NORTON META TAG

Showing posts with label sexual harassment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexual harassment. Show all posts

29 January 2019

SEC OF EDUCATION BETSY DEVOS ASSAULTS SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS 29JAN19

Image result for sexual assault on campus
MAYBE if Sec of Education betsy devos or someone in her family or among her friends and associates was a sexual assault victim she wouldn't be considering these rule changes that seem to be to protect and support the assaulter and not the assaulted. Just because she and her staff at the Dept of Education are so shallow they can not comprehend the harm these rule changes will do does not mean we have to allow them to take effect. Please click the link in this from UltraViolet to send your message to the government to reject these rule changes...
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced new rules that will let schools get away with ignoring sexual assault and intimidate sexual assault survivors out of reporting.
Specifically, the rules will radically change Title IX, the civil rights law that ensures all genders have equal access to education. DeVos will allow schools to ignore sexual violence that happens off campus, where many assaults happen–even an assault at a party, for example, just a block away from campus. Not only that, DeVos will force survivors to be cross-examined by advisors or representatives of their abusers—an intentionally intimidating process that will prevent many survivors from reporting altogether.1 
But we can stop these changes from becoming official. Before these proposed rules can go into effect, the Department of Education must make them available for public comment and then address the concerns raised in the comments. If they don’t, they will face legal challenges to the new rulesor Congress could even intervene. This has worked before–when the Trump Administration proposed a rule allowing employers to steal employees' tips, thousands of UltraViolet members and our allies opposed it through public comments—and stopped it.2
We need an outpouring of comments to fight this rule. Can you submit your comment today? 
Tell Betsy DeVos: "I oppose attempts to make schools more dangerous."
SUBMIT A COMMENT
One in five women is sexually assaulted while in college or university.3  Devos' rules further rig the system for abusers.
Here are a few of the most dangerous changes in the rules. They will:4
  1. Allow sexual assault survivors to be cross examined, possibly leading to more trauma or the survivor avoiding reporting at all. 
  2. Allow schools to ignore sexual assault or harassment that happens at off campus bars or parties, or harassment that occurs online, even though the survivor may still see or have to interact with their abuser on campus.
  3. Allow schools to only address the worst cases of sexual harassment and abuse, which would make survivors suffer through increasingly worse abuse before they can seek help from the school.
  4. Limit survivors’ ability to get help by drastically limiting who students can report their assaults to. This will allow schools and universities to ignore reports of sexual harassment and assault made to the majority of employees trusted by students, such as support staff or Resident Assistants (RAs).
  5. Totally exempt religiously affiliated schools from complying with Title IX requirements if they cite a specific "religious tenet," without notifying the Department of Education, leaving students in the dark about their rights until it's too late.
All told, these changes will put more students at risk and make it extremely difficult for survivors to report their abuse. Students of color, students with disabilities, low-income students, undocumented students, and LGBTQ students will especially suffer since they already face increased barriers to justice because of systemic racism, homophobia, ableism, the negative impact that sexual trauma has on one's grades, and the financial blow that results from possible legal battles with their attacker.
The Trump Administration and its allies have learned nothing from the groundswell of opposition to putting a rapist like Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court or the incredible advocacy of the #MeToo movement. They continue to support, empower, and protect abusers and rape apologists over the needs and rights of survivors at a time when survivors need more protection to safely pursue their education, not less.
Thanks for speaking out.
-- Shaunna, Kat, Karin, Holly, Kathy, Susan, Anathea, Audine, Emma, Pilar, Natalie, Melody, Pam, Lindsay, Ryan, and Sonja, the UltraViolet team

Sources:
2. Tipped Workers Claim Victory Against “Tip-Stealing” Rule, The American Prospect, March 23, 2018
3. Statistics about Sexual Violence, National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2015
4. DeVos’ Proposed Changes to Title IX, Explained, National Women's Law Center, accessed December 7, 2018


Want to support our work? UltraViolet is funded by members like you, and our tiny staff ensures small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

11 January 2018

Very short survey: Should Oprah run for president? & Here's the Full Transcript and Video of Oprah's Inspirational Golden Globes Speech 10&7JAN18

THERE is a lot of talk about Oprah Winfrey running for President in 2020. Take this short survey to express your opinion.....
Oprah's speech at the Golden Globes created a firestorm of headlines about Oprah possibly running for president.
Who would you prefer? Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Oprah Winfrey, or someone else?
Your answers will impact our organizing in the short term and our thinking around 2020 dynamics.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- Keith Rouda, PCCC organizer


Want to support the Warren wing? Senator Elizabeth Warren says, "When PCCC members donate millions in small-dollar donations and make millions of phone calls for progressive candidates, leaders in Washington, they take notice." Chip in $3 here.
Progressive stickers, T-shirts, and more!
store.boldprogressives.org
P.S. Shopping online? Bookmark these special links to Amazon and Powell's, and a portion of your purchase will support progressive causes at no extra cost to you.
She received the annual Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement.
Oprah Winfrey was the recipient of the Golden Globes' annual Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement, and gave a powerful acceptance speech during Sunday night's ceremony. She was introduced by Reese Witherspoon, who compared their time together on the set of A Wrinkle in Time to a master class at Harvard Business School and a spiritual retreat all in one. "Oprah's hugs could end wars, solve world peace," Witherspoon joked.
Once Winfrey took the stage, she delivered an inspirational, uplifting speech which discussed race and gender and the fight for equality. She also told the story of Recy Taylor, a woman who fought for justice in the Jim Crow era after she was raped. "For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men," Winfrey said, bringing the audience to its feet. "But their time is up. Their time is up."

Oprah Winfrey Receives the Cecil B. deMille Award - Golden Globes 2018


Read the full transcript here:
"Thank you, Reese. In 1964, I was a little girl sitting on the linoleum floor of my mother's house in Milwaukee watching Anne Bancroft present the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards. She opened the envelope and said five words that literally made history:" The winner is Sidney Poitier." Up to the stage came the most elegant man I ever remembered. His tie was white, his skin was black—and he was being celebrated. I'd never seen a black man being celebrated like that. I tried many, many times to explain what a moment like that means to a little girl, a kid watching from the cheap seats as my mom came through the door bone tired from cleaning other people's houses. But all I can do is quote and say that the explanation in Sidney's performance in Lilies of the Field: "Amen, amen, amen, amen."

In 1982, Sidney received the Cecil B. DeMille award right here at the Golden Globes and it is not lost on me that at this moment, there are some little girls watching as I become the first black woman to be given this same award. It is an honor—it is an honor and it is a privilege to share the evening with all of them and also with the incredible men and women who have inspired me, who challenged me, who sustained me and made my journey to this stage possible. Dennis Swanson who took a chance on me for A.M. Chicago. Saw me on the show and said to Steven Spielberg, she's Sophia in 'The Color Purple.' Gayle who's been a friend and Stedman who's been my rock.

I want to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. We know the press is under siege these days. We also know it's the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice. To—to tyrants and victims, and secrets and lies. I want to say that I value the press more than ever before as we try to navigate these complicated times, which brings me to this: what I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have. And I'm especially proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories. Each of us in this room are celebrated because of the stories that we tell, and this year we became the story.

But it's not just a story affecting the entertainment industry. It's one that transcends any culture, geography, race, religion, politics, or workplace. So I want tonight to express gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue. They're the women whose names we'll never know. They are domestic workers and farm workers. They are working in factories and they work in restaurants and they're in academia, engineering, medicine, and science. They're part of the world of tech and politics and business. They're our athletes in the Olympics and they're our soldiers in the military.

And there's someone else, Recy Taylor, a name I know and I think you should know, too. In 1944, Recy Taylor was a young wife and mother walking home from a church service she'd attended in Abbeville, Alabama, when she was abducted by six armed white men, raped, and left blindfolded by the side of the road coming home from church. They threatened to kill her if she ever told anyone, but her story was reported to the NAACP where a young worker by the name of Rosa Parks became the lead investigator on her case and together they sought justice. But justice wasn't an option in the era of Jim Crow. The men who tried to destroy her were never persecuted. Recy Taylor died ten days ago, just shy of her 98th birthday. She lived as we all have lived, too many years in a culture broken by brutally powerful men. For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up.

Their time is up. And I just hope—I just hope that Recy Taylor died knowing that her truth, like the truth of so many other women who were tormented in those years, and even now tormented, goes marching on. It was somewhere in Rosa Parks' heart almost 11 years later, when she made the decision to stay seated on that bus in Montgomery, and it's here with every woman who chooses to say, "Me too." And every man—every man who chooses to listen.

In my career, what I've always tried my best to do, whether on television or through film, is to say something about how men and women really behave. To say how we experience shame, how we love and how we rage, how we fail, how we retreat, persevere, and how we overcome. I've interviewed and portrayed people who've withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights. So I want all the girls watching here, now, to know that a new day is on the horizon! And when that new day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women, many of whom are right here in this room tonight, and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that they become the leaders who take us to the time when nobody ever has to say 'Me too' again."

20 November 2017

Franken isn't the target 18NOV17


IT has been know the drumpf/trump-pence administration, their White House, and the majority of republicans in the gop controlled congress have been aggressively using lies, deception and manipulation in an Orwellian propaganda campaign at the local, state and national level for years. The 2016 election of NOT MY pres drumpf/trump and NOT MY vp pence is the most stunning result of their efforts, evangelical Christians, Christians in general, union members, the working class and even the poor turned against the core beliefs and teachings of their faith, their social organizations, and their own self interest. These people actually believed the propaganda and voted for drumpf/trump-pence or did not vote at all. We are actually seeing this at work right now with Alabama republicans standing by and working to elect their pedophile candidate for the US Senate roy moore rather than elect Doug Jones, the Democratic candidate. The FEMALE republican governor of Alabama expresses this propaganda with statements like this

THIS from DailyKos.....
Franken isn't the target
franken.jpg
Karl Rove was known for his strategy of attacking his opponents strengths and trying to turn them into weaknesses. Prime examples of the GOP’s successful use of this tactic were Saxby Chambliss’ efforts to paint decorated veteran and triple-amputee Max Cleland as unpatriotic, and of course the infamous swiftboating of John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.
Trump’s GOP is tweaking that formula — rather than attacking their opponent’s strengths, they are accusing their opponents of their own weaknesses. By creating false equivalency, they are trying to neutralize their own vulnerabilities and normalize their corrupt and sociopathic behaviors.
The political uproar around Al Franken is a continuation of this trend. The photograph he took with Leeann Tweeden was inappropriate and disrespectful to her and to all women. The facts on other allegations will presumably come out through further investigation, and will inform the question of whether he should resign his Senate seat. There has been plenty of negative speculation on this site about the timing of Tweeden’s coming forward with her story; I will not join in that — as a victim, her choice of whether and when to go public is hers and hers alone.
But make no mistake, the efforts of other republican operatives — from Fox News, to Mitch McConnell, to tweets from the Offender-in-Chief — are not intended to force Al Franken to resign, at least not as the primary objective. If he goes, he’ll be replaced by another Minnesota Democrat appointed by Governor Mark Dayton and that doesn’t change the balance of Senate power.
No, their purpose is to make it appear that both parties are equally full of sexual perpetrators, that “everyone does it”, and thus to insulate Republicans — most notably Roy Moore and Donald Trump — from attacks based on their sexual violations. They hope that if they muddy the water enough they will help GOPers like Moore slide through. Even worse, they move to normalize the harassment and sexual assault of women (or perhaps I should say, to keep it normalized and deny efforts to make needed changes, since it clearly is all too “normal”).
This is part of an ongoing tactical approach by the GOP and Trump in particular:
And of course, Trump’s entire “Crooked Hillary” schtick was the ultimate in projecting his own corruption onto his opponent.
The tactic takes advantage of two fundamental weaknesses in our system.  First — journalists have (whether due to laziness, lack of resources, or direction from corporate ownership) increasingly fallen into bothsiderism. They treat a story that gives equal weight to both sides of an issue as “balanced” news coverage, rather than actually trying to gather facts and report on what is actually true. The failure of our Fourth Estate during the 2016 election was a major part of handing the presidency to Donald Trump. Second — Democratic voters are less reliable. When turnout is depressed because many folks (egged on by the media) begin to believe that there aren’t real differences, that all candidates are corrupt, it benefits the GOP whose base will still turn out reliably even as Democratic-leaning voters stay home. The Trump projection strategy uses that first weakness to trigger and exploit the second.
In the most recent context with Franken, I see two major concerns. First — this approach has worked and may continue to work; it could help get Roy Moore elected to the US Senate, which is a sickening prospect. Second — it risks normalizing sexual harassment and assault more broadly. Franken clearly recognized that second risk in his apology statement:
And the truth is, what people think of me in light of this is far less important than what people think of women who continue to come forward to tell their stories. They deserve to be heard, and believed.
I’m not sure exactly what is the best response to this Trumpian strategy; but a starting point is recognizing it for what it is. The GOP hasn’t suddenly found an appropriate level of outrage based on Senator Franken’s wrongful acts — they are continuing their effective strategy of covering their own faults by promoting a narrative of “both sides are just as bad”. We can’t let them get away with it.

NPR POLITICS: The Big Picture: Power And Leverage, ICYMI: Top Stories, The Russia Imbroglio: Mueller At The Door,Briefly:18NOV17



NPR Politics

The Big Picture: Power And Leverage
Allegations of sexual harassment and assault dominated again and took new turns. As female members of Congress introduced “Me Too” legislation aimed at overhauling the system for filing and settling harassment claims for congressional employees, now-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was accused of unwanted kissing and groping in 2006. Franken had been hotly critical of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for accusations against him. President Trump branded Franken “Al Frankenstien.”

Meanwhile, Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey said she had “no reason to disbelieve” any of the women accusing GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexual assault, many of whom were teenagers at the time, but she’s voting for Moore anyway. Republicans, she said, needed the leverage in Congress, citing Supreme Court justice appointments. That was similar to the logic conservatives used to rally around Trump whenmore than a dozen women during the 2016 campaign accused him of sexual misconduct, allegations the president has denied.

Speaking of votes, Republicans moved one step closer to getting their tax bill through. It passed the House and a key committee in the Senate, but Republicans still have a long way to go — first, to get it through the Senate with a repeal of Obamacare's individual mandate added to it and then to merge it with the House. And do it all by Christmas.


— Domenico Montanaro, NPR's lead political editor
 

ICYMI: Top Stories
Taxes galore: The House has narrowly approved a $1.4 trillion tax overhaul, clearing the first major hurdle in the Republican effort to cut taxes and rewrite the tax code. The measure would sharply reduce corporate tax rates and double the standard deduction many individuals take, reports NPR’s Brian Naylor. Meanwhile, despite the Senate tax overhaul undergoing some big changes, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., says he still can’t support it. Neither the Senate nor the House proposal does much for the lowest-income Americans, and some higher-income people could gain a lot, reports NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben.

Senate expulsion: There is no precedent for expelling a duly elected Senate member for actions committed before he or she took office. In fact, there is little precedent for expelling senators at all. No one has been expelled from the Senate since the Civil War, NPR's Ron Elving reports.

2020 talk: The next presidential election may seem far away, but there’s already plenty of speculation about who might be on the Democratic ticket. Joe Biden says he has "no plans" for that challenger to be him. The former vice president and Senate veteran is out with a book that recounts his son Beau’s diagnosis and death from brain cancer, as NPR’s Domenico Montanaro writes.  


Nuclear concerns: Critics of President Trump in the Senate are questioning whether anything could stop him from launching a nuclear attack unilaterally, reports NPR’s David Welna. Republican allies of the president argue these kinds of concerns undercut America’s position in the world. 

Dysfunction in D.C.: On the campaign trail, Trump promised to clean things up in Washington. But the swamp is still pretty swampy, NPR's Peter Overby writes. One veteran lobbyist calls the ethical climate in the capital worse than anything he’s seen in his career.  

— Barbara Sprunt, NPR politics producer

The Russia Imbroglio: Mueller At The Door
White House officials are expecting some unusual guests in the short work week before Thanksgiving: investigators from the FBI.

The team headed by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller is set to interview a number of current administration officials, a top White House attorney tells NPR, although the official details are scarce about who specifically is involved.

"I sort of have a blood oath with Mueller that I don't get into that," White House lawyer Ty Cobb told NPR's Tamara Keith.

There have been suggestions, however, that Mueller's team may want to talk with communications director Hope Hicks, senior adviser Jared Kushner and White House counsel Don McGahn and people on his staff.

There have been reports that Mueller's investigators may already have spoken with policy adviser Stephen Miller.

One thing Cobb did say is that he expects the sessions to wrap up by Thanksgiving. And the DOJ Russia probe may wrap up not long after that, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said.

Or not — the only person who knows the answer is Mueller.


Briefly:
Read the full weekly imbroglio update on NPR.org on SundayHere is last week’s update.
— Philip Ewing, NPR national security editor

19 November 2017

Sen. Al Franken Accused Of Sexual Assault By LA Model And Radio Host & Trump calls his own victims liars. He's silent on Roy Moore. Al Franken? That's a different story. 16&17NOV17

itemprop
On Thursday, Leeann Tweeden appeared on "The View" and read from what she said was a personal apology letter from Sen. Al Franken.
I am disgusted, angry, and disappointed in Senator Al Franken's D MN sexual assault on Leeann Tweeden. I just expected better of him and find his actions shameful. At least he has had the sense not to attack the woman he sexually assaulted for going public with this incident and has apologized to her and agrees there should be an ethics investigation. The best outcome will be for Sen Franklin to resign after the investigation is completed as he no longer deserves to be a member of the US Senate. From NPR and DailyKos.....
Sen. Al Franken Accused Of Sexual Assault By LA Model And Radio Host
Updated at 4:05 p.m. ET
Another prominent public figure has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances. Los Angeles radio host Leeann Tweeden said now-Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., forced himself on her and groped her while the two were on a USO tour in 2006.
Franken has apologized for his actions, calling them "inappropriate." Democratic and GOP leaders are now calling for a Senate ethics investigation, which Franken says he will cooperate with.
In a statement posted on KABC's website, Tweeden wrote that the incident occurred in December of that year, during a rehearsal for a USO holiday show in the Middle East. Franken, she said, wrote a skit in which he was to kiss Tweeden. She says Franken told her that "we need to rehearse the kiss."
Tweeden said she told the former Saturday Night Livestar "something like 'Relax Al, this isnt SNL...we dont need to rehearse the kiss.' " But she said he insisted and she relented. "We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth."
She said she felt "disgusted and violated" but didn't report it because "we were in the middle of a war zone" and "I didn't want to cause trouble."
She said that on the way back from the tour, onboard an Army transport plane, while she was asleep, Franken groped her. Her post includes a photo of Franken with his hands on her chest, looking back at the camera and smiling. She is asleep, wearing a helmet and flak jacket.
At the time, Franken was performing as a professional comedian before running for the Senate. Tweeden was on her ninth USO tour and was known at the time for her work as a TV host, sportscaster and model.
Franken described their performances on USO tours during a 2010 Senate floor speech in opposition to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. "I was a kind of co-host with a beautiful woman named Leeann Tweeden, and we'd do comedy routines and we'd introduce music and introduce the cheerleaders," Franken said.
Franken issued an initial statement: "I certainly don't remember the rehearsal for the skit in the same way, but I send my sincerest apologies to Leeann. As to the photo, it was clearly intended to be funny but wasn't. I shouldn't have done it."
Later Thursday afternoon he put out an extended statement, apologizing further and asking for an ethics investigation with which he would "gladly cooperate."
In a news conference, Tweeden said, "Nothing like that is ever funny. I mean, is it funny if he does that to your sister or your daughter or your wife?"
On her own radio station she said that she wanted nothing from Franken. Tweeden said she spoke out now because "the tide has turned" and that she was inspired by the vocalness of Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who recounted her own experience with harassment as an aide on Capitol Hill in October and has been an advocate for change in reporting and training in Congress.
"If I'm talking about it, maybe somebody else will feel like they can come out in real time and not hold it in for 10, 12, 30, 50 years," Tweeden said.
Tweeden's accusation against Franken came two days after a House hearing on what was described as a pervasive problem of sexual misconduct in Congress and also as Republicans urged Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore to drop out of the race after numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, including assault, when his accusers were mostly teenagers.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called for the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the Franken incident:
"As with all credible allegations of sexual harassment or assault, I believe the Ethics Committee should review the matter. I hope the Democratic Leader will join me on this. Regardless of party, harassment and assault are completely unacceptable—in the workplace or anywhere else."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., later echoed McConnell's call for an ethics investigation, as have other Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders offered no comment on Franken beyond saying that the White House believes an ethics investigation is "an appropriate action."
Donald Trump has yet to weigh in on Roy Moore having spent his 30s pursuing, molesting, and sexually assaulting teenage girls beyond sending his press secretary out to say that “these allegations are very troubling and should be taken seriously” but Moore shouldn’t drop out of his Alabama Senate race. But Al Franken having harassed a fellow performer on a 2006 USO tour? Although Franken has already called for an ethics investigation into himself, Trump is all over his original transgression:
Is it just me or does it sound like Trump knows exactly where his own hands would have gone? Oh, right, the entire nation knows where Trump’s hands would have gone. 
And to think that Donald Trump is lecturing Al Franken about this when Trump's own accusers are in the double digits. You don’t have to be in denial about Franken having some serious amends to make to think that Trump of all people has no business lecturing, feigning outrage, or commenting at all—at least until he has a little more to say about the serial sexual predator of teen girls in his own party and up for election next month.
It’s almost like Trump only cares about sexual harassment when it’s useful for partisan purposes. No, wait. It’s exactly like that.