Everyone can agree that rape is not a joke, right? Apparently not, based on the popularity of the blog Barstool Sports.

At first glance, the blog appears to be a collection of comedic sports commentaries interspersed with predictable photos of scantily clad women, or “smokeshows,” to use the vernacular. However, this archive of good, clean misogynistic fun has a darker side. Many of the postings make jokes about rape and sexual assault, such as this commentary about the acquittal of a man accused of raping a woman wearing tight jeans: “[E]ven though I never condone rape if you’re a size 6 and you’re wearing skinny jeans you kind of deserve to be raped right?”

Now, Barstool is hosting the “Barstool Blackout Tour,” a series of sponsored dance parties on or near college campuses across the country. Think that sounds a little dicey? Women shouldn’t worry, according to the blog: “Just to make friends with the feminists I’d like to reiterate that we don’t condone rape of any kind at our Blackout Parties in mid January. However if a chick passes out that’s a grey area though.”

Your humble blogger is not the only one shaking with indignation. When Barstool scheduled the Northeastern University Blackout Party at the House of Blues in Boston, a group of Northeastern students called Knock Out Barstool began to rally students in the Boston area to boycott and protest the event scheduled for this Thursday, Feb. 2.

In an letter published in Northeastern’s Huntington News, students and members of Knock Out Barstool wrote, “We demand Northeastern University and its administration stand for women and denounce Barstool Sports and the NU Blackout Party. These organizations do not represent the values of our community nor our institution.”

Much to their (and my) dismay, Northeastern University has not come out directly against the parties, other than to tweet it doesn’t officially endorse them.

Visit Knock Out Barstool’s website, and if you’re in the Boston area, stand in solidarity with Northeastern students protesting this event outside the House of Blues in Boston at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Meg Young is a sophomore at Tufts University, where she studies anthropology and community health. She became interested in women’s reproductive health during her time as an intern at Our Bodies Ourselves in 2009.

• well-woman visits
• screening for gestational diabetes
• HPV testing
• STI counseling
• HIV screening and counseling
• contraception methods and counseling
• breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
• screening and counseling for domestic and interpersonal violence

Coverage for these services is expected to begin Aug. 1, 2012.

There is one caveat for some women regarding access to contraception without a co-pay — a provision that “Group health plans sponsored by certain religious employers, and group health insurance coverage in connection with such plans, are exempt from the requirement to cover contraceptive services.”

An announcement at the HealthCare.gov site indicates that public comment is welcome on this provision. Although I haven’t yet been able to locate it on Regulations.gov, instructions for comment and more detail about the exemption is provided in this document.

Several other aspects of women’s health were also covered by the Institute’s recommendations, including “screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence.” While the birth control prevention got a lot of attention online, we’ve seen less discussion of this and other recommendations, so thought we’d highlight it.

An email we received from Futures Without Violence called it a “historic victory,” and explained, “This is not a requirement for screening for domestic violence. It does however, break down significant barriers to integrating comprehensive responses to domestic violence and we believe it will create new opportunities to train providers how to identify and help patients in abusive relationships.”

Seen any good discussion of this violence screening/counseling recommendation? Let us know in the comments.

As a reminder, you can view the Institute’s press release, recommendations, report brief, and full report, “Clinical Preventive Services for Women: Closing the Gap,” online. The Department of Health and Human Services will still need to adopt this list of recommendations for the care to be covered under the Affordable Care Act.

Somewhat relatedly, the Department of Health and Human Services (which will decide whether to accept the Institute’s recommendations), is holding an “Apps Against Abuse” challenge, inviting people to develop applications that “provide young adults with tools to help prevent sexual assault and dating violence.” More information on entering the challenge is available here.

The task force is composed of six assistant U.S. Attorneys and six tribal attorneys, along with other DOJ, health care and law enforcement officials. Within a year of convening, the task force is expected to:

[...] produce a trial practice manual on the federal prosecution of violence against women offenses in Indian Country. In the short term, the Task Force will explore current issues raised by professionals in the field, and recommend “best practices” in prosecution strategies involving domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

While this issue certainly deserves attention, I can’t help but be cautious about a Justice Department-led approach. The U.S. government doesn’t have a good track record when it comes to violence and Native Americans. Part of the problem stems from issues of jurisdiction. In 2007, Amnesty International released a report (more here) that outlined the various barriers to justice that these women face, noting: “The United States government has created a complex maze of tribal, state and federal jurisdictions that often allows perpetrators to rape with impunity — and in some cases effectively creates jurisdictional vacuums that encourage assaults.”

INCITE! provides this toolkit, Police Violence Against Native Women and Native Trans & Two Spirit People, which outlines history and current problems of law enforcement and military violence against American Indian women. As the organization makes clear, decreasing and preventing violence against American Indian women is not simply a matter of increasing law enforcement:

Native women and Native Two Spirit, transgender, and gender nonconforming people are subjected to gender-specific forms of law enforcement violence, such as racial profiling, physical abuse, sexual harassment and abuse, and failure to respond or abusive responses to reports of violence.

We hope the DOJ effort will represent, as one task force member suggested, “the Obama administration’s willingness to take seriously the crimes of rape and domestic violence against Native American women,” and that genuine safety improvements for American Indian women take place.

This issue has been in the Canadian news recently as well. According to the Abbostford News, a British Columbia newspaper, “The Native Women’s Association of Canada reports that 582 indigenous women and girls have disappeared or were murdered over the last five years.” The Canadian government has recently provided $2 million to the NWAC for an initiative to “help communities understand, prevent and respond to violence against aboriginal women and girls.”

See resources linked from our previous posts for additional background reading on this topic.

Reproductive coercion refers to abusive male behaviors to promote pregnancy, including “birth control sabotage” (interference with contraception) and/or “pregnancy coercion,” such as threatening to harm a woman if she uses birth control or if she has an abortion, and threating to leave her if she doesn’t get pregnant.

The Family Violence Prevention Fund responded enthusiastically to the results of the study:

A brief intervention was associated with a 70 percent reduction in the odds of male partner pregnancy coercion among women who recently had experienced intimate partner violence. Study participants who were asked about reproductive coercion and then counseled about harm-reduction strategies — including switching to longer-acting contraceptives and contacting domestic and sexual-assault resources — were also 60 percent more likely to report ending a relationship because it felt unsafe or unhealthy.

“There is a strong, indisputable link between domestic and dating violence and unintended pregnancy. This study is extremely important because it identifies an effective solution that can be implemented relatively easily,” said Family Violence Prevention Fund President and Founder Esta Soler. “We need to build on these results by making this intervention the norm in health care settings throughout the nation as quickly as possible.”

The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; the intervention was designed by reproductive health experts, UC Davis School of Medicine, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the FVPF.

An earlier study this year, also published in Contraception, concluded that 20 percent of women experienced pregnancy coercion and 15 percent experienced birth control sabotage.

The FVPF is calling for immediate action based on this latest evidence: “This study is extremely important because it identifies an effective solution that can be implemented relatively easily,” said Soler. “We need to build on these results by making this intervention the norm in health care settings throughout the nation as quickly as possible.”

Go to FVPF’s Know More Say More website for more information and opportunities for action. The site includes resources for healthcare providers, including suggestions on how to assess for reproductive coercion [PDF], including sample scripts, and how to integrate assessments into clinical practice [PDF].

Entrant: Deborah Schutz
Nominee: Maggie Ginsberg Schutz, freelance writer and creater of Violence UnSilenced

Violence UnSilenced was created by Maggie Ginsberg Schutz in February 2009, to shed light within the blogging community on domestic violence and sexual abuse/assault by giving survivors a voice. From the mission statement:

One of the last hurdles to eradicating abuse is the culture of silence and shame that exists yet today. You very likely have people in your life that are being abused, you just don’t realize it. Victims are led to believe they are alone, that no one will believe them, and that people will think less of them. Heavy societal pressure generally falls on the victim (ie, “Why doesn’t she leave?”) instead of on the person committing the crime (ie, “Why doesn’t he?”)

Every situation is complicated and unique, and there is no stereotype. Every single survivor of abuse is different from his or her comrades, and by sharing stories here we can educate ourselves as to just how pervasive domestic violence and sexual abuse/assault is, and how it crosses all cultural, racial, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic lines. This is our society’s collective issue, not simply a problem of those directly impacted. There are 70 million blogs out there, and one in four women will experience abuse in her lifetime. We who are active in the blogosphere have a responsibility to listen to our friends and to spread the word, so that we can strip abusers of this critical power. I also believe very, very strongly in the cathartic power of writing.

The video below was created in honor of the project’s 1-year anniversary.

Entrant: Meghan Ward
Nominee: Rachel Lloyd, Founder and Executive Director of GEMS

It is with profound admiration and respect that I nominate Rachel Lloyd as a women’s health hero for the 2010 Our Bodies Ourselves Women’s Health Hero awards. Rachel Lloyd is the founder and executive director of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services in New York City, also known as GEMS. GEMS helps girls and young women escape lives of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.

GEMS provides counseling, shelter, educational services and many other services needed for victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the United States. In addition to helping young girls and women escape lives of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking, one of GEMS primary goals is to educate the public about the current attitudes and beliefs which treat victims of sexual exploitation as criminals.

Treating victims of child sexual exploitation as criminals is one of the worst possible things one can do. It does not help eradicate commercial sex trafficking. In fact, it does far more harm than good to those victimized by men who buy and sell young girls. Rachel Lloyd works tirelessly to change such absurd views, speaking out against these laws and sentences in the United States.

Ms. Lloyd is a tireless advocate on behalf of girls and young women victimized by commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. One way in which she works to end sexual exploitation in the United States is through education and advocacy. For example, because young girls are forced to sell their bodies, they are often arrested, charged with prostitution, and sentenced to time in prison.

The most common age of entry into the commercial sex industry in the United States is 13 years old, and the average age of consent in the United States is 16 years old. Girls are being charged with a crime that they cannot even legally consent to. This is infuriating, confusing and not conducive to change or the elimination of sexual exploitation. The men and boys who buy, sell, and use young girls bodies often go free, or receive nothing more than a slap on the wrist. The time for change is now, and Rachel Lloyd is changing lives, one girl at a time.

Ms. Lloyd is a woman of incredible strength, courage, and kindness. As a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, Ms. Lloyd understands better than anyone what young girls victimized by sexual exploitation have endured. She knows what challenges lie ahead, and she knows the struggles and courage it takes to leave behind their traffickers. Ms. Lloyd treats every girl with kindness, compassion, and respect, allowing for the development of strong relationships, and more importantly, the development of strong young women who know that they deserve better. GEMS allows girls to finally feel safe, respected and loved.

Ms. Lloyd became determined to help girls victimized by commercial sexual exploitation, as she was once in their position. As a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, Ms. Lloyd immigrated to the United States, completely changing her life and the lives of others by establishing GEMS. With no financial support, she single-handedly established GEMS in an effort to help other victims of sex trafficking in the U.S.

Sex trafficking is almost always discussed and understood as something that happens in developing countries, but the truth is the commercial sex trafficking of young girls happens in the United States every single day. It is an epidemic that many turn a blind eye to, and it is an epidemic where its victims are treated as criminals. It is an epidemic that must be eradicated.

GEMS offers an alternative to the unjust and cruel prison sentences given to the child victims of commercial sex trafficking in the United States. GEMS has grown into a nationally-recognized and praised organization, far from its roots as a single person enterprise. First established in 1998, GEMS has helped hundreds of girls who have been commercially sexually trafficked in the United States. GEMS believes that all girls are precious and worthy of respect and love. This is something that Rachel Lloyd takes to heart, as the organizations name “GEMS” is a strong reminder of how precious each and every girl truly is. In Rachel’s eyes, each girl is a GEM.

Ms. Lloyd also works towards educating the public about the glorification of “pimp culture”, which is clearly seen within many different facets of today’s society, including music, movies, social networking sites such as Twitter, and even the Academy Awards. She spoke out against the nomination of Three Six Mafia’s “It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” as Best Song at the 2006 Academy Awards. “In my eyes I done seen some crazy thangs in the streets/ Gotta couple hoes workin on the changes for me,” the lyrics read. The song won.

Furthermore, a recent Twitter exchange between actresses Demi Moore and Kim Kardashian brings the issues surrounding the glorification of pimp culture to light, as the phrase “big pimpin’” accompanied a photo of Ms. Kardashian. Demi Moore spoke out against this phrase, explaining its dangers and true meanings. Moore received a barrage of negative comments against her, as many justified the use of the phrase.

Ms. Lloyd wrote to the Huffington Post, saying, “We glamorize and glorify pimp culture, use terminology that seems to legitimize the practice, and in doing so ignore the fact that pimps are modern day slave owners.”

In addition to establishing GEMS and receiving two college degrees in the process, Ms. Lloyd has been named “One of 50 Women Who Change the World” by Ms. Magazine and is the recipient of Reebok’s 2006 Human Rights Award. I first heard of GEMS and Rachel Lloyd at a screening of the documentary “Very Young Girls” held at Simmons College.

I was completely blown away by Ms. Lloyd’s selflessness and extraordinary dedication to girls victimized by commercial sex trafficking. She is for many girls the nurturing figure that they have for so long lacked in their lives. She understands and respects the girls better than almost anyone I have ever seen. With selfless dedication, empowerment, love, and respect, Ms. Lloyd is making a profound difference. I nominate her on behalf of all victims of sexual exploitation everywhere.

Rachel Lloyd, you are truly a hero.

OBOS is committed to expanding our audience and in this spirit we’ve asked former board member Moises Russo to translate into Spanish several of our blog entries. We hope to translate more entries in the coming year.

En OBOS estamos comprometidos a expandir nuestra audiencia de lector@s  y en este espíritu le hemos solicitado a Moisés Russo, ex-miembro de la Junta de OBOS, que traduzca al español varios de los blogs que tenemos en la página electrónica. Esperamos continuar con dichas traducciones durante este año.

Un artículo en la revista Contraception,“Coerción al embarazo, violencia por parte de parejas y embarazo no planificado”, examina si las mujeres jóvenes y adolescentes han sido víctimas de sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos, coacción a embarazarse o violencia física o sexual.

Investigadores de la Universidad de California Davis han llevado a cabo una encuesta de 1278 mujeres entre los 16 y 29 años que buscaron servicios en cinco clínicas de planificación familiar durante los años 2008 – 2009. Las mujeres participantes fueron hispanas (30%), afroamericanas (28%), blancas (22%), multirraciales (7%) y asiáticas u otras razas (13%). Coacción al embarazo fue definido como haber recibido comentarios de sus parejas a no usar métodos de control de la fertilidad, ser amenazadas con daño físico si no estaban dispuestas a quedar embarazadas, ser forzada o presionada a embarazarse, haber tenido que esconder métodos de control de la fertilidad por miedo a que su pareja pudiese enojarse, o haber sido amenazadas con que su pareja tendría un bebé con otra persona o a dejarlas si no se embarazaban.

Sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos fue definido como haber tenido una pareja que se quitase el condón mientras tenían relaciones sexuales, que hubiese hecho agujeros en el condón en forma intencional, las hubiese despojado de su método anticonceptivo o las hubiese forzado a tener sexo sin un condón.

Las participantes también fueron entrevistadas con respecto a su historia personal con respecto a violencia sexual o física y antecedentes de embarazos previos no planificados.

Los hallazgos principales del estudio fueron:

• 53,4% declararon haber experimentado violencia por parte de sus parejas
• 40,9% habían experimentado al menos un embarazo no planificado
• 19,1% habían sido coaccionadas a tener un embarazo
• 15,0% habían experimentado sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos

Los autores también reportaron que mujeres que habían experimentado violencia por parte de sus  parejas en el pasado también era más propensas a haber experimentado coacción a embarazarse o sabotaje de sus métodos anticonceptivos (35% de aquellas que indicaban haber sido víctimas de violencia comparado a 15% de aquellas que indicaban no haber sido víctimas de violencia). Las mujeres que habían experimentado control reproductivo (coacción o sabotaje) también eran más propensas a haber tenido un embarazo no planificado. Al analizar los datos en base a la exposición a violencia por parte de sus parejas, el control reproductivo estaba asociado con embarazo no planificado solo en aquellas mujeres que habían tenido exposición a violencia por parte de sus parejas.

A pesar de que los autores analizaron las exposiciones históricas de las mujeres y por lo tanto no podían examinar asociaciones con relaciones específicas o el orden de estos eventos en el tiempo, uno de los autores del estudio sugirió que las asociaciones podrían explicar por qué los embarazos no planificados son tanto más comunes entre las mujeres abusadas y quinceañeras.

Los investigadores concluyen que:

Un programa integral de detección en  centros clínicos que busque las experiencias prevalentes de coacción al embarazo, sabotaje de métodos anticonceptivos y violencia por parte de la pareja debiese ser considerado una prioridad, particularmente en el contexto de planificación familiar y otros esfuerzos programáticos para reducir el embarazo no planificado. Tal detección podría facilitar el trabajo crítico de resolver las barreras de acceso a la anticoncepción entre mujeres y niñas para reducir su elevado riesgo de embarazo no planificado.

El autor principal del estudio fue también uno de los investigadores en un estudio más pequeño sobre violencia en la pareja y sabotaje de métodos anticonceptivos que nosotros reportamos en el 2007.

Researchers from UC Davis conducted a survey of 1,278 16-29 year old women seeking care in five California family planning clinics in 2008-2009. The participating women were Hispanic (30%), Black (28%), White (22%), Multiracial (7%) and “Asian/other” (13%). Pregnancy coercion was defined as being told not to use birth control by a partner, threatened with physical harm if they did not agree to get pregnant, being forced or pressured to become pregnant, having hidden birth control because of fear that the partner would become upset, or being told that the partner would have a baby with someone else or leave if they did not become pregnant.

Birth control sabotage was defined as having a partner take off a condom while having sex, put holes in a condom on purpose, take away birth control, or forced sex without a condom.

Participants were also asked about their lifetime histories of physical and sexual violence and history of unintended pregnancy.

The key findings:

• 53.4% reported having experienced partner violence
• 40.9% had experienced at least one unintended pregnancy
• 19.1% had experienced pregnancy coercion
• 15.0% had experienced birth control sabotage

The authors also reported that women who had experienced partner violence in the past were also more likely to have experienced pregnancy coercion or birth control sabotage (35% of those reporting violence compared to 15% of those not reporting violence). Women who had experienced reproductive control (coercion or sabotage) were also more likely to have experienced an unplanned pregnancy. When looking at the data by exposure to partner violence, reproductive control was associated with unintended pregnancy only among those who were exposed to partner violence.

Although the authors looked at lifetime exposures and so could not look at associations within specific relationships or the order of these events in time, one co-author of the study suggested that the associations may “explain why unintended pregnancies are far more common among abused women and teens.”

The researchers conclude that:

Comprehensive screening in clinical settings for the prevalent experiences of pregnancy coercion, birth control sabotage and partner violence should be considered a priority, particularly in the context of family planning and related programmatic efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy. Such screening may facilitate the critical work of addressing barriers to contraception among affected women and girls so as to reduce their elevated risk for unintended pregnancy.

The lead author of the study was also one of the researchers for a smaller study of intimate partner violence and birth control sabotage that we reported on in 2007.

[Note: Although I was able to get a copy of the article, it is not yet readily available online. I'll try to add a link if an abstract/full text becomes available.]

International awareness and outcry against these crimes is not always swift or widespread. But an attack last month by government troops on women in Conarky, Guinea seems to be drawing a quick response.

Photos of the brutal crimes, which took place during a peaceful stadium rally protesting Guinea’s ruling military junta, are circulating on cell phones, and today The New York Times published a horrific account based on interviews with witnesses and women who had been assaulted:

“I can’t sleep at night, after what I saw,” said one middle-aged woman from an established family here, who said she had been beaten and sexually molested. “And I am afraid. I saw lots of women raped, and lots of dead.”

One photograph shows a naked woman lying on muddy ground, her legs up in the air, a man in military fatigues in front of her. In a second picture a soldier in a red beret is pulling the clothes off a distraught-looking woman half-lying, half-sitting on muddy ground. In a third a mostly nude woman lying on the ground is pulling on her trousers.

The cellphone pictures are circulating anonymously, but multiple witnesses corroborated the events depicted.

The attacks were part of a violent outburst on Sept. 28 in which soldiers shot and killed dozens of unarmed demonstrators at the main stadium here, where perhaps 50,000 had assembled. Local human rights organizations say at least 157 were killed; the government puts the figure at 56.

But even more than the shootings, the attacks on women — horrific anywhere, but viewed with particular revulsion in Muslim countries like this one — appear to have traumatized the citizenry and hardened the opposition’s determination to force out the leader of the military junta, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara.

Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France, told the Times France could no longer work with Camara and urged “international intervention.” Camara seized power in a bloodless coup in December. He had promised he would not run in January’s presidential election but has since changed his mind. As the Times notes, growing internal opposition could force Camara to leave power, or the government could become even more authoritarian. Camara contends that members of the opposition, not the military, were responsible for the assaults and killings.

Amnesty International is calling for an international commission to investigate the human rights violations that occurred.

“The perpetrators of these brutal attacks must be identified and brought to justice,” said Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty International’s Africa Program. “This can only be achieved through an international inquiry as the Guinean authorities have already been discredited by their lack of political will to carry out a national investigation into accusations of human rights violations by security forces in 2007.”

While rape as a tool of military oppression is all too common, it previously has not been used as government tactic in Guinea.

“This time, a new stage has been reached,” Sidya Touré, a former prime minister who was beaten during the opposition rally, told the Times. “Women as battlefield targets. We could never have imagined that. [...] Where could people get the idea to start raping women in broad daylight?”

“They especially tore into the women,” François Lonsény Fall, another former prime minister who was also at the stadium, said. “They were seeking to humiliate them.”