Month: January 2019

Africa (Conversation) – A new study shows that 130 million women have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 29 of the highest prevalence countries, many of which are in Africa. And 30 million more girls in Africa under the age of 15 will be at risk in the coming decade. FGM types I-III comprise all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The practice is concentrated in Africa, the Middle East and Asia and is carried out mainly for cultural and economic…

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United States (Conversation) – President Trump has long called migration a security crisis, but in recent weeks he has also referred to the situation along the southern border as a humanitarian crisis. As he ended the government shutdown in a televised speech on Jan. 25, Trump reiterated his claim that a border wall between the United States and Mexico would save the lives of Central American migrants, many of whom are women and children. “Walls work,” he said. “They save good people from attempting a very dangerous journey from other…

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United States (Conversation) – More Americans are trying to make their voices heard these days. Approximately one in five Americans participated in a protest or rally between early 2016 and early 2018, according to a Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll. A similar proportion reported they expected to become more involved in political causes in the next year. Similarly, the number of women running for state and federal offices soared during the 2018 midterm elections. The ease of using social media appears to be ramping up virtual protesting too. In addition…

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World Wide (Conversation) – There is mounting evidence of the impact of climate change on human habitat and health, on plant and animal life, on water resources and shorelines. These changes are felt unevenly within – and between – nations and communities. This is due to differences in access to resources, infrastructure, social structure, and government policy. Climate change is, and will continue to be, most severely felt by the poorest people in any population, particularly those living in poorly-resourced, isolated and extreme environments. But extreme weather events, famine and…

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United States (Conversation) – Television crime dramas like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and its many spin-offs have fostered the popular belief that forensic science, or the use of science to solve crimes, is infallible. Yet, as forensic scandal after forensic scandal sweeps the nation, a competing truth has emerged. Forensic science is only as reliable as the people performing the tests. This means forensic science is vulnerable to distortions caused by corruption or misconduct. The latest forensic scandal based on misconduct erupted in New Jersey in December 2018 in the…

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United States (Conversation) – The Trump administration wants to tighten even further longstanding restrictions on who is eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The farm bill, which gets updated every five years or so, spells out who can participate in SNAP, the assistance program previously known as food stamps. The most recent version of this legislation, which President Donald Trump signed into law on Dec. 20, 2018, left out new limits on the eligibility of adults without children. Those limits were part of the House version, but Congress dropped…

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Canada (Conversation) – Violence-related injuries at work are on the rise across Canada and this is especially the case for women, according to two recent studies we conducted at the not-for-profit Institute for Work and Health. We found that women are four times more likely than men to experience sexual assault or unwanted touching on the job, no matter what occupation or industry they work in. Women are also 13 per cent more likely than men to be physically assaulted at work — a difference largely explained by the sectors women…

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United Staes (Conversation) – It’s a common refrain of American voters: How can your party be so heartless? Democrats want to know how Republicans can support President Trump’s policy of separating babies from refugee families. Republicans want to know how Democrats can sanction abortion. But does either party really care more about compassion? In my research into the public’s support for a variety of government policies, I ask questions about how compassionate someone is, such as how concerned they are about others in need. These questions are integral to understanding…

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United States (Conversation) – President Trump evoked the Wounded Knee massacre in a recent tweet. He was reacting to an Instagram video that Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted on New Year’s Eve. There’s been considerable criticism of the president’s inaccurate portrayal of Native American history, including from members of his own party. Two Republican senators from South Dakota, Mike Rounds and John Thune, spoke out against the tweet. Wounded Knee is among the worst massacres in Native American history. It was also one of the most violent examples of the repression…

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Texas, United States (TexasTribune) – No matter how many hours Sherry worked in the Corpus Christi retail store she and her husband owned, she never got a paycheck. Her husband decided when she got money. He bought all her clothes, dictated which brand of lunch meat she purchased and made her prove how every dollar he did give her was spent for the benefit of the entire family. Once the kids were in bed at night, Sherry says her husband would choke and threaten her. “He’d always promise me he…

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