Current Event - Sexual Assaults in Military Academies

My current event was about sexual assault cases in military academies. The article talked about a report that comes out every year on the number of sex assault cases in U.S military academies in the United States. I got the article from WWW.CNN.com

This year's 2009/2010 report came out and there was a lot of skepticism regarding it. The National Department of Defense commented on the report saying, "This may not indicate an increase in the instances of sexual assault occurring, as it could also be a result of training and education and victim's confidence in the department's ability to respond." Then a former female Marine, Anuradha Bhagwati, executive director of the Woman's Action Network, complained that the government's statement was absurd.

Bhagwati witnessed these incidents first-hand being in the military, therefor people took her word over the governments. The report from 2008/2009 stated that 25 reported sex assault cases were filed. As compared to this year's 41 reported cases, that is a 64% increase over one year. This is an extremely high number.

Bhagwati and the Woman's Action Network felt as though the government has not done enough about this issue and sued the Department of Federal Affairs.

Anuradha Bhagwati also mentioned the rarity of sex assault cases being reported. The 41 cases that were mentioned in the report, are only 10% of the total incidents that actually occur within military academies. An explanation for this was that people are intimidated in the military to report these cases and in fear as well.

Sexual Assault, by definition, is intentional sexual contact by use of force, threats, etc. To be clear, not all of these cases that were reported are considered rape. Rape is a little bit different than sex assault. And not all of these assaults were on women either, but the majority were.

The historical significance of assault in the military academies is that women have come a long way from where they used to be. In the past, women were not even allowed to serve in the military. But now that we have accepted and allowed them to help protect our country, they are still in danger. If we allow women in the military, they should not have to worry about these issues. It shows that there is still a lot of violence against women in the world and that we have a long way to go as a country to provide equal rights (both politically and socially) to all women.

Sources Used:

• CNN.com

Article Link:

• http://articles.cnn.com/2010-12-15/us/military.sex.assault_1_sexual-assault-academies-sexual-predators?_s=PM:US

Clarifying Questions:

• Were these sexual assault cases all around the world or just in the United States?

This article focused in on the cases seen within the military academies, not actually out in the already formed military. So training our soldiers happens here in the U.S.

• What did you mean by only 10% of the cases reported?

The 41 sexual assault cases talked about in this article were only 10% of the total number of sex assaults that occurred this past year in the academies.

• Will these cases make people want to take women out of the military?

No, I don't think so because the U.S has made such progress in achieving to let women into the military that it would only be a step back if they took them out again. It will be better to just eliminate these assaults, which are unnecessary in the first place.

Probing Question:
How does these violence against women still occur, even after they have achieved equality regarding their rights and what are some ways to solve the issue of sexual assault on women in the military academies?

LWV Gifts Suffrage Book to Public Libraries

My current event was about the Juneau League of Women Voters giving a book about women suffrage to public libraries in the United States. The book includes different generations of suffragists in their struggles. The name of the book that was donated to public libraries is Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Women Suffrage Movement. It was written by Robert Cooney, Jr. The LWV wanted people to know how long the struggle was for women to gain voting rights.

The suffrage movement began in 1840 and ended in 1910. The women of the LWV worked to get the 19th amendment. The women had to fight for their voting rights state by state.

• 19th Amendment: "The right of citizens of the United States to vote are not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
  

The Juneau League of Women Voters was organized by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1920. The LWV are active participants in the CBJ campaigns, public forums, education, and voter registration. The CBJ (citizens for better judge) has been around for about 21 years. The organization has a "commitment to the proposition that the public is entitled to a competent, conscientious and professional judiciary," according to Daniel T. Goyette.

• The League of Women Voters first goal was to teach women how to exercise their new right to vote.
  
• These women take action by monitoring elections and government activities, as well as by testifying at legislative hearings.

If you were to search for the topic of women's rights or suffrage movements, you would not find many biographical books about women in the suffrage movement during the 19th century. If you searched "Women Suffrage" you would only see 73 titles; for "Women's History" only 107 titles; for "Feminism" you would see 1,623 titles about the topic.

• Feminism is "the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes."

The author of the book about women suffrage used information from manuscripts, subject titles, and photo archives from both public and private places. The main places that Robert Cooney, Jr. took information were the Schlesinger Library, the Library of Congress, and the Huntington and Bancroft Libraries in California.

Article Link:

• http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/121410/loc_756389226.shtml
  

Sources I used:

• http://www.citizensforbetterjudges.org/history.html

• http://www.juneaulwv.org/

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_the_United_States

Probing Question: Why do you think that there aren't many books that address women suffrage?

Current Event 12/14/10 - Caitlin Carroll

My current event was about a woman named Sarah Cleto Rial who won the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Award. She won the award because she was recognized for all of the activism movements that she has somehow participated in against the human rights abuse going on in Sudan. She was born and raised in Southern Sudan. At the age 17 she was arrested for the way she was dressed. The police put her into a pick up truck and drove around town letting people shout out insults and throw things at her then was put through an uncivil trial at court. For over twenty-five years, since her arrest, she has become an activist against human rights abuse. She mainly focuses on woman's voices being heard and their needs being meet.
She moved to the US in 1993 on a college scholarship and resettled in Lynn, Massachusetts. Since her move to America she has become the co-founder of non-profit organization called African Woman Empowerment Group. The organization helps immigrants and refugee woman become more independent and it also helps activist movements in Sudan. She currently works as a program director for My Sisters Keeper, which is a women led humanitarian organization in America. She helps direct programs to help enhance woman's education.

This is historically significant because the award was named after Eleanor Roosevelt. She is famous for being President Franklin Roosevelt's wife (our 32nd president) and for help making the Universal Declaration of Rights. The Universal Declaration of Rights was adopted on
December 10, of 1948 by General Assembly. The document is still used today by the United Nations to help create constitution's and peace laws.


Clarifying Questions:
1) What was in the Universal Declaration of Rights?
Here's a link to a great website of the whole document;
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

2) Why was the fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was significant?
She was significant because she helped write and draft this huge document about human rights and the reason why its linked to Sarah is because she has been dedicating her lift to help others gain those human rights and not have them be violated by a terrible government.

Probing Question:
In what ways can Sarah use woman's history to help her activism in Sudan?

Women's History Essential Questions

Here are some ideas developed in each class to help you clarify the essential question you want to focus on. These represent a starting point – feel free to adjust and/or combine various ideas to form your own essential question. You must identify your essential question by Tuesday 12-14 (comment here) as it will guide you through the Gallery Showing on Thursday.

Block Two:
How does one accomplish change in society?
How can a disadvantaged group advocate for change?
How can historical events inform activists’ actions?
What methods can activists use to create social change?
What are the obstacles that groups face in their struggle to achieve social change?
What has been the changing role of women throughout American history?
Must groups achieve social, political, and economic rights in order to achieve equality?
Should groups work within the system to create change or work from outside in order to force a desired change?
How can the creation of law affect the way people act?
What has changed the way we perceive gender roles? What has not changed?
How has our society’s power structure affected gender relations?
What role do the media play in perpetuating gender stereotypes?

Block Three:
How has women’s inequality been established/enforced throughout American history?
How has the media’s perception of body image affected women’s body image?
How has women’s body image been molded by the media over time?
How have women’s roles evolved and developed? Does the stereotypical role still exist?
In what ways have women’s rights evolved over time?
In what ways have gender roles evolved over time and how do they impact daily lives?
What’s the relationship between body image and violence against women?
Why have women been historically excluded from political thinking and roles?
Why is it important to study women’s history?
How has the role of women in politics changed over time? Or, not changed?
How is women’s involvement in politics limited by gender/societal expectations?

Block Four:
What’s the connection between expected societal roles for women and the level of respect/power they’re issued?
How have American women impacted social and political issues globally?
How has clothing and appearance of women changed over time? Is there a relationship between the change and their political roles?
How have women’s professional roles developed over time?
What role has marriage played in the lives of women over time?
How has women’s role in politics changed throughout history? How has politics changed due to women?
What is the connection between women meeting appearance ideals/expectations and their success/power in society?
What does the evolution of a woman’s reproductive freedom tell us about the larger women’s rights movement.

International Viiolence Against Women Act (IVAWA)

My current event article was about the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). The act was introduced to the 110^th congress, but did not come to a vote before congress adjourned. Therefore, it was re-introduced to the 111^th Congress in February 2010. The sponsors of the bill are John Kerry, the Chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Bill Delahunt, the Chair of House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Europe. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to consider the act with little time left in the Lame Duck session. If IVAWA is passed, it will make U.S. foreign policy and international development focus more on violence against women. It will also create new programs, better existing programs, reduce social tensions to create security, support survivors of violence, and hold perpatrators accountable. This would include training United States and international military and peace keeping units in prevention and response tactics. Help would also be given to improve overseas womens governmental and non-governmental organizations (but mostly non-governmental organizations) in addressing violence against women.

Violence against women still affects billions every year. One third of women in the world will be raped or abused in their lifetime. Also, surprisingly, seventy percent of women who are murdered are killed by their male partner. Another large problem that the act wants to help with is sexual violence in conflict areas like Darfur.

16 Days is an annual international campaign that runs from November 25^th to December 10^th. The title of this article is “16 Days of Activism Against gender Violence: Congress Should Adopt IVAWA” because this year their theme focuses on the intersection of militarism and violence against women. There have been over 3,400 organizations participating in 16 Days since 1991. These organizations raise awareness, strengthen local work, work to change societal structures, and advocate for other programs to help support survivors of violence. It would be most meaningful if the act was passed within these days.

questions from class:
Why do supporters want IVAWA to be passed before the lame duck session ends?
The supporters of the act want IVAWA passed before the new congress comes in during January. The new congress is going to be more conservative and will be less likely to pass the bill. Also, they do not want to have to wait any longer or have to re-introduce the bill again.

What is militarism?

Militarism is using the military to control the society. It is when the military is regarded as the supreme ideal of the state, where it is found to be more important than all other ideals.

Probing Question: Do you agree that the U.S. should make violence against women a greater focus of Foreign Policy, or do you think there are more important issues that should be focused on? Explain why. If you think other issues are more important, which ones?

ASSIGNMENT: THE YELLOW WALLPAPER

Thanks for an interesting discussion today. For this assignment, I'd like you to read Charlotte Perkins Gilman's explanation about why she wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." You can find it here.

Now that you know the story of the story (how confusing is that?) see if you can draw some similarities between Kate Chopin's purpose for writing "The Story of an Hour" and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's purpose for writing "The Yellow Wallpaper." How do both authors work to promote social change through their writing? Consider both the structure and the content of each story. How are they similar?

Please post your comment by Monday at 9pm.

ASSIGNMENT: "Story of an Hour" Debrief

Last Thursday, we had an insightful conversation about Kate Chopin's provocative short story, "The Story of an Hour." In a comment to this post, please reflect on what you heard on Thursday, either from our presenters or from the group at large. In your comment, please be specific about what ideas resonated with you and how they expanded your own understanding of the story. Don't forget to give credit where credit is due by naming names.

Please end your comment by finishing this sentence:
"Next time I write a one-pager, I will...(be concrete and specific here--not I will try hard, but rather something along the lines of "I will make connections between the passage in the story and character development.")

Due by 7pm Wednesday December 1st

Early Women's History-DUE TUESDAY

First, I want to remind everyone that your research for the Multigenre project is due on Tuesday. Make sure you have set up your Noodle Tools account and have successfully "shared" with Ms. Gearty and me.

Second, complete the following as an extension of our document analysis work from last week. Considering the late timing of the post, I will extend the deadline until Tuesday.

Assignment: Gather all of the work that you have done in analyzing the provided historical documents relevant to women's history. Considering all that we have discussed, identify the trends that exist across these first-hand accounts of historical events thereby analyzing what life was like for American women in the 18th and 19th centuries. Be sure you use evidence to back up your position. And, be original!

The Paycheck Fairness Act

My current event was about the Paycheck Fairness Act. This was a bill that was meant to help close the gap between men and women's salaries. Laws such as Title 7 (Equal Employment Oppertunity), Equal Pay Act, and Section 1981, already enforce the fact that all employees should get paid a similar salary, regardless of race or sex. However, the gap is still rather large. For example, women have been proven to make 23% less than men do, on average. The weekly earning of men, on average, is $819, which is much more than the women's weekly salary of only $657. The Paycheck Fairness Act was meant to help decrease this gap, however it only recieved 58 of the required 60 votes needed to pass the bill.
This bill said that in order to pay two employees different salaries, they had to have a valid reason (not just because of sex or race, but because of something like experience or ability, for example). If an employee thinks this reason is not valid, they would have the right to complain, sue, etc.
Like all arguments, there are two sides being supported. Some people feel that this would only cause problems. They think this would simply make it easier for women to sue companies for reasons that aren't worth the money the companies would have to pay. They also feel that "wage discrimination based on workers' sex is already illegal. The Paycheck Fairness Act would just amplify already existing laws." On the other hand, many people felt that this could only help. It would close the wage gap between men and women, it would put more money in women's pockets, and most importantly, it's fair.

Questions from class:
-Explain what Title 7, Equal Pay Act, and Section 1981 are, and when they were created.

Title 7 - "Prohibits discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, or national origin." This was created in 1964.

Equal Pay Act - "A United States federal law aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex." It pretty much says that any employer under this act cannot pay two employees different amount ob the basis of their sex. This was created in 1963.

Section 1981 - This stated that any victim of any kind of race or sex-based dicrimination has the right to obtain a jury trial against their employer(s). This was created in 1866 during the Civil Rights Movement.

Probing Question:
With the information given, do you think the Payment Fairness Act would have helped, or would it have caused problems? Please explain why you think so.

Sources:
online.wsj.com
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=unfair_loss
http://www.elinfonet.com/1981sum.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Pay_Act_of_1963
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964#Title_VII

My Current Event: The Wage Gap for Women

On Monday, I told you guys about how the wage gap between men and women has greatly decreased, over the years. Now, I want to clarify these things up for you. Statistics have shown that yes, the wage gaps between the salaries of men and women has greatly decreased, but the gap is still quite big. This means that women have been getting paid more and more, over time, for the hard work that they have been doing. To clarify this; women have been entering into more of the professional job areas. More and more women have been employed as physicians, lawyers, and managers of various businesses. This might not sound like much, but in the Women's point of view, it is a huge success. Before, the sexism upon women prevented them from entering the working world as professional job holders, and even made them earn less money than what men made. Even though this still happens today, many acts such as the Paycheck Fairness Act, and the very early, Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 both helped women overcome this sexism, and enter into the world as professional job holders. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which helped make minimum wages possible, did not help protect women against discrimination. But, in 1963, the Equal Pay Act, or EPA, was introduced, and passed by JFK. This act ammends the FLS Act of 1938, and makes it illegal for companies to discriminate against their employees, which is based on the sex of their employees. It also states that the Employers must make all pays equal (for both men and women), and treat all women and men equally, and make sure that this environment stays friendly, and has no discrimination. A then, later ammendment in 2007 was passed through the senate after a second try, further strengthening these rules because many companies did not really abide by this law. The Paycheck Fairness Act is basically one of the latest ammendments to the EPA. This was brought up on November 17, 2010. It was proposing to help the victims (mainly women) of wage-paying discrimination and sexism. It also helped them get fair amounts of wages, compared to what others were making in that certain field of work. This bill was shot down in the senate, in a 58-41 decision. This act would have also required employers to pay employees who were covered under this law about 1.5 times the regular rate of pay.

Clarifying Questions Asked:
Are there any Acts that benefitted only women?
Yes, as I stated above, the Equal Pays Act helped women through protecting them from discrimination; both in the work place, and in their salaries.

Does discrimination REALLY happen to these women?
Yes, from many accounts and experiences, women have been discriminated for all of time. You can see that in these workplaces, these women are still making about 200 dollars less than what men make. Salaries are not the only thing that women are discriminated against for; there is still sexual harassment, and many other forms of discrimination, sexism, and harassment in all workplaces.

Why would women work in the labor fields?
If you look at the economy now, obviously any one would want any job they could find. In my speech for this current event, I might have made it seem that all women wanted to work in labor fields. Well, I did not mean it to happen that way. What I wanted to prove was to show you guys a comparison between men and women. How men would be getting fired (mainly the ones in labor fields and such) and how women would be getting hired as professional job holders. If you think there are no women working in jobs such as construction and such, you are completely wrong. There are plenty of women contracters, builders, designers, and plain-old construction workers who pave roads and such.

Link to the Article's website:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2010-09-13-wage-gaps_N.htm


Probing Question:
Seeing the current wage gap, what other policies aside from the ones that have already been introduced do you think the government should put out to help this problem? If you think no other policy should be put in place, please explain why.