~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE WASH RAG published by Women Against Sexual Harassment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Available on-line ASAP at http://members.tripod.com/~WASHRAG/index8.html along with earlier issues ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Issue 8, Number 2 May, 2000 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Index Law & Order Gets Anita Award Humanitas & Prisoner Abuse Female Prisoners Ongoing Stories Jessie Ventura NOW Update Lauri's Mother Thumbs Up Some Women Don't Get It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Law and Order: Special Victims Unit Receives Anita Award ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have learned that the perception of anything is extremely important, and after having watched this NBC television series for a year or two, I must say that virtually every episode has been an education in the understanding of sexual crimes. The series focuses on crimes of a sexual nature. It takes place in New York City. Although I don't have a really good background in all of the areas that have been covered, I must say that in the areas where I have had experience, the actions have rung true, so I have to believe that if their research is as credible in those areas, it is probably just as good in the ones I'm not familiar with. I have been especially impressed with the sensitivity and compassion of those who are investigating crimes of a sexual nature towards the victims, and occasionally even towards the perpetrators. An interesting aspect has been the effect that different investigations have had on the detectives themselves. A father with a teen aged daughter grapples with a case in which girls are lured to their deaths by a pedophile. A detective who was born to a woman after a rape struggles to understand her own life while investigating a serial rapist. It is not just good drama, it is thought-provoking and compelling. Characters include Dictrict Attorney Schiff played by Steven Hill, Executive Assistant District Attorney McCoy played by Sam Waterston, Assistant District Attorney Carmichael played by Angie Harmon, Detective Jorday played by Jesse L. Martin. Lieutenant Van Buren played by S. Epatha Merkerson and Detective Briscoe played by Jerry Orbach, a cast of believable and well-rounded characters that show a justice system working like we wish it really would work. We are pleased to present them with an Anita Award from Women Against Sexual Harassment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Abuse of Women Inmates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have received a number of e-mails from an organization, Humanitas Christian Coalition, which is tracking the sexual abuse of women in prison, with the e-mail address of info(bleep)humanitas.org.uk. I excerpt from some of them in the hope that some understanding of the issue might lead to better conditions for women in prison, many of whom apparently face intolerable conditions. 12 April: And what about men having choice and being responsible for the choices they make? Saying boys will be boys simply lets them off the hook. It's not biology, it's simply doing what they want because they can. Gloria 13 April The entire point of reflexive biology is that male sexual arousal is not reliant on the 'idea' and 'action' formula, sexual molestation at the level and to the extent I have illustrated takes place without malice on the part of the male guard other than being a guard in the first place. In addition the *same* acts which might not be malicious with a 'straight actor' are complicated when a sex criminal, a rapist for example gets to do opposite gender intimate searches. Take Michigan or CIW or VSPW or Miller County Missouri or Livingston County Michigan .or Georgia or Framingham in New England. Tens of thousands of searches took place with sex offenders doing them! If a rapist who has raped prisoners gets to watch them shower and gets to touch them all over their bodies as a part of his normal assignments then it is unambiguously a sex show and it is straight coercive sex at *both* ends. It is institutional sex torture and that *one* guard might emotionally cripple hundreds of women. It is like 'pimping'. The USA not only sexually abuses more female inmates than any other nation on earth, it might sexually abuse more than the rest put together, if one looks at exactly what takes place. Who would want their breasts and genitals searched by a man? Who by a man who is also a rapist or child molester? Do you see how impossible it is to police and the exponential nature of the abuses? In addition, most of these prisoners are prior abuse sufferers so they move seamlessly from sexual abuse and degradation to more sex abuse and torture. Remember a rapist in VSPW is known by the many to be a rapist. The fact the authorities protect him is not secrecy, women know the sex perverts. In VSPW some refused medical treatment because the medical facility was infested by sex perverts and child molesters. In California they (sex criminals) are in effect unionized. In Snohomish County Washington they are teamsterized! In Linginston County Michigan they are just the male staff. Not a good guy in sight there. My last point is, what decent ordinary guy, say a devotional Catholic or a feminist sympathizer would do these duties or work in a place that had them? Unless he was undercover he would leave. A devotional Catholic or a man interested in gender rights would cut his balls off before doing filthy perverted shit. The sexualized assignments attract *very* bad men right from the beginning. The bad drive the good out and the act attracts the actor. That is accepted scientific theory. So if you wonder how a food hall full of guards can watch a porn show using the inmates as actresses and not one phones the FBI you have criminological science to help you understand why. There are no good guys, they are long gone. There are just sex perverts watching the show or their accomplices. In that case all of them without exception as we had in New York are sexually abusive scum. No exceptions. The 'few bad apple' theory is and was bullshit. Rapists and sex perverts can take over a facility. They have often done so. The male sexuality *is* autonomic and reflexive. That is the way men are designed. They have a bigger 'tool' than the Great Ape. They think about sex often and can do it at the drop of a hat. They can be semi-aroused for extremely long periods and they might get an erection or partial erection for reasons that they are unaware. On the bus even. It does not mean they have to rape women in the street. It just means that opposite gender intimate prison guard duties are both insane and a highly sexualized act. Men might have control of what they do with a hard dick but the hard dick just happens. It does not need to be booked in advance. Gregoir While we have no way of confirming the accusations made by Humanitas, we must believe there is more than smoke here, and that much of the abuse they allege takes place. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Humanitas Fights Sexual Abuse of Women in Prison ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have found the materials that I have gotten from this organization to be extremely disturbing. It is not that I am a pollyanna. I know that women in prison are difficult to deal with. They are there because they have committed criminal acts, and I think that most of the time, society is better off with them there. I would not want to, nor could I be a guard in such an institution. But the stories I am hearing go far beyond punishment of individuals for crimes committed, they indicate totally unprofessional behavior and unfair treatment on the part of prison guards, and even torture. Spokespersons for the prison guards complain that female guards have forced the issue by insisting on jobs that give them positions from which they can advance. So this means that men will be tending women prisoners when they are showering, using toilet facilities, dressing and undressing. It does not seem to me that the period of time women are doing these activities takes up a lot of their day. Having women take care of the surveillance during these time periods would leave 95% of the inmate's days for either sex to watch. I think that having either sex watch the other during those periods is just plain playing with fire. There may be saints among prison guards who could do that without becoming excited, but anything less would find it titillating. Among the charges made by Humanitas are Afghan style apartheid in Michigan, and housekeeping for male prisoners in both Michigan and Missouri (Vandalia Prison). In the Missouri prison, an inmate was searched for what was purported to be the sperm of a guard even though she insisted that she had not been raped. A doctor at Chowchilla's Valley State Prison for Women in California, Dr. Anthoony J. DiDomico, was reassigned after telling Ted Koppel's television crew that some inmates enjoy pelvic exams because "it's the only male contact they get." In another incident, a female inmate, Kimberly Byrd, was put into what was called "The Devil's Chair" naked. The incident was videotaped, and she is heard yelling at the guards who are kneeling on her back. She spits blood on the floor, then her head is wrapped in a towel and the guards appear to hold it against her mouth as they force her into the chair. She was taken to the hospital after she passed out in the chair where she had been hooded and tightly bound. The ACLU is taking action in a case of Theresa Ann Cox, a former prisoner at the Livingston County Jail in Michigan because although she had been eligible for a work release program, she was denied it solely because of her gender. The suit includes all female and former female prisoners at the jail. Women trustees at the jail are discriminated against in the kind of assignments they get. They are given laundry work while men get more favorable clerical positions, women recreate in a garage while men recreate in a yard. Male guards at the jail can view women prisoners in the shower and because of the one piece suits they are required to wear, can view them from the waist up when using toilet facilities. Humanitas raises allegations that the Washington DC prison system runs rape camps which it compares to the rape camps in Bosnia, and that women protestors who were arrested were denied medical attention, left in wet clothes without blankets or anything to sleep on for hours, and left without food or water for a full day. They are investigating what they call a full blown rape camp in Florida. Their inquiries found there was no oversight or effectual remedy, and a culture of sex abuse and torture. Humanitias complains that in Virginia, a male guard sexually abusing or using a woman might have excited concern only if the inmate 'belonged' to another guard, and that Virginia has state sanctioned sex abuse and torture in its prison system. The United Nations feels that only women should guard women. But according to the materials from humanitas, the main problem is that many of the men who work as prison guards in women's prisons are sex perverts and rapists. When they are caught, the system protects them instead of getting rid of them. Their statistics indicate that as many as 40% of prison guards have a track record of wife beating, domestic violence, child molestation or other violence against women issues. It seems to me to be totally counterproductive to keep women imprisoned under these circumstances, not to mention inhumane. If imprisonment is to reform them, they must be treated fairly and humanely, otherwise, they will be worse criminals when they get out than when they went in. One can hardly view any of the police video programs without seeing at least one segment on catching prostitutes plying their trade. Then they are put into prisons where they are expected to sexually service the male prison guards? That is a gross miscarriage of justice. Many of these women were in trouble because of sexual abuse, and the system compounds it. Arguments that some of the sex is consensual falls on Humanitas' deaf ears. "Sex is either legal or it is illegal between powerless prisoners and all powerful guards." I believe that it should be illegal in all and any cases, and that guards who behave in unprofessional ways should be punished and dismissed. It apparently will be a cold day in Hell before that happens. The practice appears to be ingrained. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ongoing Stories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Miles Foundation, tracking sexual abuse in the military, is having a conference "Towards Zero Tolerance: A Conference on Interpersonal Violence and Military Culture" Last day to register is June 20. For more information, e-mail milesfdn(bleep)aol.com. Miles also reports on a congressionally mandated task force created to assess current domestic violence programs and policies within the Department of Defense and the military services. One of the biggest stories in sexual harassment was the accusation from Claudia Kennedy, a three star general in the Army, that she had been sexually harassed in her office in the pentagon. "Even a general is not immune from a woman's need to protect her own boundaries," according to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney quoted in Time. Marcia Prine, a Sioux City, Iowa woman who won a sexual harassment case against the Sioux City school district, was in the news again. She was awarded an additional $159,000.00 for court costs and her pain and suffering. Too bad the district didn't listen to her complaints earlier, I'm sure the money could have been spent better than to defend individuals guilty of inappropriate harassing behavior against a fellow employee. Keeping in the area of the costs to organizations defending sexual harassers, this from Mary Henderson: I wanted to sit down and get a letter out to you as soon as possible about what is going on currently with the Department of Corrections. I guess I will be joining the ranks of women who have filed a suit against the state of Colorado. One of the women who has a case in the Federal Court, Louella Watkins, her name is in all the articles against Joe Paulino, got her witness list from the state today and all three of my children's names are on it. I see this as a CLEAR tactic to try to intimidate me into keeping my mouth shut and quit helping other women. My children have never worked for the state and DO NOT deserve to be harassed in this manner. It is a shame that tax payers money has to keep going down the drain to feed these men's egos. I have tried to not cost the tax payer but I see no other choice then to make sure the taxpayer becomes informed of this misuse of their tax dollars and the states own attorney's. When I went to Washington DC and requested they enact the RICO Act I think they thought I was joking and the corruption could not be so bad, but as time has gone on and I have tried to keep them informed I have in the last few weeks received a letter from the Department of Justice in Washington requesting that cases against the state be made a priority. I believe they are starting to see a pattern here. The witness list was submitted by assistant attorney general George Meyer.(sp) I will be contacting my attorney on Monday and EEOC with a retaliation claim. Mary L Henderson And finally this from Ruby Starr: The writer of this, John Jay, is doing a lot of research into our problem with the EEO, OWCP and the courts. He has tracked down the FUND which pays off management, the attorneys and judges to blackball us who file claims. Domestic court has an illegal Judicial Slush fund in the actual court houses, in many states. We are wondering where this money comes from and how to crack this. John is getting me good information. Once I finish my case, John has set me up with some other people to work on 20/20 etc. I will see if I can crawl out of bed. Hope this information helps for the Rag. Ruby Subject: EMBEZZLEMENT OF TAXPAYER MONEY VIA THE JUDGMENT FUND Honorable Members of the House Budget Committee and Chairman Kasich: The JUDGMENT FUND is being used to provide UNLIMITED taxpayer dollars to defend federal managers and supervisors who are sued by employees they abuse and discriminate against! WHY IS THIS UNLIMITED POT OF TAXPAYER MONEY USED TO DEFEND ABUSIVE MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS AGAINST LAWSUITS BROUGHT AGAINST THEM BY THOSE THEY ARE ABUSING???? THE ABUSED EMPLOYEES HAVE TO PAY THEIR OWN LEGAL BILLS. WHY DON'T THE ABUSERS HAVE TO PAY FOR THEIR LAWYERS TOO??? WHY ARE THE TAXPAYERS PAYING FOR DEFENDING THE ABUSERS IN ALL CASES??? THE JUDGMENT FUND SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE REACH OF MALICIOUS MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS WHO MAY BE JUSTIFIABLY SUED BY VICTIMS OF DISCRIMINATION AND ABUSES OF AUTHORITY. THE JUSTICE DEPT. AND TREASURY SHOULD STOP APPROVING AND RUBBER STAMPING THIS FORM OF LEGALIZED THEFT AND EMBEZZLEMENT OF TAXPAYER MONEY!!! I STRONGLY RESENT MY TAXES BEING USED TO REPRESENT THESE MOOCHERS WHO SHOULD DAMN WELL PAY FOR THEIR OWN LEGAL DEFENSE THE WAY THE REST OF US HAVE TO DO. THIS IS A TREMENDOUS WASTE OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, EACH YEAR. IT MUST BE STOPPED!!! JOHN JAY OXNARD, CA 805-985-0273 JJay943(bleep)aol.com Right on, John. You won't get anything but my support. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jessie Ventura: The Last Word ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To recap, we were intrigued by Jessie Ventura's comment that if the Tailhook pilots molested and harassed female officers at their convention it was "no big deal, because they put their lives on the line every day." Well, having a little bit of familiarity with Naval pilots having been in Naval Aviation myself quite a few years ago, I was aware of what prime duty it was to get into training to be a carrier based pilot. I believe that when I was in, there were 100 applications for every man accepted. Not only that, these guys are heroes to everyone, even me. Granted, the duty is dangerous and if someone told me I had to land an airplane on a carrier, I would lie on the ground in a fetal position and whine, but with the training they get, they go out and get jobs into six figures after their tour of duty. Not only that, these fellows have images to die for. This just doesn't sound like someone I should be expected to feel sorry for. Not only that, but they have safety provisions nobody else has. They have parachutes, life rafts, life vests, radios, provisions, homing devices, it goes on and on. And may I say, that is reflected in the statistics I found. Because I found a 1996 Justice Department survey of Violence to Intimates, I got statistics from the Navy for the death and injury of pilots in 1996. In that year, there were 16 deaths and 4 injuries. Since the Marine Corps is a part of the Navy, these figures included Marine Pilots. This is nothing short of miraculous when you consider that the numbers I got from the Navy regarding how many pilots there were: 7,692 for the Navy and 5,110 for the Marine Corps, for a total of 12,802 Navy and Marine Corps pilots, and these guys land planes on carriers, probably the most dangerous occupation short of astronaut. I am amazed and impressed. The Navy obviously spares no effort in protecting its pilots. They should be commended for this, and also for the ease with which I was able to obtain these figures. All of this information falls under the Freedom of Information Act. So now we know that there was 1 death for every 800 pilots, and 1 injury for every 3200 pilots. The chance of death was .125% and the chances of injury were .031%. Now we come to the overwhelming statistics in the area of intimate violence. According to the Justice Department's survey, in 1996 there were 837,899 rapes and assaults against women by intimates. Using the figure from another chart that 8 in 1000 women are the victims of violent attack, it can be calculated that the chances of a woman being the victim of a violent attack is 1 in 125 or .8% for women in intimate relationships compared to 1 in 3200 or .031% for carrier pilots. To say that another way, women are over 25 times as likely to be injured by an intimate as a pilot landing on a carrier. And the figures for women in this case included all women, not just those over 12 who were the subject of the survey. Since I cannot get any figures on the number of women over 12 who were in intimate relationships I have to hazard a guess. I think that less than half the women over 12 are in intimate relationships at any given time There are a lot of women who are divorced or widowed and never remarry, and there are a lot of schoolgirls. So that means that as far as injury is concerned, if my guess is correct, it is 63 times as dangerous to be a woman in a relationship and walk into your bedroom as it is to be a Naval pilot landing on a carrier. In 1996, 1326 women were murdered by an intimate, or 1809, depending on which chart you used. Using the figures of 8 in 1000 and 837,899 for assaults to calculate a population of 104,737,375. That means that the chances of a woman being killed by an intimate were 1 in 78,987,or .00126%, much less than the Tailhook pilot's 1 in 800 or .125, but impressive nonetheless. In fact, it is nearly 99 times as dangerous to be a carrier pilot as it is to be a women in a relationship as far as mortality is concerned. If you accept my estimate that half of the women are in relationships, that drops to 49 times as dangerous. But it is just innately more dangerous to have an incident involving an airplane traveling at hundreds of miles an hour landing on a ship floating on a choppy sea than to be shoved, slapped or clobbered. Any incident for the pilot will almost certainly be fatal, any incident for the woman in a relationship will be degrading and painful, but she will have the chance to get out of the relationship and save herself, but apparently many do not. If you add the deaths and injuries for both, the chances of a pilot to be killed or injured is 1 in 640, the chance for a woman (using my guesstimate that half the women over 12 are in relationships) is 1 in 62, so with these figures, it is almost ten times as dangerous to be a woman in a relationship as it is to be a Naval pilot landing on a carrier. This comparison may not be fair, but understanding the loss of the pilot's families, one must also recognize the brutalized women's losses. One would like to think that women were protected and cared for the same way as the Tailhook pilots are. But in some ways, we are still living in a Neanderthal environment where force is how men express themselves. But this is not the end of the story, not by a long shot. On March 25, KMEG in Sioux City carried an amazing story on their 10:00 news. It seems that the Governor of Minnesota, Jessie Ventura, had been appearing on TV in a debate with a female Minnesota State Senator. The Governor was enraged because the lady had touched him on the arm during the appearance, and he felt SHE HAD INVADED HIS SPACE! They showed the clip, and the Governor's face was turned away from her, and to get his attention, she gently rested her hand on his lower arm for a couple of seconds. It was a common and casual gesture. The fact that Jessie Ventura feels that women don't have the right to be treated with common dignity but he does is overwhelmingly obvious. Communicating with him is a waste of time. One can only hope that the people of Minnesota take care of him before he literally turns the state into a whorehouse. That was the last news item I heard about the Governor. He was being petitioned by the owner of the Nevada whorehouse he had visited to legalize prostitution in Minnesota. I can understand that the people of Minnesota were sending a message that they were sick of politicians, but this is ridiculous. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Excerpt from a NOW Legislative Update ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please Reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) for 5 years at funding levels that reflect the increased costs and importance of programs and services across the nation. Funding parity must be ensured for sexual assault and domestic violence programs as well as for victim services, state coalitions, and community-based programs.* The VAWA Reauthorization bill, H.R. 1248, (sponsored by Reps. Connie Morella (R-MD) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT) needs your vote. Your support will provide a blueprint for the Appropriations Committee. Funding for that were created under VAWA '94 will run out on October 1, 2000. I also ask you to support levels of funding in the FY 2001 Appropriations bills that reflect the amounts found in H.R. 1248. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lauri's Mother's Story ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was late afternoon, Thursday June 17, 1999, when my husband insisted I get dressed so we could go out to eat. He had been in one of his moods all day so I took a shower and got dressed, it was 120 degrees out and my husband knew I couldn't stand the heat as he refused to turn the air conditioner on when we were only going a short distance. We were almost to the restaurant when he asked me what I was going to order. I replied "Why are you asking? You won't order it anyway." He became very nasty. I truly no longer cared what happened. I just had to be away from him. He chased me through the parking lot. I was walking between cars and he was driving after me. I made it to the bus stop. I could get on and go wherever it was going. He saw me. He parked the car and came after me. I was yelling, he was pushing me, calling me names, pushing me back to the car. He had my arms pinned. My purse slipped off my shoulder, I knew if I could throw my purse away from us, he would let go of me. I swung my purse a couple of times to get some momentum, it flew through the air, landing in front of the police car that had just stopped. My husband was placed under arrest. As he was assisted into the police car he was threatening me. I fled for my life, as I knew what would happen when he was released. He had warned me for years what would happen if I ever tried to leave him. Lauri adds that she flew to Nevada to try to retrieve some of her mother's belongings, but the police stopped her because they said she had abandoned her home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thumbs Up ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There was some really positive news: The Navy has named its first woman to be Captain of a ship, Commander Kathleen McGrath, Captain of the U. S. S. Jarrett, a Navy Frigate destined to look for smugglers in the Persian Gulf. Time 3/27/2000 Erin Nicole Clauch has been named a battalion commander at VMI, the first woman to be so designated. U. S. News & World Report 4/10/2000 An editorial in U. S. News & World Report March 20, 2000, says it is time for a woman to be elected president of the U. S. And finally, on PBS Morning Edition on May 11, they said that a survey indicated that black managers had more ethics than white managers. What a breakthrough! I long ago came to understand that one of the qualifications for being a manager was having neither ethics nor morals. If that was not enough, that evening the news had Gov. Janklow admitting that there was a lot of bigotry in the state. Since bigots never admit to being one, there is an outside chance that the people of SD have elected someone who isn't one to be governor. Amazing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some Women Just Don't Get It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Weekend Edition on PBS on April 29 had a story about a book on the history of Shanghai written by a woman. I frankly wasn't that interested in it, and only casually followed it until the woman described the return of prostitution and crime in Shanghai along with the return of prosperity when the Chinese government allowed capitalism to return to China. Daniel Shore, in his super kindly voice suggested that this might not indicate progress, but she replied that crime and prostitution always accompany prosperity. If this isn't the comment of a man with tits, then I withdraw my definition. This comment is very troubling to me. I contend that there are virtually no women who wouldn't rather live in a clean apartment and go to a job as a secretary, teacher, nurse or even corporate vice president than to live in filth, be abused, beaten, vilified and continually raped. It is a poor statement on our society if prosperity leads to the degradation of its women. Prostitution is the consequence of women not being able to earn enough to live on in other ways. I do not believe that women ever choose to be prostitutes. I believe that they are always forced into it. ALWAYS. A recent issue of the AAUW's Outlook had a story about a college student at Virginia Tech who was raped in her dorm room, who their Legal Advocacy Fund is supporting. I don't want anyone to think I don't approve of AAUW being involved, but it seems to me that organizations like that are very sanitary in who they support in redress. It seems to be less of a matter of how heinous the crime was than it is how much image the victim had. Perhaps that is why I find it hard to get excited about the feminist organizations and publications already in existence and have started my own. Most don't seem to think that women with lower status or who attended less prestigious institutions merit sympathy. Perhaps they even think like this woman. As long as their own asses are covered, to hell with everyone else. However, in a Dateline NBC on April 28, which discussed sex slavery from the Czech Republic to the USA, United States Secretary of State Madeline Albright was featured as having declared war on sex slavery, and after a chain of brothels using foreign women as sex slaves in the Southeastern US was uncovered, Attorney General Janet Reno formed a special task force to fight it in the US. And that is why I vote Democrat. With Republicans in the White House, neither would have happened. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WE'RE ON THE WEB http://members.tripod.com/~WASHRAG/index8.html/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This on-line version of THE WASHRAG is being sent to you free. A print version can be obtained by subscribing. In the US, send $10.00 to Women Against Sexual Harassment, P. O. Box 164, Canton, SD 57013-0164. Outside the US, send $20.00 to join. For a sample issue, send a #10 sized SASE. 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