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Valerie Jarrett

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Protecting Women and Their Children Around the World

Posted: 02/28/2012 3:27 pm

Yesterday evening, I had the honor of addressing the 2nd Annual World Conference of Women's Shelters, hosted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and sponsored by Global Network of Women Shelters. The conference was composed of more than 1,300 advocates representing more than 90 countries, including the United States.

I was incredibly inspired by the work these advocates are doing to keep women and their children safe. And I was proud to affirm that President Obama and his administration stand with them. Protecting women and their children is a cause he cares deeply about, not just as a President of the United States, but also as a son, a husband and a father of two daughters.

This is why the President has made combating violence against women a key foreign policy goal. Under the new plan, for the first time ever, all United States government personnel in conflict-affected countries will be responsible for making sure that women have a seat at the table. And part of that responsibility will be to prevent violence against women.

President Obama also believes we must lead by example here at home. The Obama Administration has directed public housing authorities and landlords to make sure victims do not lose their housing because of the crimes committed against them. Under new Title IX guidelines, schools, colleges, and universities that receive federal funds now have a clear legal obligation to prevent and respond to sexual assaults. As part of the Affordable Care Act, women will soon have access to medical screenings for domestic violence at no additional cost. And insurance companies are prohibited from discriminating against survivors of domestic violence by labeling their tragedy a "pre-existing condition." And we also are strongly advocating for the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act. These efforts are coordinated by Lynn Rosenthal, the first-ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women.


As the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls, I am so proud to be part of an administration led by a President who prioritizes new strategies to help protect women and their children. When women are denied the chance to contribute because of domestic violence our entire society suffers. When women have a chance to achieve their dreams, everybody benefits. When women succeed, society as a whole does better.


Last night was a reminder of how much progress we have made working with government, civil society, advocacy organizations, and the private sector to develop successful strategies to end domestic violence. There is much work we still must do, but seeing so many courageous leaders from around the world devoted to this important goal renewed my confidence that if we all do our part, we can and will win the fight against sexual and gender-based violence. We will create a world where no woman lives in fear, and where every woman has the chance to work hard and reach her full potential.

 
Yesterday evening, I had the honor of addressing the 2nd Annual World Conference of Women's Shelters, hosted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and sponsored by Global Network of Women ...
Yesterday evening, I had the honor of addressing the 2nd Annual World Conference of Women's Shelters, hosted by the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and sponsored by Global Network of Women ...
 
 
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09:30 AM on 03/28/2012
Hi Valerie great article . After reading this article link below regarding daughters in China It is so inspiring to know that PPS TV in China is broadcasting my song through out China and the UK knowing I wrote this for my daughter and made it a tribute to all daughters in the world . Song title - In The Morning When God Smiles .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1506469.stm

PPS TV China

v.pps.tv/play_30ONM2.html

God Bless all the children of the world
Mickey
08:55 AM on 03/05/2012
The link is a case of real domestic violence only one problem, its a male victim of domestic violence. This man was shot then stabed 27 times and his his throut cut from ear to ear by his exgirlfriend. Why is their no mention that he is a victim of DV?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/03/jodi-arias-trial-update-murder_n_1181779.html
08:49 PM on 03/04/2012
Women - check. Children - check. Miss anybody? Anybody that counts? Now, who's included in your "we" that's gonna provide this protection and the resources to accomplish it? Oh, are you sure it's only *their* children? How'd that happen? And btw, about half of those children are eventually going to "age out" of scope with your protection plans. Did you notice? Or do you plan that they will cease to matter all around your "world"? I'm not a woman or a child, but I am a parent. Sounds like I go down with the ship, but what about my child? Am I being too technical for the spirit in which you offer your plan?
I note that your words are in HuffPo's "Politics" section and wonder -- is that really accurate, or is that really sarcasm? Or is it because HuffPo doesn't have a "Bigotry" section? Yet? Protection sounds like good stuff. Who needs it? Mark Twain once made a scathing comment on the insidious racism of the South in the exchange between Sally and Huck about the explosion on the steamboat. When Sally asks if anyone was hurt in the explosion, Huck replies “No’m. Killed a n**ger,” to which Sally replies, “Well, it’s lucky; because sometimes people do get hurt.” I guess their world was secured by the same protection plan you envision for ours. You go girl! Peace!
08:00 PM on 03/04/2012
The book Spreading Misandry
Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young say that men have routinely been portrayed as evil. These stereotypes are profoundly disturbing, the authors argue, for they both reflect and create a hatred toward men."Spreading Misandry," they show that creating a workable society in the twenty-first century requires us to rethink feminist and other assumptions about men. The first in an eventual three part series, "Spreading Misandry" offers an impressive array of evidence from everyday life case studies from movies, television programs, novels, comic strips, and even greeting cards - to identify a phenomenon that is just now being recognised as a serious cultural problem.Discussing misandry - the sexist counterpart of misogyny,the authors make clear that this form of hatred must not be confused with reverse sexism or anger and should neither be trivialised nor excused. They break new ground by discussing misandry in moral terms rather than purely psychological or sociological ones and refer critically not only to feminism but to political ideologies on both the left and the right. Western thought since ancient times.A groundbreaking study, "Spreading Misandry" raises serious questions about justice and identity in an increasingly polarised society. It is important for anyone in interested in ethics, gender, popular culture, or are just concerned about the society we are creating. "Spreading Misandry ...does make a convincing argument that, since the 1990s, ...Men, have become society's official scapegoats and held responsible for all evil. Women are society's official victims.
07:18 PM on 03/04/2012
Dr. Straus opens with his observations of a short history of the controversy:

In the mid 1970s my colleagues and I made the disturbing discovery that women physically assaulted partners in marital, cohabiting, and dating relationships as often as men assaulted their partners. This finding caused me and my former colleague Suzanne Steinmetz to be excommunicated as feminists. Neither of us has accepted that sentence, but it remains in force. So when Salman Rushdie was condemned to death for his heresy, we may have felt even more empathy than most people because we had also experienced many threats, including a bomb threat.
12:53 PM on 03/04/2012
Senior Advisor for Public Engagement?
Hah, what a title! Did you think that up yourself? Why do you always sound clueless, like you just graduated from a women's studies program where your empty head was filled with "theory" and you are breathless to tell the world how much you know and they don't. Please ask your friend and boss to get out of his cocoon more and remember the progressive campaign he waged and abandoned once in office. Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, and Bob Rubin are wrong. Trickle down doesn't work...it never did. Caving to Republicans doesn't work, it never did. Tepid approximations of appearing to be a Democrat don't work, they never did.
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Trueletterson
Working man politically right of center
12:10 PM on 03/04/2012
Protecting Women and Their Children Around the World how can this be done without protecting the men so they can protect the women and children.
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Ally Solver
Problem Solver Extraordinaire
10:37 AM on 03/04/2012
The fault lies totally with women.

They refuse to leave the abuser once and for all. They refuse to call the police and press charges. They are not loyal to those that try to help them, especially the police. They pick the wrong men for the wrong reasons.

The list goes on and on.

If women do not want to be abused, they will have to start looking out for themselves. This situation could be totally eliminated with some intelligent action.

Censorship is evil.
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Shebagirl
Be a superdog - protect an underdog!
10:30 AM on 03/04/2012
"We will create a world where no woman lives in fear, and where every woman has the chance to work hard and reach her full potential."

What do you think that invading countries, sending in cruise missiles, dropping b.o.m.b.s and drones and slaying their people (women and children) does for their fear factor. What do you think that the displacement of millions of women and children from their homeland does for their work factor. I don't think we need another 'committee paid for by taxpayers' to determine that violence, whether domestic or by governments is needed. We need to stop violence, in any form, right now!
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10:08 AM on 03/04/2012
And we would have a better society if every office in government was a 50/50 female to male ratio. This is equality. This is the rhetoric that America spouts but fails to achieve.
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Trueletterson
Working man politically right of center
12:16 PM on 03/04/2012
So we have gotten to the point were we are keeping count, suppose a women could do a better job than a man or a man can do a better job than a women, do you still want a 50/50 split.
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10:47 PM on 03/04/2012
It's been male dominated since our country's birth. We need change. 50-50 is equal.
01:06 AM on 03/02/2012
This IS wonderful, that the USA has a President who really cares about violence and specifically violence against women in domestic situations.

What is very troubling, however, is that much of this violence occurs in Islamic households and, in the interests of political correctness, THIS is a specific problem to do with the subjugation of women which is NOT addressed: "We must respect other cultures." Islam is based on the Quran which specifies total submission to the "will ofAllah", which, in turn, is embodied in the men of Islam. They are the law. The result is the excision of the genitalia of little girls whose families are strongly Islamic, "honor" killings of female children who disobey, the withdrawing of such girls from school at an early age to force them into marriage with much older men, and then a life of total submission, borderline illiteracy, and knowledge of nothing apart from what they are taught by the men of Islam. A terrifying, horrific life of oppression and abuse for women.

How much, and what, if anything, is the USA government doing to put a stop to such widespread abuse of Islamic women?
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12:26 PM on 03/04/2012
Violence can occur to any woman, despite their religious beliefs. The things you listed cannot be attributed to Islam, but are CULTURAL practices. And inciting MORE WAR on other countries as you suggest by the US to put a stop to these things will only cause more harm and violence against women.

You should actually read the Quran before posting such ignorant comments about others religious beliefs instead of getting your information from propaganda and obviously biased sources.
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goatini
We are two-legged wombs, that’s all
05:33 PM on 03/04/2012
You are incorrect. The problem is NOT "Islamic households". The problem IS the radical theocratic fundamentalist practice of ALL of the Abrahamic religions. There is little difference in the female oppression of radical theocratic fundamentalist Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The reason the Islamic fundamentalists seem to go farther with their female oppression is because they have nice friendly radical fundamentalist theocratic nations to protect their violent acts. If America were a radical fundamentalist theocracy, like some people, including at least one Presidential candidate, would like, the same level of violence seen in Islamic theocracies would prevail. It's all about how safe the abusers feel to commit the abuse.
06:09 PM on 02/29/2012
We know more about intimate violence directed at men than we did when Gelles wrote his article. But for cultural reasons, it is very difficult for male victims of domestic violence to seek help. Men are seen to be physically stronger than women, and so he should be able to just “take it.” Furthermore, domestic violence awareness campaigns are horribly one-sided, and almost always portray males as the aggressor and females as victim. Police are often hardwired to view men as the perpetrator. If a man calls 911 for help when he’s being attacked by his spouse or partner, he is often subject to arrest, even if he is the only one with physical injuries.

For seventeen years, there has been unequal treatment before the law. Female aggressors are keenly aware of this unequal justice, and a 2010 study on men who sustain abuse at the hands of their female partners discovered that 67.2% reported their female aggressors made false allegations of spousal abuse. [ii] Of those with children, 48.9% of the men reported that their partners made false allegations of child abuse.[iii] In other words, VAWA’s myopic view of who perpetrates domestic violence gives female abusers an additional avenue to torment their spouses.

http://womenagainstvawa.org/the-violence-against-women-act-ignores-half-the-problem-2/
06:36 PM on 02/29/2012
You are absolutely right. Aside from the federal Military Selective Service Act, VAWA is the most patently sexist legislation to become federal law in the last half century. As it cruelly discriminates on the basis of sex, VAWA would never pass muster under a federal Equal Rights Amendment. Far too often, male victims of domestic violence suffer alone and in silence because of institutional sex discrimination, which should be condemned, not condoned.
05:51 PM on 02/29/2012
"According to some experts, mothers who kill their children are not as rare as we’d like to think. While exact numbers of children killed by their mothers is hard to pinpoint, some
estimate it happens every day in this country."
03:37 PM on 02/29/2012
Why is the same emphasis we place on protecting children held up to women as well? A woman's life and well being is not worth more than a man's. So why is it that men are not afforded the same protection and support as women?

Answer: Feminists.
04:25 PM on 02/29/2012
Exactly.There is a White House Council for Women and girls but nothing for Men and boys.
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Yellowcab
100 % Cotton
12:38 PM on 03/05/2012
The word “women” appears 134 times in the body of Obamacare.

The word “men” appears twice in the body of Obamacare

Both occurrences of the word “men” are in generic “men and women” sentences that mean nothing.
05:22 PM on 02/29/2012
I totally agree MikeFromBC. Obviously Valerie Jarrett thinks a woman's life is worth more than a man's.
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11:58 AM on 02/29/2012
Domestic Violence is serious. Shelters are needed as the first step in the process for women and their children who are facing an emergency situation and have left their abuser with no place to go.
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Yellowcab
100 % Cotton
02:38 PM on 03/02/2012
Men and their children can continue to suffer in silence.