault, a murder or any type of abuse.
Yuzicappi's 19-year-old daughter, Amber Redman, disappeared in July 2005 but her remains weren't discovered until last May after a police sting operation.
Yuzicappi says people on the Little Black Bear reserve - where the remains were found - knew what had happened and kept silent.
The grieving mother says more missing aboriginal women could be found and more families could be helped if people would hold those responsible to account.
Albert Bellegarde, 29, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in Redman's death.
Sexual assault on campus a more significant issue than we think by Carly Vandergriendt
This from Holly's Fight for Justice, Holly's Fight to Stop Violence,
Important points, very interesting article by Carly Vandergriendt. Written for The Ontarion from University of Guelph Independent Student Newspaper.
This is not just a women's issue
Sexual assault, especially sexual assault on campus, is not just a problem to be left to feminists or women's rights activists. It is a violation of human rights and an issue that should resonate with every member of the University of Guelph community – men included.
It is a topic that should be talked about openly, and discussed by male and female peers, in formal and informal settings, in the hopes that the pathways of thinking that lead to rape and sexual coercion may one day be erased.
But who wants to talk about sexual assault? Who wants to admit that sexual assault actually happens all the time right here on our own campus? The fact is, as students we participate in a culture that is conducive to this kind of violence; a culture that promotes gender-based discrimination and passively allows it to happen.
By no means is this issue singular to Guelph. On campuses all over North America, sexual assault is blindly accepted as a piece of our culture and identity in a male-dominated society – it is about exerting power over a weaker individual.
The victim, most often female, is quickly disregarded for overreacting, or for being too emotional, or for just being wrong. These survivors then rightly fear turning to a legal system that undermines their experiences. Perpetrators, the majority of them male, refuse to see themselves accountable as rapists or committers of hate crimes – in fact, they are often supported by a network of peers who condone their actions.
Unfortunately, alcohol serves to increase the gray area surrounding consent. Alcohol is the date-rape drug of choice; one that empowers and enables respectable individuals to behave in unthinkable ways. While the law states that a person who is drunk cannot legally give consent, somehow drinking has led to the justification of non-consensual sex, and if a woman or anyone else wakes up feeling violated, it is then her fault for losing control.
The truth is that those who are violated never choose to give someone else control over their body. Whether the victim is drunk, gay, female, male, or a child, no one deserves to be sexually assaulted.
Addressing this issue most certainly requires male participation – men must be proactive in turning things around and unlearning sexism. In working towards a solution, campaigning on campus needs to focus on weaving together the unheard voices of survivors with those of men and women willing to stand for change through discussion, prevention and advocacy.
At other universities, approaches to sexual assault awareness and policy have focused on getting students to obtain consent for any sexual act. These campaigns indicate the need for honest communication of desires as opposed to assumption and entitlement with sexual partners. The idea is that sex can indeed be viewed as something that is sexy and mutually empowering when it involves fully consenting individuals.
It becomes clear through candid discussion surrounding consent issues that we are born knowing the mechanics of having sex, but somehow the communication aspect of having sex – the talking that should accompany us from first base to home plate – is lost. Many fear that talking will "ruin the moment," or that if they were to ask the response might be negative. But sex is about two people, not just one, and letting go of personal fears as well accepting a partner's boundaries is paramount to consensual sex.
We need to work together to eradicate sexual violence as a community that includes persons of every gender. Sexual assault will affect our partners, our families, our friends, our co-workers, our peers – and its time we took a stand on campus by talking about, and by having consensual sex.
Undone by Jennifer O'Connor
Undone by Jennifer O'Connor
Hundreds of sexual assault cases each year are labeled "unfounded" by Canadian police departments. Victims and advocates are demanding answers.
The sea will drum in my ears. The white petals will be darkened with sea water. They will float for a moment and then sink. Rolling me over the waves will shoulder me under. Everything falls in a tremendous shower, dissolving me. --Virginia Woolf, The Waves
Click here to read this unique article... http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2009/01/undone_unfounded.php
Islamic cleric advises worshippers to rape and beat wives
This from Holly/Admin,
Just when I think progress is being made in respect to sexual violence....
HEADLINES LIKE THIS ONE SURFACE!
No one has the right to beat are rape their wife's...
Should be punished to the full entent of the law in ANY COUNTRY!
The Province of Alberta has the highest Domestic Violence Rate in Canada!
An Australian cleric has provoked outrage by telling worshippers it is acceptable for men to rape and beat their wives. By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney
Last Updated: 22 Jan 2009
Self-styled cleric Samir Abu Hamza, who runs the Islamic Information and Services Network of Australasia in Melbourne, advised a male audience in Sydney in 2003 that they could force their wives to have sex and beat them if they were "disobedient".
In a lecture titled "The Keys to a Successful Marriage", which has since been posted on the internet and viewed thousands of times, Mr Hamza said men could beat their wives, "to shape them up", but should try not to draw blood or bruise them.
He also said women "must respond" if their husbands wanted to have sex, and ridiculed laws that prohibit rape within marriage.
"In this country if the husband wants to sleep with his wife and she does not want to and she hasn't got a sickness or whatever, there is nothing wrong with her she just does not feel like it, and he ends up sleeping with her by force ... it is known to be as rape," Mr Hamza said.
"Amazing, how can a person rape his wife?" His comments have been condemned by Islamic women's groups and Kevin Rudd, the prime minister, has called for an immediate public apology.
"Under no circumstances is sexual violence permissible or acceptable in Australia," he said.
However, Mr Hamza, whose organisation offers spiritual advice, prayer facilities and boxing, karate and gym classes for Muslims, has refused to retract his statements.
In the sermon Mr Hamza initially tells his listeners "don't hit your wife".
But he goes on to detail how men should hit their wives, according to his interpretation of Islamic teachings.
He says it is permissible to hit women as a "last resort" but that "the beating the Mohammed showed is like the toothbrush that you use to brush your teeth".
"You are not allowed to bruise them, you are not allowed to make them bleed.
"You don't go and grab a broomstick and say that is what Allah has said."
Ramzi Elsayed, Islamic Council of Victoria state president, said Islam did not condone violence against women or making a wife have sex with her husband against her will.
Aspen seeing spike in sex assault arrests
Published on Aspen Daily News Online (http://www.aspendailynews.com)
Aspen, known as a safe town shaken rarely by the random violent crimes endemic to larger urban populations, had its cocoon of security cut open over the weekend, when police say a man abducted and raped a woman at an affordable housing project in town.
Acts of random sexual violence like that alleged attack are quite rare here. The last in recent memory was in July 2001 when a man beat and raped a 21-year-old woman in an alley behind Little Annie’s Eating House.
Far more common, authorities say, are the late-night date rapes that almost always go unreported to law enforcement, and that make the majority of incidents that lead to one out of four American women being raped in their lifetimes. Like 80 percent of all sex assaults, most local victims are acquainted with their assailants before the attacks, experts say.
This weekend’s alleged incident marked the fifth sex assault charge in Aspen in as many months — an effective spike, if not in attacks, certainly in their reporting to police.
“We have had a little run here,” said Sandra Dukas of Response, a local support and assistance agency for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
This weekend’s incident followed an attempted attack at an apartment in August, an alleged attack at the Cooper Street Pier bar by its manager on one of his employees, another alleged attempted assault on two women by one man at a home east of Aspen in December and, earlier this month, reports of repeated fondling by a local yoga instructor on his customers, which led to his arrest.
Over the last decade, sex assault arrests have never gone into the double digits locally over the course of a year, according to unofficial yearly tallies provided by the Aspen Police Department.
In 2008, nine such cases were opened.
“We’ve had the barroom hook-ups gone bad, and had a steady flow of masseuses and hands-on professionals who get accused by their female clients of inappropriate touching, and more recently we’ve had the dosing component,” said Pitkin County Sheriff Bob Braudis, “but we’ve never had, in the 40 years I’ve been here, many violent rapes.”
Aspen Police Chief Richard Pryor said his department is putting together a “community seminar” in response to the weekend’s incident, which will provide instruction for women on how to ensure they stay safe in town, including precautions like locking front doors, which people sometimes ignore in a supposedly safe place like this valley.
He said they also want to talk to local bartenders and managers about watching people’s drinks and intervening if they observe someone possibly drugging a cocktail, and encouraging them to help women out when they see them leaving bars alone, drunk and possibly vulnerable.
“We also want people to know that they can always call us,” Chief Pryor said, “if they’re in a situation where they feel threatened or uncomfortable we are here to help.”
Response, the local assistance agency for sex assault victims, is run by 50 volunteers and 25 trained advocates, including a legal specialist. They offer emergency housing and support groups and also operate a 24-hour confidential hotline for victims at 925-SAFE (7233).
Anyone interested in volunteering for Response should call 920-5357.
andrew@aspendailynews.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL: http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/131858
CDCR Places Entire Sex Offender Parolee Population on GPS Monitoring
For Immediate Release Contact: Seth Unger / Gordon Hinkle(916) 445-4950
January 12, 2009 Department Unveils Public Web Site on General Sex Offender Information
SACRAMENTO - Every sex offender on state parole in California is now being monitored by GPS technology, a major accomplishment that is six months ahead of previous projections, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matt Cate announced today.
"This is a significant milestone to protecting public safety by holding these individuals accountable for the actions and their whereabouts," Cate said. "The CDCR is holding true to a commitment it has made to fit every sex offender parolee with a GPS device and monitor them aggressively."
California is the nation's leader in using GPS technology to track sex offenders. Today, a total of 6,622 sex offenders - all active sex offender parolees in the community - are now being monitored by GPS. These offenders are fitted with an ankle bracelet that transmits its location to parole agents, who also visit these individuals on a routine basis.
"Due to the diligence and hard work of our entire parole division, CDCR is more than six months ahead of schedule in placing the entire sex offender population on GPS supervision," said Division of Adult Parole's Director, Tom Hoffman. "California is by far the nation's leader when it comes to tracking sex offenders using GPS, and this massive effort will assist us in better monitoring the activities of sex offenders on parole and improving public safety."
Also see Governor's release below:
Gov. Schwarzenegger Issues Statement on Entire Sex Offender Parolee Population Now on GPS Monitoring
CDCR's Division of Adult Parole Operations originally projected having this entire population - in addition to those requiring GPS supervision under Jessica's Law - under GPS monitoring by June 2009 due to workload issues and availability of the GPS devices. However, as a result of a concentrated effort to achieve this goal, that date was greatly surpassed.
Jessica's Law, also known as Proposition 83, was passed overwhelmingly by California voters in 2006. The law required that every paroled sex offender be monitored by GPS, which is a single, yet important, tool in helping California's parole agents supervise sex offenders more closely.
Currently, parole agents monitor sex offenders on an offender to agent caseload of 40 offenders for every one agent while offenders classified as high risk are monitored on a 20 offender to every one agent.
CDCR's parole division is solely responsible for those sex offenders serving a parole term which is approximately 11 percent of the entire sex offender population in California. The remaining sex offender population - some 92,000 sex offenders - are under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement authorities. In addition to sex offenders, CDCR parole agents supervise nearly 125,000 parolees serving an average of three to five year parole term.
CDCR works continuously and aggressively to improve its policies on managing sex offenders and frequently seeks input from the California Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB), which was created in 2006 to advise the Legislature, the Governor and CDCR in developing sound policy and recommendations on sex offender management.
The CDCR also partners with local law enforcement agencies to pilot GPS technology on High Risk Gang Offenders, and are seeing great potential for reducing gang and violent crime throughout the state as well.
CDCR has established an internet web page to provide updated statistics on California's parole population, sex offenders, how GPS works as well as information on Jessica's Law. Please visit that page: Sex Offender Information Page
Supreme Court lets Internet porn law die
The measure, which never went into effect, was aimed at shielding children from sexually explicit websites. Judges had repeatedly blocked it on free-speech grounds.
By David G. Savage January 21, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- A 13-year legal drive to shield children from pornography on the Internet ended in defeat today when the Supreme Court let the Child Online Protection Act die quietly.
The measure, which never went into effect, made it a crime to put sexually explicit material on a website for commercial gain unless the sponsor used some means, such as requiring a credit card, to keep out minors.
It was repeatedly blocked from taking effect on free-speech grounds by judges, including by the Supreme Court in 2004. The justices had also voided an earlier, even broader law passed in 1996 that prohibited "indecency" on the Web.
The outcome preserves the Web as a wide-open forum for free expression. It also leaves to parents the duty to install software filters if they wish to block pornography on their home computers.
The judges in Philadelphia who struck down the law last year called these filters an "equally effective" means of protecting children from pornography on the Web.
In October, however, Bush administration lawyers disputed that claim and urged the high court to revive the law. Voiding the law, "would leave millions of children unprotected from the harmful effects of the enormous amount of pornography on the World Wide Web," they said. About half of all parents do not use filters on their computers, they added.
Countering that contention, the American Civil Liberties Union said the challenged law would crimp free speech on the Web for adults and would not shield children, because at least half of the sexually explicit websites are outside the United States.
Five years ago, the issue split the high court, but not along the usual ideological lines. Voting to block the law on free-speech grounds were Justices John Paul Stevens, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The justices sent the case back to lower courts to decide whether Internet filters would be sufficient to protect minors.
The dissenters were led by Justices Antonin Scalia and Stephen G. Breyer. They were joined by the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and the now-retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
The Supreme Court considered the appeal in two closed-door meetings in recent weeks and said today it had been turned down without comment. The case was Mukasey vs. ACLU.
GREATER Manchester Police has refused to disclose the number of sex crimes
This from Holly/Admin,
Tell us what you think? Child sex crimes request rejected
GREATER Manchester Police has refused to disclose the number of sex crimes involving children, after receiving a request from a leading charity.
The NSPCC asked all police forces in England and Wales how many under-18s were victims of sex offences and requested a gender and age breakdown, using Freedom of Information legislation.
GMP was the only force to refuse to supply the statistics.
A total of 1,769 alleged sex crimes involving under-18s were reported to the police in the North West last year, excluding Greater Manchester.
Chief Supt Mark Robinson, head of information management at GMP, said the force had not replied to the request because of the time it would take and the cost to the force. He said: “The Lord Chancellor has stipulated that there is no mandatory requirement for police forces to comply with any request to provide information under Freedom of Information legislation which is likely to take more than 18 hours to research at a cost in excess of £450.
“The position adopted by GMP is that, wherever possible, requests for information will be complied with, as this stance will help to promote public confidence in the police service.
“In this particular case, the work required to comply with the request would have been significantly in excess of the 18 hour and £450 limit. In the public interest, the decision was made to exercise the privilege of not complying with the request.
“The NSPCC has been informed that any subsequent request which falls within the guidelines is likely to be considered favourably.”
More than 20,000 sex crimes involving children were reported to officers in England and Wales in 2008 which, the NSPCC says, equates to more than 50 sexual offences against children every day.
In nearly one in four cases, — 4,984 — the victims were aged 10 or younger and more than 800 offences involved children aged four and under.
Six times more sex crimes were recorded against girls than against boys.
Mallory Misses the Mark
Judge applies suburban logic to urban murder By Margo Pierce . . . . . . .
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge William Mallory held an evidentiary hearing Jan. 9 on an appeal filed by the Ohio Innocence Project seeking a new trial for Bryant Gaines, convicted of a 2003 murder in Avondale.
“An innocent person,” Mallory said, “should never be incarcerated.”
He said he respected the work of the Ohio Innocence Project and its efforts to see that innocent people are released from prison. He said he’d read the entire transcript of Gaines’ murder trial in addition to other documents presented as part of the request for a new trial. And he’d requested that the eyewitness who recently came forward to clear Gaines of the murder charge be present to answer questions (see related News article “Down by Law”).
http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-16957-mallory-misses-the-mark.html
11 convicted murderers hanged in Tehran
11 convicted murderers hanged in Tehran
January 21st, 2009 ICT by IANS
Tehran, Jan 21 (DPA) Eleven convicted murderers were hanged Wednesday in Tehran, the daily Vatan’e Emruz reported.The 11 were hanged early Wednesday in the Evin prison in northern Tehran after their death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Murder, rape, sabotage and drug trafficking of quantities in excess of five kilograms are crimes punishable by death in Iran.
RCMP have called a meeting for families of murdered and missing women in the Highway of Tears cases for Thursday in Vancouver.
RCMP call in Tears families By Todd Hamilton - Smithers Interior News
Published: January 21, 2009
RCMP have called a meeting for families of murdered and missing women in the Highway of Tears cases for Thursday in Vancouver.
“They didn’t speak on really what it’s all about,” Matilda Wilson, the mother of murdered Ramona Wilson, said on Monday.
“I’m not sure what the next topic will be. In the last one.. it’s always something like they’re `still working on it’ and `it’s very slow’ and things like that.
“We’re trying to keep this alive. We still don’t know if this person is going to do this again, is going to strike again.”
Late last year, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) called on Canada to set up an inquiry that will not only look into reasons for the failure of law enforcement to investigate the cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women over the past two decades.
A recent report on Canada’s compliance with the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women called on the government, “to take the necessary steps to remedy deficiencies in the system.”
In British Columbia, 18 women have gone missing along Hwy 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert, dubbed the Highway of tears.
In September, family and friends of the victims met with the Walk 4 Justice group to travel from Prince Rupert to Parliament Hill to raise awareness about the perceived inaction of the police and various levels of government.
“A unity has been formed and people can start working together to voice their opinions and get something done about it,” Brenda Wilson, sister of the late Ramona Wilson whose remains were found in 1995 and Smithers Highway of Tears campaigner, told The Interior News.
At the federal all candidates debate in October, MP for Skeena-Bulkley Valley, Nathan Cullen said the Prime Minister had a lot to answer for because he didn’t come out and accept the petition.
“I was really impressed with the Prime Ministers’ apology to First Nations residential school survivors,” Cullen said. “But his actions when these people walked all the way to Ottawa — he was given three months notice and he was in Ottawa that day — it makes me doubt the sincerity of that apology.”
Three Smithers area women are among the many missing and dead women along the Hwy of tears: Cecilia Anne Nikal who went missing in 1989, last seen in Smithers, Delphine Nikal who diappeared from Smithers in 1990 while hitchiking to Telkwa and Ramona Wilson whose remains were found near the Smithers airport in 1995. None of these cases have been solved and in some people’s view not even adequately investigated.
Carrie Humchitt, president of the Aboriginal Women’s Action Network said the high level of stranger violence experienced by Aboriginal women is not the committee’s only concern.
“The committee is also concerned about the poverty of Aboriginal women, their poor health, inadequate housing, lack of access to clean water, low school completion rates, and the high levels of child apprehension from Aboriginal parents,” Humchitt stated.
“The committee urges Canada to develop a comprehensive and integrated plan for addressing the conditions of Aboriginal women as a matter of urgency.”
-with files from Brian Bloom
Ever wonder what happens to all that bling the police seize from gangsters? Check eBay.
January 21, 2009 Gangster loot sold on eBay netted $700Gs By BRYN WEESE
Ever wonder what happens to all that bling the police seize from gangsters? Check eBay.
For five years, the Toronto Police Service has been using online auctions to get rid of old evidence seized during investigations that is no longer required by police or the courts.
The online auctions, which also sell items turned in to police that go unclaimed as lost property, have collectively received more than 400,000 bids and have netted police $714,671 since the pilot project began in 2003.
Winning bidders have come from as far away as Alaska, Germany, Denmark and Israel.
Today, the Toronto Police Services Board is being asked to open for tender the online auctioning service contract, now held by Toronto-based Rite Auctions. According to the report, in the last five years there has been a rise in the number of companies that prepare items for online auctions, and costs could be lower elsewhere.
RUBY, DIAMOND NECKLACE
City of Toronto, Toronto Transit Commission, Hamilton and Halton police services also use online auctions.
The report to the board also states the police themselves cannot get the items ready for auction on eBay because the cost would negate the proceeds from the auction and, in fact, would cost them money.
Last year, online auctions netted the board $180,261 but police estimate the cost of preparing the items for auction in-house would cost $391,631 annually.
Some of the more costly items now being offered on eBay by the Toronto Police are a $1,220 14K gold, ruby and diamond necklace; a $665 14K gold, ruby and diamond bracelet; and a $465 Batavus Spirit Entrada Cruiser bike.
But it's not all bling and bikes. Also on auction is a $51 skid lot of industrial paints, a $19.39 lot of tealights and floating candles, a box of unscented white candles for $8, and assorted toothbrushes for $3.91.
The auction items can be viewed through the Toronto Police Services website at torontopolice.on.ca.
RCMP to create anti-terror squad in Alberta By Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal
This from Holly/Admin,
Click title to read this story...
Unit to guard against threats from home, abroad
The RCMP plans to establish an anti-terrorism unit for Alberta, similar to the one investigating the EnCana pipeline bombings near Dawson Creek, B.C.
The 40 to 45 members would be based in Calgary and Edmonton and would guard against both al-Qaeda-style terrorists and homegrown radicals, said Bob Paulson, assistant commissioner of the RCMP's Ottawa-based National Security and Criminal Investigations. Paulson said the unit is not being developed because of a specific threat.
"Certainly, the oilsands and the pipelines are as viable a target in Alberta as they are in British Columbia or as the nuclear plants are in Central Canada," he said.
There are similar Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.
An Alberta unit will be set up, "as soon as possible," pending negotiations for the extra $3 million, Paulson said.
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/RCMP+create+anti+terror+squad+Alberta/1193633/story.html
Thea Cunningham helps sex workers
Sex workers and advocates meet to discuss reducing stigma by Sarah Petrescu
Canwest News Service Saturday, January 17, 2009
VICTORIA - When Thea Cunningham helps sex workers find a place to live, visit a doctor or speak to a lawyer, she knows firsthand the kind of humiliating treatment they can face.
"I've gone to the hospital with pneumonia and had doctors and nurses ignore me like I was garbage and it was my fault because I was on the street," said Cunningham, 36, who was a sex worker and a drug addict for 10 years before becoming sober just over a year ago. Now she co-ordinates a daytime outreach program at the Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resource Society (PEERS). "A lot of the girls are my friends and I feel so good being out there for them . . . That's what saved me."
Cunningham was part of a group of sex workers, academics and advocates from around the world who came together in Victoria this weekend to brainstorm how to reduce the stigma sex workers face in their lives and the media.
"We'd like to find a way to get the message out that those - mostly women - involved in the sex trade are complex human beings," said Cecilia Benoit, a sociology professor at the University of Victoria who organized the Challenging Myths and Misperceptions conference with the Women's Health Research Network.
"The stigma that they cannot break free from is constantly being defined by what marginalizes them - the sex trade, poverty, race - and nothing else."
That stigma has been around for a long time - in this newspaper in the latter part of the 19th century, sex workers were referred to as "women of ill-repute" and high-end brothels were known as the "sporting industry."
Lauren Casey said she's recently had to confront the fact that her history as a sex worker and advocate might follow her.
"Just Google my name and the first thing that comes up is a YouTube video of me saying I want to start a brothel . . . I'm applying for graduate school and jobs thinking about that," said Casey, a former director of PEERS who is about to start doctoral studies at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Susan Davis, a sex worker, artist and co-ordinator with Vancouver's Prostitution Alternatives Counseling and Education Society, told how media portrayals of missing women in the late '90s on that city's Downtown Eastside prompted sex workers and advocates to challenge language stereotypes.
"Within a year, we had every media organization across the country replacing words like hooker and prostitute with sex worker," she said.
Cunningham said speaking openly about her time as a sex worker and drug addict is part of helping others find acceptance.
"If you would have seen me - I spent the last three years in Rock Bay with no front teeth . . . I had an abscess the size of a baseball on my arm from shooting drugs, (I was) in and out of trying to get treatment. It was awful," she said.
Since becoming involved with PEERS, Cunningham has regained custody of her 15-year-old daughter and is studying to become a paramedic - a career choice prompted by the three times she helped fellow drug addicts survive an overdose. "I can't say enough about (PEERS). My mom calls them my guardian angels."
Victoria Times Colonist
I cried reading this horrible story....
This from Holly/Admin,
Beyond words the horrible torture to this young rape victim....I cried reading this story!
Afghan foetus 'aborted by razor' By Martin Vennard BBC News
The family of a 14-year-old Afghan rape victim face prosecution after her foetus was removed without anaesthetic.
The mother and brother of the girl are accused of cutting her open with a razor blade to perform an abortion.
Doctors say the girl is in a critical condition. A man accused of raping her is under arrest, officials say.
Rape victims and their families in Afghanistan often feel ashamed to report what has happened because people may think the victim consented to sex.
Sex outside marriage is illegal in Afghanistan.
'Dog bite'
The governor of Bamiyan Province, Habiba Sarabi, says that action is being taken.
When the girl was five months pregnant it is alleged her mother and brother took her to a stables and cut her open with a razor blade.
They removed the foetus, which they buried, before stitching up her wound, Governor Sarabi said.
The father eventually took the girl to get medical treatment.
Dr Ghulam Mohammad Nader, head of Bamiyan hospital, said the girl is in a critical condition, but that she had been able to explain what had happened to her.
"The girl stayed at home for three or four days in her condition until her father took her to hospital," Dr Nader said.
"He said a dog had bitten her so that people in the area wouldn't know what had really happened."
The girl has now been transferred to Kabul for treatment.
The provincial governor says the man accused of raping the girl has been arrested and that police are trying to arrest her mother and brother.
The victims of rape and their families in Afghanistan are often afraid to admit what has happened to them because of the stigma and shame attached to the issue.
Sometimes the victims are murdered by their own families.
Critics accuse the authorities of not taking accusations of rape seriously, especially those made by children.
But President Karzai recently called for rapists to be brought to justice and the Afghan Supreme Court suspended three judges who acquitted people accused of rape.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7815896.stm
Published: 2009/01/08
UPDATE...Albertan Lindhout still hostage...
Somali journalist released, Albertan Lindhout still hostage...Amanda Lindhout held captive since late August, Canwest News Service January 16, 2009
MOGADISHU - A Somali journalist and driver kidnapped along with Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout in August have been released, but there is still no word on the fate of the 27-year-old woman from Alberta.
Freed journalist Abdifatah Mohamed Elmi said Lindhout and Nigel Brennan, 35, an Australian photographer who was also kidnapped, were still being held hostage.
The appeal of Robert (Willie) Pickton's second-degree murder conviction.
This from Holly/Admin,
In my opinion...it will be a long time before Justice is served! I have to asked the questions...
What is going to be achieved? What is going to happen to the families during this time?
Arguments filed as Pickton appeal nears by Lori Culbert with Vancouver Sun
Thursday, January 15, 2009
VANCOUVER - The Crown and the defence filed detailed arguments, numbering about 100 pages each, in court in mid-December as they prepared for the appeal of Robert (Willie) Pickton's second-degree murder conviction.
Pickton was convicted a year ago of six counts of second-degree murder, and his appeal is set for March 30, 2009. Nine days have been set aside.
The Crown believes Pickton should have been convicted of first-degree murder, while the defence argues he should have been acquitted.
Lawyer Gil McKinnon, who is handling Pickton's case, has now dropped two of the grounds he planned to appeal. Both challenged the evidence heard at the trial, including the statements Pickton made to police.
Instead, he will focus his appeal on the trial judge's actions when the jury asked him a question during their deliberations.
Justice James Williams initially answered the jurors' question, but a short time later halted their deliberations for several hours. He later explained he had made an error and, in an unusual move, changed the legal instructions he had given to the jury.
The Crown and defence have until Feb. 27 to file written responses to each other's grounds for appeal.
The Crown's appeal argues Williams erred by splitting the 26 first-degree murder charges Pickton faced into two trials.
B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal has said if Pickton's appeal is unsuccessful and his conviction stands, the Crown will not proceed with a second trial on the remaining 20 counts.
That's a disappointment for many of victims' families.
Lilliane Beaudoin's sister, Dianne Rock, is among the 20 victims, and Beaudoin and husband Rene have written to politicians demanding the second trial be held.
"We're not going to give up. I promised myself and my sister that I would fight to the bitter end, that I would get justice for her," Beaudoin said. "I don't care about the cost (of a second trial), because now you're putting a price on my sister's life."
Rick Frey, whose daughter was among the six victims Pickton was convicted of killing, said he almost hopes Pickton's appeal is successful so that the other 20 families can get some answers.
"I don't think we're really excited that March is going to be another page in this book, but I'm pulling for the other 20 families. They need to have their day in court," Frey said.
Pickton is serving a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.
Canwest News Service 2009
Top 50 Human Rights Blogs
abyss2hope: A rape survivor's zigzag journey into the open: Top 50 Human Rights Blogs#links
Criminal Justice USA has compiled their World Watchdogs: Top 50 Human Rights Blogs on their e-Justice blog...
SENEGAL: Seeking legal, social tools against sexual violence
DAKAR, 13 January 2009 (IRIN) - As Senegal's parliament prepares to debate possible changes to rape laws, civil society groups say legislative reforms will not be enough to combat sexual violence against women and children.
“It is not enough to put rapists in prison and change the laws," Adama Sow of the Senegalese NGO Action Group Against Child Rape (GRAVE) told IRIN. “That is needed, of course...but we also need to change mentalities. If not we will never overcome this problem.”
Representatives of NGOs, charities and government have drawn up a list of legal and social proposals for combatting sexual violence. The new commission, which held a workshop in December to discuss the issue, is expected to present the proposals to the Justice Ministry the week of 19 January.
Fatimata Sy, president of the national committee for the fight against violence on women (CLVF) and a member of the commission, said sexual violence must be seen for the serious problem that it is. “Not a day goes by when you do not open a newspaper and see a story about violence against women or children….It is very visible here, but society does not take it seriously enough, especially rape.”
She said early education is paramount. “We need to educate in schools and at home. To teach the respect of women and girls as human beings. That girls are of the same worth as boys.…It is going to be a long-term job."
Hidden horror
Statistics are difficult to establish largely because of victims’ reluctance to speak up, rights activists say. But according to the pan-African human rights group RADDHO the situation in Senegal is worsening.
“For some time now, we have seen a real resurgence in violence, rapes and murders committed against women and young girls," RADDHO, based in the Senegalese capital Dakar, said in a recent report.
CLVF said it dealt with 69 cases of rape between January and October 2008. GRAVE treated 400 cases in 2007 and said it knows of six girls who were sexually assaulted in schools in Dakar since October 2008.
GRAVE's Sow said most victims fear the stigma attached to rape. “Here, the victim of sexual violence is often treated very badly. She is made to feel guilty, that she provoked the attack. [Victims'] needs are not taken into account.”
...Here, the victim of sexual violence is often treated very badly. She is made to feel guilty, that she provoked the attack...
Many victims are also put off by medical and legal expenses.
Rape is a crime in Senegal, carrying a jail term of up to 10 years. But Sy said the laws are often not enforced. "All too often in rape cases [judges] cite ‘extenuating circumstances’ and the perpetrator gets a mere few months in prison.”
Acceptance
GRAVE’s Sow said tradition is the primary cause of violence against women and children in Senegal, citing as an example forced marriage. He said a 12-year-old girl in Sedhiou, 450km south of Dakar, recently killed herself to escape a forced marriage.
For women of any age, marriage in Senegal is an institution in which many forms of abuse are tolerated, according to CLVF’s Sy. She said conjugal rape is common but rarely discussed much less condemned. “It is widely believed that once a woman has consented to marry then sex is an obligation."
Sy added: "Women are brought up being told [that if] you want your children to be successful you need to put up with a lot within the couple. It is a social norm to ‘let it go’. It is the price to pay. Women are stigmatised if they denounce [mistreatment].”
Primary school students not spared -
Report can be found online at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82350
And Then Let's Go For That Justice by Maya Rolbin-Ghanie
This from Holly/Admin,
Two interesting articles done by Maya Rolbin-Ghanie with The Dominion, January 14, 2009 title "And Then Let's Go For That Justice"...Indigenous women demand respect in Ottawa
http://www.dominionpaper.ca
The February 14th memorial march in Vancouver's Downtown East Side is held annually to remember and honour missing women and support their families and friends.
In honour of missing and murdered indigenous women, the Walk4Justice began in Vancouver on June 21, Aboriginal Day, and ended with a rally of about 250 on Parliament Hill on September 15.
The following article (part two in a series) explores the profound systemic flaws discussed during speeches at the rally; flaws that continue to encourage a deep-rooted Canadian prejudice against indigenous women, which is being supported by the 2010 Olympic Games and Canada's oil economy, specifically the Alberta Tar Sands.
Part one of this article can be read here.
