The Republican Lawmaker Who Secretly Created Reddit’s Women-Hating ‘Red Pill’

Last November, voters in New Hampshire’s Lakes Region re-elected to the state house of representatives a man who appears to be one of the secret architects of the internet’s misogynistic “Manosphere.”

The homegrown son of a preacher, 31-year-old Robert Fisher is a Republican who represents New Hampshire’s Belknap County District 9. In addition to his legislative duties, Fisher owns a local computer-repair franchise, and in his spare time, seems to have created the web’s most popular online destination for pickup artistry and men’s rights activists, The Red Pill, according an investigation by the Daily Beast.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/04/25/the-republican-lawmaker-who-secretly-created-reddit-s-women-hating-red-pill.html
[cateogory global, sexual violence]

ABC presenter savaged for ‘disrespecting Anzacs’

ABC presenter Yassmin Abdel-Magied has been savaged on social media after suggesting Australians should spare a thought for those on Manus Island and in Syria instead of the Anzacs.

While the 26-year-old author may have hoped her apology would be taken for what it was, Abdel-Magied found herself the target of venomous, racist abuse.

http://www.9news.com.au/National/2017/04/25/16/58/ABC-presenter-savaged-for-disrespecting-Anzacs

A few key steps could stop our male violence epidemic

These crimes are not related but they all have the same chilling threads – the victims and the alleged perpetrators were related or known to each other and all of the people charged are male.

Before you say “But women do it too”, let’s have a small recap of the year in murder.

Since January 1, 65 men, women and children have died violently across the nation.

Men have been charged with more than 52 of these killings and women have been charged with eight.

But the thing that can turn around Australia’s shameful male violence problem is so simple that it’s almost embarrassing to have to say it – own your problem.

That’s right. Violent men need to own their problem. They need to look at what makes them angry, controlling and brutal and work out ways to end it.

https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/a-few-key-steps-could-stop-our-male-violence-epide/3170196/#more-repliesMe

George Brandis announces funding restored to community legal centres.

The Attorney-General George Brandis confirmed this morning the government will increase spending on legal assistance by $56 million over three years; $39 million will go to community legal centres and $17 million to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services.

Brandis says the community legal sector will be asked to prioritise domestic and family violence in the outlay of the increased funds.

https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/funding-restored-community-legal-centres/

New evidence in France of harm from epilepsy drug valproate

A drug given to pregnant women for epilepsy and bipolar disorder caused “serious malformations” in up to 4,100 children, a French study suggests.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39657139
[global, reproductive rights]

Adoption Is A Feminist Issue, But Not For The Reasons You Think

The fact is, most people who relinquish their children for adoption or have their children taken away from them, both in the U.S. and internationally, do so as a result of economic and racial injustice.

Unfortunately, according to the National Pro-Choice Adoption Collaborative, over 95% of adoption agencies in this country are religiously affiliated. You likely won’t be surprised to hear that adoption professionals are often not giving thorough information about abortion as an option in their counseling practices — 40% of the mothers in the DAI study said it was never mentioned. But they’re also not presenting parenthood as a viable option, either.

Here’s a truth that can be hard to hear: Adoption is a trauma. The separation of parents and children, the dismantling of families, even at birth, is very often traumatic and can result in enormous amounts of suffering and lifelong consequences for first parents and adoptees, as well as the families and communities to which they belong.

Here’s an even harder truth: The adoption industry is a business. It generates billions of dollars each year and requires other people’s children in order to stay profitable.

Here’s the toughest truth yet: Those children are almost always the children of poor and working class people, people of color, native and indigenous people, and young people. The people who adopt them, who directly benefit from the economic and racial oppression of these groups, are most often middle and upper-middle-class people and are primarily white.

https://theestablishment.co/adoption-is-a-feminist-issue-but-not-for-the-reasons-you-think-93ba3824bcbb

Swedish court upholds ruling against midwife claiming conscientious objection – Safe Abortion : Women’s Right

A Swedish Labour Court has ruled that a midwife, in an appeal regarding a lower court’s verdict against her, confirmed the view that she had not been discriminated against by Jönköping County. The County decided not to employ her in a summer job in 2013 because she had refused to assist in abortion care and also objected to giving out the morning-after pill or inserting the IUD, on grounds of her Christian faith. She was subsequently refused positions at two other hospitals in the region as well.

On 14 April, the complainant announced that she had decided to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights, which may always have been her aim and the aim of her US backers, given that issues of conscientious objection may be treated differently. Her backers are a large anti-abortion organisation from the USA, where tying up court time with legal challenges has become a full-time anti-abortionist occupation.

http://www.safeabortionwomensright.org/swedish-court-upholds-ruling-against-midwife-claiming-conscientious-objection/?

Religious education in NSW schools ‘inappropriate’ but government vows support

A long-awaited review of the scripture and ethics programs was released on Wednesday, more than a year after it was handed to government.

It recommended that the default position of secondary school enrolment in scripture be changed, meaning parents would opt their children in, rather than having to opt them out. That recommendation was rejected by the government.

. . . the review identified concerning examples of inappropriate content being taught to children. That included a teacher workbook that contained “negative passages about abortion”, described cancer as a “consequence of sin and a gift from God”, and said people should “die for their faith, if necessary”. “The text also contained messages about sex education, which is not appropriate or the role of [special
religious education],” the review found.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/12/nsw-rejects-some-religious-education-review-findings-but-will-scrutinise-material

http://atheistfoundation.org.au/article/women-in-the-bible/

‘Visit violent dad in prison – or join him’

University of Sydney Faculty of Education and Social Work Associate Professor Lesley Laing said although laws were amended in 2011 to put children’s safety above equal parenting rights, it was not being put into practice in the courts.

“The law has changed to say that exposure to domestic violence and child abuse should be the top consideration, but for many women that’s very hard to prove,” Ms Laing said.

“I spoke to women who have had to drag screaming children to meetings with their fathers but are worried if they don’t do that then they’ll lose the children altogether for defying court orders.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/visit-violent-dad-in-prison-or-join-him/news-story/330624f801f389f6da5c7b174e53fefe