This past week The New Agenda started to bring people to say that it’s not all right to take advantage of young women and girls by putting a petition up on their site asking that Roman Polanski be jailed for a crime that he committed in the ‘70s.
People that support Polanski’s charges being dropped have been arguing that it is a crime that took place so long ago that it should be forgotten.  They argue that the ‘70s was a time of promiscuity and lots of illicit drug use.
Should that …

Thanks to Phyllis Chesler for her article Mother of Dead Dallas Girls Calls Their Murder An “Honor Killing”
On New Year’s Day 2008, two beautiful young girls, Amina and Sarah Said were murdered by their father in so-called honor killings. Aasiya Hassan was beheaded earlier this year by her husband. As The New Agenda’s Amy Siskind has previously pointed out, many women’s groups have refused to address these acts of violence because they consider it a cultural issue rather than a woman’s issue.
Perpetuating the cycle of violence against women by placing …

The New Agenda welcomes this new contributor, whose views are her own, not necessarily those of the organization.
The media’s sexist reporting of the Bridgeville, PA murder rampage is another example proving they won’t acknowledge hate crimes against women. A male blogger who wrote for months about his inability to relate to women then walked into an all-female dance class and shot twelve women, yet none of the articles I read mention the words hate crime, bigot, sexist and the reporters didn’t call feminist groups for a quote.
The media reports the details …

The author is expressing her own opinions, not necessarily those of The New Agenda.
According to sportswriter Christine Brennan, ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews deserves some of the blame for having been videotaped nude – on account of her beauty.  As ABC reported, Brennan first commented on Andrews’ partial culpability on a sports radio show.  Then Brennan followed up on Facebook  and Twitter with this:
“On the Erin Andrews situation, a quick thought for those who have asked: There are hundreds of women covering sports in this country who haven’t had this happen to them. I wish it …

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily The New Agenda.
When I was 8-years-old my life still centered on dolls and toys.   As far as I know, boys in my age group were concerned about whatever was the latest action figure tied commercially to some cartoon, sports, or trading cards.
Since this is my recollection of childhood I found it particularly disturbing to read about an 8-year-old girl in Arizona who was sexually assaulted by four boys ranging in age from 9 to 14.  By all accounts …

A frequent topic on our blog is the sexualization of our teenage daughters and the danger that lies therein. But it is not just our young daughters, objectifying woman is a true cultural phenomena. Scary thing is how acceptable and celebrated that it has become.
ESPN's Erin Andrews
Erin Andrews of ESPN is the latest victim. Reports are circulating that Erin was the victim of video voyeurism after someone shot video of her in a private moment through her hotel room peephole.
Maggie Hendricks at Yahoo writes:
Sexual assault — and, make no mistake, …

Chris Brown makes a public apology. Turns out, he hit the wrong woman. Rihanna was and is an even bigger star than he going into the incident, and suffice it to say, folks ain’t buying Chris Brown.
Here’s the apology:

What do you think? Is the apology genuine? Does Chris Brown deserve forgiveness?

When Vice President Biden announced last week the appointment of Lynn Rosenthal as White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, most of the mainstream media reported (if anything) only Biden’s brief allusion to the Bush administration.  With the exception of Karen Travers, what the media didn’t report was that Biden (who authored the original VAW Act) made substantive and heartfelt remarks about his (and Rosenthal’s) commitment to eradicating violence.  Here are excerpts.
VP Biden
My father was the one who taught me that the single most serious sin a man or woman can commit is to …

actress Mozhan Marn as Soraya
This weekend marks the film debut of The Stoning of Soraya M. As if by some cosmic coincidence, the film is set in a small village in modern day Iran.
I was invited to a pre-screening of the film in the spring. The Stoning of Soraya was one of the most upsetting films that I have ever seen. Many times I had to literally cover my face and turn away from the screen.
That said, it is extremely important that we all make the effort …

photo credit: McNew/Getty
Chris Brown is a convicted felon after pleading guilty to assaulting Rihanna “by means likely to produce great bodily injury” in a deal that keeps him out of jail.  Has justice been served?
On The Daily Beast, Linda Fairstein, former chief prosecutor of the New York County DA’s Office Sex Crimes Unit says:
While some will complain that he got off with “only” probation, the disposition in this case is harsher than my 30 years of prosecuting batterers had me betting it would be. In the average first arrest of a …