Rape in the Armed Services
Today in the Los Angeles Times Congresswoman Jane Harman reports that 41% of female veterans seen at the VA Healthcare Center in Los Angeles have suffered sexual assault while in the military, with a full 29% of them report being raped. Adding insult to injury, only 181 out of 2212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007 (including 1259 reports of rape) were referred to courts martial. This is in stark contrast to the civilian trend of prosecuting sexual assault where in California , for example, 44% of reported rapes result in arrests and 64% of those who are arrested are prosecuted, according to the California Department of Justice. Seems that the attitude, "boys will be boys" still persists.

Mayawati
Mayawati, leader of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India and home to the Taj Mahal, turned 52 recently amid claims of corruption. Mayawati is a "dalit", the community formerly known as "untouchables," the lowest of the low. She shook up Indian politics winning her present post by bringing together a coalition of supporters from both ends of the social spectrum in India's ancient caste system, the Dalits and the Brahmins. Two groups that have previously been hostile to each other. When she spent money for security, she is called a spendthrift and corrupt but is quoted as saying that if the central government could arrange special protections for other top leaders, "then why not for a Dalit's daughter? I am a hard-working girl." Until we can rely on the media to be gender-neutral, we should all be wary of condemning leaders such as Mayawati.

Karla Kerlin
Karla Kerlin , , Chair of the Glendale Commission on the Status of Women was honored with the Making A Difference Award by the local Soroptomist International group. Karla, a deputy district attorney with Los Angeles County specializing in legislative issues, has been tireless in her work with Commission - while also giving birth to her second child. Karla regularly trains law enforcement, medical and crime-lab personnel, students, social workers and the community on the investigation and prosecution of sex crimes and child abuse and drug-facilitated sexual assault. Karla is on the faculty of the National Center for the Prosecution of Child Abuse and was recently honored by the FBI for her work in a double homicide. She is a past president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

William Bratton
Cheers for Los Angeles Police Chief, William Bratton . Chief Bratton recently went on the radio to endorse women being in the somewhat elite S.W.A.T. team. In his interview the Chief said, "Women are firefighters throughout this country, doing extraordinary physical work and of great skill. They serve in our armed forces every day in Iraq and Afghanistan . There are extraordinary women in our department and if they are interested, they will get into SWAT. We are not going to lower the standards. We are not going to regress and not let women in because of some perceived belief that they are somehow inferior to men. That's a tremendous slight against the men and women of this department. Women are coming. I have broken every glass ceiling in this department for women and there's no department that they are not capable and qualified to serve."

Fahmida Mirza
Fahmida Mirza was elected as the first female parliamentary speaker of the house in Pakistan on March 19th. The former doctor won the election with 249 of 342 possible votes from the lower house of parliament.

UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Elimination of Violence Against Women
On March 28 th , the UN Human Rights Council passed the Resolution by Consensus Vote - March 28, 2008

In a resolution on the elimination of violence against women, the Council strongly condemned all acts of violence against women and girls, called for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence, and decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, for a period of three years. To view the whole resolution, Click Here

U.S. Women's Chamber of Commerce now has an online Business Journal - definitely worth checking out - http://uswbjmembers.ning.com/

Planning an event? Whether you are planning a small party, a non-profit event or a big corporate splash, contact Patricia Wenskunas of Creative Coordinating to take the worries away and have a smooth and successful event. Call her toll free at 877.789.7567 or email her at cr8prty@aol.com and do visit her website, www.creativecoordinating.com

POSITIONS AVAILABLE

CEO Girl Scouts Council of Greater Los Angeles. The 6 Councils of the Girls Scouts in Los Angeles County are merging and they are looking for a CEO to lead the new entity. This is an exciting and challenging position, as well as personally rewarding. A national search is being conducted. For complete details and to find out how to apply, click here: www.morrisberger.com

Program director for the Transitional Living Program of United Friends of Children www.unitedfriends.org .   UFC is a terrific organization that serves emancipating foster youth in the LA County area.  The TLP is their principal program which uses a services-enriched model at their two housing sites to help emancipating foster youth transition successfully into adulthood.  They are looking for an MSW or LCSW (ideally) who has a passion for social services and program management experience (ideally, experience working with at-risk or foster youth). Candidates may direct any questions about the position or process to Ms. Pegine Grayson at (626) 755-1186 or peginegrayson@gmail.com .

One of Los Angeles ' best kept secrets! Nestled between the freeways in the Compton/Carson area is a quiet, wooded spot with a historical adobe museum from one of the first land grants. I recently met the Executive Director, Alison Bruesehoff and she invited me down to view the facility. Add it to your "to do" lists this summer to take the children to see some of our history and take a picnic to enjoy the grounds while you are there. Take a look at their website: Rancho Dominguez Adobe Museum

Carleton College Summer Scholarship. Are you currently a graduating senior high school student? If so AND you are currently attending a California High School (private, public, or parochial), you can apply for the 2008 "Models of Excellence" scholarship competition. The Models of Excellence Scholarship applications are due April 25, 2008 . Please visit http://www.modelsofpride.org for more information and to download an application. $500 and $1,000 awards are given to students who have demonstrated a commitment to LGBTQ civil rights.

Friends of Project 10 Inc. was created in 1986 as a nonprofit organization (501c3), to provide funding for programs and projects that support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth.

Urinary tract infections
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the second most common bodily infection, accounting for 8.3 million doctor visits per year. Although men get them too, mostly it is women who get them.

Here's a few ways to prevent UTIs:

• Drink a lot of water and drink it frequently
• Urinate often and completely
• Void before and after sexual intercourse
• Wipe from front to back
• Avoid hanging out in a wet bathing suit or your sweaty workout clothes

Susan T. Lennon, USA Weekend

GIRL SCOUTS

San Fernando Valley Robotics Team

The Rock N' Roll Robots - one of the only all-girls teams in the country - won the Inspiration Award at the recent Robotics regional competition in Las Vegas and secured a trip to the national championships in Atlanta , Georgia , in April.

At the first competition this team finished last of 45 teams - a lot of spirit, but really clueless on how to play the game, but with great direction and encouragement from their Jet Propulsion Lab women mentors, the team made it to the final round of playoffs! It is almost unheard of for a first year team to do so well, much less get an invitation to Nationals. Plus, the Inspiration Award is the highest possible honor for the Tech Challenge teams. Congratulations and good luck to the Los Angeles area Girl Scouts participating on the team: Hilary Arndt, Jesse Klemme, Katherine Wooten, Michelle Lo, Salia Wilson, Samantha Arman and Taylor Halsey. 

Girls Scouts Research Institute

As a Board member of the San Fernando Valley Council of the Girl Scouts, I was made aware of a study on leadership whose results were being released. "Change It Up!" is a study in which they surveyed over 2000 boys and girls around the country ages 8 - 17.

Some of the results worth mentioning:

• The current conception of leadership - "command and control" - is too limiting.
• They see leadership as purpose-driven, that a leader has personal principles, behaves ethically and affects social change. They do not see this in the culture today.
• While the majority of girls (particularly the younger ones) see themselves as leaders, they are nonetheless ambivalent about their aspirations of being a leader.
• Participants ranked being a leader 15 th out of 19 options
• The desire to be a leader is highest among Asian, African-American and Hispanic girls. Caucasian girls are least likely to consider themselves as leaders or aspire to be a leader.

This is just a sampling of results. The whole report can be viewed at the Girl Scouts website, Change It Up! Leadership Survey

An interesting note. When mentioning these results to long-time feminist writer Ellen Snortland, she told me that the results are nothing new. That over 30 years ago, Carol Gilligan wrote, "In A Different Voice," and in the 90's Myra and David Sadker's book, "Failing At Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls," and that these authors and others found similar gender differences existing. So this Girl Scout study is a refresher, reminding us that in fact there is work still to be done to ensure that boys and girls, men and women are selected in equal numbers as leaders.

WHERE IS YOUR NEXT MEAL COMING FROM?

Over 500,000 households representing over 1.2 million people in the county of Los Angeles cannot count on eating every day. In other words, 1 out of 10 people are at risk of hunger. This is a staggering statistic and the Los Angeles Food Bank is working to fill the gap for many of these people who have more week left when their food, and money, runs out. 15% of households with children who need food assistance do not receive it. 900 charitable agencies rely on the LA Regional Food Bank - and they are a million pounds of food short each month.

To find out more and ways to help, go to their website: www.lafoodbank.org

CALLING ALL TONGVAs

On Saturday, July 19 th , the Los Angeles County Arboretum will be having a human rights/women's rights event. They will be highlighting three Tongva women leaders at the event. Many of the Tongva nation will be in attendance and if you, or someone you know is a Tongva and is not on the mailing list for this event, or just want to know more about it, contact Leigh Adams, the Event Coordinator at lladams@earthlink.net

Check it out:
The Equality Standard Blog

FINAL WORDS