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Home / Softball / Wayland’s Ritz reaches coaching milestone
Wayland’s Ritz reaches coaching milestone
Jason Wesseldyk
Softball isn’t literally part of Cheri Ritz’s DNA.
But it might as well be.
“Some of my earliest memories were at the softball fields in Moline watching my dad and uncle play,” Ritz said. “Softball has always been a big part of my life and I developed a passion for it at a young age.”
That passion continues to this day, with Ritz recently completing her 36th season as a high school coach. That includes 34 seasons as a varsity coach, with the vast majority of those coming at her alma mater Wayland Union High School.
During the 2019 campaign, Ritz reached yet another career milestone as she racked up the 900th victory of her career.
“It felt good,” Ritz said of the win, which came during the first game of a doubleheader against St. Joseph last month. “There’s really not that much difference between 899 wins and 900 wins, but round numbers are always nice.
“And even though I get credit for the wins, this is really an accomplishment that also belongs to all the players who have played for me and the coaches who have coached with me. I wouldn’t have had the success I have had if it wasn’t for them.”
During the course of winning those 900, Ritz has experienced numerous highs both from a team and an individual perspective.
From a team standpoint, Wayland has won two state championships with 25 conference championships and 23 district championships. Individually, Ritz was named National Federation Coach of the Year in 2015 to go with being named District Coach of the Year 17 times and Regional Coach of the Year eight times.
“All of those things are great,” Ritz said. “But it’s like I tell the parents at our awards banquet each year. My greatest victories are in the lives of their daughters, not in our record or the banners on the walls. I want to make a positive difference in the life of each of my players. That’s my biggest goal.”
That goal was born out of a desire to give back to the sport that has given so much to her.
“Softball has given me some of the best experiences of my life,” Ritz said. “I played at (Michigan State University) and got to travel all over, including to Belize. I’ve had the opportunity to coach in Hawaii twice. It’s been a great ride and I owe it to softball.”
“God has been good to me and softball has been good to me. I just want to pay that forward.”
Ritz is also the softball chairman for the National High School Coaches Association.
“That’s been another blessing,” Ritz said. “I get to meet with the eight finalists for National Coach of the Year and spending time with coaches like that is amazing.”
While reaching the 900-win milestone was fun for Ritz, the season as a whole wasn’t quite what fans have come to expect from Wayland. With a young squad that included as many as six freshmen in the starting lineup, the Wildcats finished at 16-19 and were runner-up in both the OK Gold Conference and at districts.
Wayland had won 14 straight league titles and 15 straight district crowns.
“This year was a different kind of challenge given our youth,” Ritz said. “But we didn’t lower our expectations because of that. We still expected a lot out of ourselves and we fell short of some of our goals. But I have no doubt this group will work hard and we’ll get back to where we want to be.”
Along the way, Ritz will continue to rack up more wins, with all-time leader Diane Laffey and her total of more than 1,200 wins as the ultimate goal.
“Diane is one of the coaches I really admire,” Ritz said. “She’s been coaching more than 50 years, so I figure I have a lot of time left. Getting to 1,000 wins would be cool and why not aim for Diane’s record.”
Cheri Ritz
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Jaguar XJ12 #7339202
You can see more picture of Jaguar XJ12 in our photo gallery. Click on the links below to view them. Also we have full gallery of Jaguar XJ12 on this page which you can see.
If you have your own good photos of Jaguar XJ12 and you want to become one of our authors, you can add them on our site
Nissan Juke 2011: a new compact crossover
Confirmed arrival of crossover Nissan Juke in the Canadian market Nissan Canada Inc. (NCI) today confirmed a new compact crossover SUV, the Juke will join a range of Nissan vehicles available in Canada in the fall of 2010. European version of this vehicle a extraordinary elegance will be unveiled to the media on February 10 and will make its first global public appearance at the Auto Show in
Renault-Nissan sign an international exclusivity of 15,000 vehicles contract with Danone
The Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide the food group Danone, with its headquarters in Paris, some 15,000 vehicles, under a contract of fleet renewal in exclusivity. As part of this agreement, which represents a first for the Alliance, the latter equip at least five years the fleet of Danone in 25 countries. Danone has chosen the Renault-Nissan Alliance because of its wide range of products,
F1 attracts 100,000 people in Russia
The first Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia is planned to take place in the city of Sochi in 2014. But the Russian authorities did not wait for the event to measure the popularity of the pinnacle of motorsport discipline since last Sunday, Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes), Giancarlo Fisichella (Ferrari) and Karun Chandhok (Lotus-Renault) took part in a demonstration in the streets of Moscow. In fact
Minister Kent boasts new emission standards for cars
OTTAWA - On the eve of talks in Doha on Climate Change, which will be valid to Canadian policies renewed attention, Ottawa Tuesday unveiled new standards to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. The federal Minister of the Environment Peter Kent, indicates that mimics americaines of emission standards for models to be constructed between 2017 and 2025. It the
Chevrolet Aveo and / or Spark: We'll have two
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Subaru Legacy and Outback PZEV, these unknown
Volkswagen Golf: 30 million copies later
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Team Trump Is Singing from Putin’s Songbook on DNC Hacks
By Rob Garver
Representatives of President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday adopted the same line as the Kremlin with regard to U.S. intelligence agencies’ claim that Russia interfered in the recent presidential election: The assessment of senior U.S. intelligence officials shouldn’t be believed unless they present direct evidence.
With U.S. intelligence agencies all in agreement that the Russian government sponsored the computer hacking of Democratic Party institutions and officials during the 2016 election as part of an effort to help Trump, the Kremlin has offered a blanket denial.
Related: Russia to Obama: Put Up or Shut Up About Hacking the Election
In a conversation with reporters on Friday, Dmitry Peskov, the chief spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, put it this way: “They should either stop talking about that or produce some proof at last. Otherwise, it all begins to look unseemly."
The Trump transition team apparently found that a pretty compelling argument because when they were dispatched to the Sunday talk shows over the weekend, they essentially sang the same tune.
“Where’s the evidence?” demanded Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager, in an appearance on CBS’s Face the Nation. “Why, when CIA officials were invited to a House Intelligence briefing last week did they refuse to go? Instead, they’re talking to the media. That undermines our national security and our intelligence operations.”
Conway was referring to an agency-wide memo from Central Intelligence Agency Director John Brennan that was provided to The Washington Post on Friday. In it he wrote, “Earlier this week, I met separately with FBI [Director] James Comey and DNI Jim Clapper, and there is strong consensus among us on the scope, nature, and intent of Russian interference in our presidential election.”
Related: Trump’s Massive Global Business Footprint Can Subvert US National Security
In general, intelligence agencies of any stripe are reluctant to reveal the evidence they use to draw their conclusions. Their assessments don’t have to be tested in a court of law, so publicizing specific information they have obtained is generally seen as creating an unnecessary risk of revealing their sources and intelligence gathering methods.
President Obama on Friday said that he has demanded a comprehensive report from the Intelligence Community on the Russian hacking and promised that he would make as much information public as practicable.
But that hasn’t satisfied the Trump transition team, which is increasingly given to suggesting the reports of the Kremlin’s interference in the election are simply an effort to delegitimize the President-elect’s victory.
“If the CIA and if director Brennan and others at the top are serious about turning over evidence to we the American people then they should do that,” Conway said.
Related: Trump Train Headed for a Brick Wall in US-Russia Relations
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, in an appearance on Fox News Sunday, took a similar tone.
“If there is this conclusive opinion among all of these intelligence agencies, then they should issue a report or they should stand in front of a camera and make the case," he said. “I think that these guys should be straight with the American people and come out and say it," said Priebus.
Priebus repeatedly insisted that the reports about Russian involvement were all coming from anonymous “third parties” and suggested that until Comey and Clapper themselves say so in public, nobody can be sure that they believe it.
Host Chris Wallace pointed out that the latest news came from the CIA director himself directly reporting his conversations with other senior intelligence officials.
Related: Why the Russia Hacking Scandal Could Cost Trump His Pick for Secretary of State
“Do you think he’s lying?” Wallace asked.
“I don’t think he is,” Priebus answered, in a tone that suggested he was still open to the possibility. “But it sure would be nice to hear from everybody.” He went on to say that the CIA director’s word alone was not enough to give him confidence that he was getting the true assessment of the intelligence community.
To be fair to Team Trump, the conclusions of the U.S. Intelligence Community have not always been correct. The conclusion that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, which led directly to the Iraq war, is the most obvious example. They have also not always been above politics -- the FBI’s COINTELPRO program in the 1960s and 70s was very active in disrupting domestic political movements.
For two of Trump’s most senior advisers to openly suggest that the Intelligence Community could be working to mislead the American people is pretty remarkable. But at this point, it is clear that Conway and Priebus are just representing the perspective of their boss. Trump himself has repeatedly said that he doesn’t believe the findings of the intelligence community and has said that he believes the findings are politically motivated.
Related: Putin Cranks Up Russia’s Cyber Defenses
But the increasingly open war between the intelligence community and the incoming president is, at the very least, completely unprecedented and, in the view of many, dangerous.
In an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Rep. Adam Schiff, the top-ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said, “For the president-elect to continue to give the Russians deniability is deeply damaging to the country. He is doing damage to himself and to his ability to lead the country when he becomes president. We are going to have a national security crisis at some point. It may be very early in the administration or it may be later but it's going to come and he is going to need to rely on the intelligence community.”
Schiff went on to specify that he was referring to the likelihood that, in a crisis, Trump would find himself explaining what he viewed as a necessary response by informing the American people of the findings of the Intelligence Community. That will be hard to do, he said, if Trump continues to characterize its members as political hacks.
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Rob Garver
A longtime reporter on the intersection of the federal government and the private sector, Rob Garver served as a National Correspondent, based in Washington, D.C., for four years. He has written for ProPublica, The New York Times and other publications.
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Maj Gen Ishwar Hamal
Major General Ishwar Hamal, awc, ndu-ctf, psc, MPA, MSS, an alumnus of Nepali Military Academy, was commissioned in 1985 and joined Rajdal Battalion (Field Artillery). Before assuming the responsibility of the Commandant of Army Command and Staff College in January 2019, he was the General Officer Commanding of Mid-Eastern Division HQ.
During his illustrious career, he has completed various courses with distinction from home and abroad. His home courses include Infantry Young Officers' Course, Counter Insurgency and Jungle warfare Course, Company Commander and Staff Course, Para Jump Training, All Arms Field Engineering, Regimental Signal Officers Course, Junior Staff Course, Personal Management Training, Management and Leadership Training, Course on International Humanitarian Law and Disaster management Training.His overseas trainings are Artillery Young Officers' Course, Regimental Survey Course, Regimental Signal Officers' Course and Long Gunnery Staff Course in India; Dynamics of International Terrorism Course, Legal Aspect of Combating Terrorism Course, NESA Strategic Studies Executive Course and Peace and Stability Course in the USA.
Maj Gen Hamal is an eminent scholar. He is a distinguished graduate of Nepali Army Command and Staff College, Shivapuri, Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, USA and US Army War College, Carlisle, USA. He holds Master's degrees in Public Administration from Tribhuvan University and Strategic Studies from US Army War College and counter terrorism fellowship from National Defense University, Washington D.C.
He has a vast experience of serving as a peacekeeper in various United Nations missions. He served as a member of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in 1990 and 2000 and United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in former Yugoslavia in 1994. He has also served in United Nations Peacekeeping Force in United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) in 2006-07 as a Military Observer.
In a distinguished service spanning over 34 years, he successfully completed wide-ranging appointments and assignments. He commanded Gorakh Box independent company (2000-01), Kali Jung Infantry Battalion (2003), Devi Dal Infantry Battalion (2005-06), No 1 Infantry Brigade (2015-16), and Mid-Eastern Div HQ. His important staff appointments include Military Assistant to Chief of Army Staff (2014-15), Military Secretary (2014), Director of Military Operations (2016-17), Chief of Staff of Far-Western Division HQ (2013). He also served as the Commandant of Birendra Peace Operation Training Centre (2011-13). His eminent service earned him prestigious accolades including SUKRITIMAYA RASTRADEEP, SUPRABAL JANASEWA SHREE, PRAKHYAT TRISHAKTI PATTA and PRABAL GORKHA DAKSHIN BAHU.
Maj Gen Hamal is an avid reader, keen sportsman, and a passionate traveller. He is happily married to Mrs Roshani Hamal.
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Gulf Research Program > Grants >
About the Gulf Research Program
Program Initiatives
Other Follow-Up
Understanding Gulf Ocean Systems Grants 1 - Request for Applications (CLOSED)
Key Dates and Information
Awards Available
Total funding available: $10 million
Award duration: Up to 24 months
February 27, 2018:
April 25, 2018, 5:00 pm ET: Applications due (CLOSED)
Award Selection and Notification
RFA Version
1.1 (Issued 02/27/18): Required attachments for the application form were updated to include “Current and Pending Support form”.
Topic: Studies and Observations to Inform the Loop Current Campaign
PDF Version (click to download/view all information about this funding opportunity as a PDF)
The Gulf Research Program seeks to support activities that will supply new observations, analyses, and modeling needed to advance our understanding of Loop Current dynamics for the purpose of improving predictive skills of the Loop Current and associated eddies, referred to as the Loop Current System (LCS). This solicitation is the first of several funding opportunities for a research campaign aimed at improving understanding and prediction skills of the LCS. Proposed observations, analyses, and modeling should specifically address recommendations for near-term activities identified in the consensus report , released in January 2018. These near-term activities can be started or accomplished without extensive planning and are meant to either jumpstart or inform the design of a long-term (10-yr), integrative program.
The LCS is the dominant physical process in Gulf of Mexico waters. Oceanographic parameters within the Gulf basin, from coastal ecosystems to the deep abyss, are affected by the position, and duration at a given position, of the Loop Current and associated eddies. Understanding the dynamics driving the LCS is a significant first step towards achieving a long-term outcome of improved understanding of the complexity of the Gulf of Mexico as a system, which is critical to the Gulf Research Program's vision.
The AffiliateMarketIngtools of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine produce expert consensus reports that identify research needs, opportunities, or challenges for advancing science and ensuring the application of science to address real-world problems. The AffiliateMarketIngtools' 2018 report identifies a suite of complementary observations, analyses, and modeling efforts intended to provide critical information about the LCS to help promote safer offshore operations, better understand the Gulf’s complex oceanographic systems, facilitate disaster response, help protect coastal communities, protect and manage ecological resources, and predict and forecast weather and climate impacts. Expected to take about 10-12 years and cost between $100 million and $125 million, the recommended campaign is intended to increase understanding of the dynamics of the LCS and thereby improve prediction skills of the Loop Current’s behavior.
The report provides 30 recommendations for elements of the research campaign that include both near-term and long-term (decadal length) activities. These activities are divided into observational components, technology enhancements, analyses and theory, and data assimilation and numerical modeling techniques needed to provide critical information about the LCS. The recommendations are intended to help guide future funding investments by the Gulf Research Program of the AffiliateMarketIngtools of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, as well as federal U.S. agencies, Mexican and Cuban oceanographic organizations, industry, research institutions, and other ocean science sponsors.
Applications Sought:
The report identified several specific observations and studies as foundational activities that should start in the near-term while the more comprehensive campaign is being organized. We seek applications for projects that directly respond to specific report recommendations categorized under the headings below. As indicated below, refer to specific recommendations in the report for additional details. If an applicant wishes to respond to more than one of the topic headings below, they must submit an application for each topic separately.
1. High Frequency (HF) Radar (with range capability of ~150-200km): Provide new, real-time data for model assimilation and validation, and to better understand the evolution of the LCS, by procuring, installing, and/or operating for 2 years (with an opportunity for extension of up to another 10 years):
At least three multi-static HF radar systems from fixed platforms in the northeastern most areas of oil and gas operations. (Refer to Recommendation 3)
At least three new HF radar systems covering the general Florida Straits outflow region. (Refer to Recommendation 10)
At least two HF radar systems in the inflow area, one looking north (from the Cozumel Island area) and at least one looking across the inflow from the upper Yucatan Peninsula. (Refer to Recommendation 11)
An applicant can respond to one or more of the above sub-bullets in a single application.
The GRP requires observational data be available widely and publicly; for this reason, we encourage the applicant to collaborate with the IOOS Regional Associations and the NOAA IOOS HF radar Data Assembly Center (DAC) in all installations and operations to ensure established procedure and protocols are followed for integrating quality data into the IOOS system.
2. Pressure and Current Meters: Procure field array of 20 to 25 deep sensors that measure bottom pressure and integrated currents from near bottom to the surface and deploy them in a coherent sub-array for process-understanding and/or feature-mapping in the deep eastern Gulf where the extended Loop Current can be found (generally, 25°-28° North Latitude, 85°-91° West Longitude) for 2 years (with an opportunity for extension of up to another 10 years). It is intended that this field array be extended (during future funding opportunities) with an additional 20 to 25 bottom mounted instruments to complete a laterally correlated ~60 km spacing in the LCS area (25°-28° North Latitude, 85°-91° West Longitude); proposed array designs should be compatible with this longer term recommendation for an expanded array. For this near term observation field program, applications should not include near real-time data retrieval; rather, a data retrieval plan should be proposed that will inform the Gulf Research Program about the value of such observation systems and inform the design of a more fully populated array of instruments for the main decade-long campaign. A separate near-term task (see Topic 6 below) is to examine data communications options that may make near real-time data capture for such instruments affordable. (Refer to Recommendation 6)
3. Mooring Arrays - Campeche Bank, Yucatan Channel, and Florida Straits: Three mooring arrays, currently operated by CICESE (Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada [Center for Scientific Research and Higher Education at Ensenada]), are located in critical areas for better understanding Loop Current dynamics; the arrays are located across the Campeche Bank, across the Yucatan Channel, and across the Florida Straits. The funding for these arrays expires in June of 2018. Three tasks are included as near-term recommendations in association with these existing mooring arrays:
Extend operations of the mooring arrays (including procurement of equipment, as needed) beyond June 2018 (for the next two years, with the opportunity for extension up to an additional 10 years) with appropriate data sharing from the moorings in both Mexico and Cuba.
Establish an agreement to gain access to the ocean dynamics data recovered from these moorings from the time period 2011-to-present.
As appropriate, analyze archived data to explore effects of bathymetry on LCS behavior, inflow analysis, and outflow analysis.
(Refer to Recommendations 8, 9, and 12)
Please note: An applicant can respond to part, one, or more of the above sub-bullets in a single application.
4. Pressure Point Mooring: Procure, deploy, and operate a single-point, real-time, ocean dynamics mooring that, minimally, measures temperature, salinity, and currents at discrete depths for 2 years (with opportunity for extension of up to another 10 years) at the shelf break region, just to the northwest of the Dry Tortugas to confirm times when the Loop Current is driving the West Florida Shelf circulation, a phenomenon hypothesized to also be controlling the Loop Current itself. (Refer to Recommendation 15)
5. Profilers: Procure and operate a new set of ocean dynamics-instrumented profilers (e.g., Argo operated in 0 m) in active areas of the LCS. This recommendation (Recommendation 4) was not designated as a “near-term priority” in the consensus report; however, it is included in this solicitation as a profiler fleet would provide immediate valuable input into the larger campaign development.
6. Communications Network: Determine the feasibility of a data communications network (e.g., acoustics or fiber optics) that might be adopted to gather and/or communicate data from bottom mounted instruments and provide near-real time data to the surface in an affordable manner. Consideration of docking solutions and/or deep acoustic data communication network nodes for interoperability with autonomous surface and/or underwater vehicles in the design is encouraged. (Refer to Recommendations 16, 17 and 19)
7. Data Compilation: Digitally compile, analyze, and make publicly accessible physical oceanographic data from Gulf of Mexico field studies from ~ 2002 to 2017 (refer to Recommendation 27). The objective of this activity is to produce a climatology-like data set to help prioritize the process studies necessary to improve understanding, simulation, and prediction of the LCS. Secondly, the database should inform criteria and constraints useful in design of future field observations and numerical modeling efforts.
Key oceanographic variables include temperature, salinity, conductivity, sea surface height, and current velocity at the ocean surface and throughout the full water-column. Instrument platforms include acoustic Doppler current profilers, single point current meters, ship and air deployed expendable sensors (e.g., expendable bathythermographs [XBT], CTD [conductivity, temperature, and depth], autonomous underwater vehicles, high-frequency radar, underwater buoyancy gliders, Lagrangian drifters, moored current meters, surface buoys, benthic platforms).
The database should conform to standard oceanographic archival practice for formatting and metadata using guidance from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), NOAA IOOS-QARTOD, and other oceanographic data centers. Data sources include but are not limited to federal sources such as BOEM, BSEE, NOAA, as well as the offshore oil and gas industry, academic institutions, the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and other state, local, and federal agencies, and data available from neighboring Gulf nations.
8. Numerical modeling: Review leading federal and academic Gulf prediction systems to test their performance and sensitivity in resolving both surface and subsurface circulation. The analyses should provide valuable insights into physical processes and dynamics of the LCS. For this funding opportunity, the use of available simulations is encouraged to better inform the campaign’s final design of the operational forecast system. Recommendation 22 describes this model comparison activity more fully and presents three notional phases. The goal of this comparison is to determine which features in each model are giving the best results, especially in view of the availability of large sets of data during the immediate post-Deepwater Horizon period.
Application Guidelines:
Responsiveness to consensus report: Applications should directly respond to the recommendations from the report , which are referenced in the "Applications Sought" section above. It is expected that applicants will refer to the consensus recommendations and associated text and fulfill the minimum requirements described therein.
Compatibility: Proposed plans should be compatible with extension and expansion into the planned decadal campaign. This solicitation is in support of 2-year projects; however, many of the observational recommendations are intended to be sustained for an additional 10 years of operation. Observational applications will undergo a mid-term review (after 1 year of operations); successful review may result in an initial extension through a 5-year contract with possibility for a second 5-year extension.
Data management: Applications should include an extensive data management component that, at minimum, meets requirements of the Gulf Research Program's data management policy. In addition, applicants responding to observational components of this RFA should include a plan for releasing data to the public within 6 months of collection, which is an expedited time frame from standard Gulf Research Program data management requirements, or in real-time, as applicable.
Leveraging of Resources: Unlike most other Gulf Research Program grant opportunities, Understanding Gulf Ocean Systems Grants 1 permits leveraging private and public resources in the form of in-kind support. Though not mandatory, applicants are strongly encouraged to leverage available resources, such as talent, equipment*, ship time, computational resources, data management, and/or funding from public or private partners.
*The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has offered to provide in-kind support to Gulf Research Program grantees receiving awards under this opportunity in the form of access to and use of observational equipment that could assist in the activities described in this RFA. Use of the equipment is available at no cost; however, the grantee would be responsible for transportation costs from the BOEM warehouse to the project location and for returning the equipment to BOEM at the conclusion of the project. We encourage applicants to leverage this resource, as appropriate. A catalogue of available equipment can be found here.
Please note: While this particular funding opportunity along with subsequent opportunities related to the decadal campaign are mainly focused on understanding and predicting the LCS, they are also related to and addressing a larger ocean dynamics challenge. Projects funded through these competitions should provide opportunities for scientists studying other Gulf of Mexico oceanographic and resource processes to leverage Gulf Research Program investments, observation systems, and modeling efforts for some of these other broader purposes. Applicants may include collaborative leveraging as long as it does not detract from the main LCS understanding and prediction goals. Such collaborative intentions should be described in the application.
Award Information:
Estimated number of awards: To be determined. Resources made available under this funding opportunity will depend on the quality of applications received and the budgets proposed by successful applicants. The Gulf Research Program reserves the right to select for negotiation all, some, one, or none of the applications received in response to this solicitation.
Award notification: Fall – Winter 2018
The report Understanding and Predicting the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current: Gaps and Recommendations identified several specific observations and studies as activities that should start in the near-term while the more comprehensive campaign is being organized. We seek applications for projects that directly respond to specific report recommendations categorized under the headings below. As indicated below, refer to specific recommendations in the report for additional details. If an applicant wishes to respond to more than one topic, they must submit an application for each topic separately.
Project directors usually initiate applications that are officially submitted by their employing organizations (the applicant). When initiating an application, the project director typically is responsible for ensuring the application meets all the requirements outlined by the Gulf Research Program as well as any requirements set by the employing organizations.
The Gulf Research Program requires applicants to adhere to the following:
Proposed activities that are part of a broader, existing effort or “project” may be eligible if the proposal clearly demonstrates that the funding request is for activities that would not otherwise occur.
Follow-Up currently under consideration for funding from other sources are eligible. If an intent to award letter is issued, the applicant must certify, at that time, that the other funding sources were not obtained.
U.S. organizations (excluding federal agencies) that have a valid federal tax ID number are eligible to apply.
U.S. organizations may partner with international organizations; a U.S. organization must be the applicant, but applicants may include key personnel from, and subawards to, non-U.S. organizations. Please note that legal restrictions may prohibit transactions, including subawards, between U.S. entities and entities within certain foreign countries.
U.S. federal agencies are not eligible to receive GRP funding as applicants or subawardees, although they may be collaborators. Any proposed collaboration with a U.S. federal agency should not involve any transfer of GRP funding to the agency and must be in compliance with all applicable federal statutes and regulations and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine if this requirement is met.
Unlike most other Gulf Research Program grant opportunities, Understanding Gulf Ocean Systems Grants 1 does not have a specified limit to the number of applications an individual may be named on as project director and/or key personnel.
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Copyright © 2019. AffiliateMarketIngtools of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Tag Archives: Women Against Rape
Report: Jail Rapists not Rape Victims, meeting in House of Commons
Posted on June 14, 2017 by BWRAP
Women and families affected by biased rape investigations were joined by supporters in the House of Commons on Tuesday 2nd December to discuss the campaign, led by Women Against Rape (WAR) andBlack Women’s Rape Action Project (BWRAP), against the prosecution and imprisonment of rape survivors.
Hosted by John McDonnell MP, the event – Jail Rapists not Rape Victims – focused on the perverse and harrowing injustices women who report sexual violence are subjected to by the police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
An estimated 85,000 women are raped[1] in England and Wales each year; 90% of reported rape and domestic violence goes unprosecuted. Despite such an appalling record on achieving justice for victims, the legal system has managed to prosecute 109 women for false rape allegations in the past five years. The vast majority of these women are charged with ‘perverting the course of justice’, an offence that carries a maximum life sentence.
As immigration and detention practices grow increasingly severe, and shelters, legal aid, social housing, childcare and income support are restricted and shut down, women are left with few routes to escape sexual and domestic violence. To compound this with the threat of imprisonment and/or the removal of children if women are accused of lying or of being unable to protect their children, effectively leaves women trapped, and allows rapists and other abusers to continue with impunity.
BWRAP and WAR have been challenging this practice for the past seven years, and the evening threw light on the injustices they have uncovered through their campaign. They also mentioned women unable to be with us that evening due to incarceration or, as in the case of Eleanor de Freitas, suicide.
Attendees heard some of the survivors’ stories firsthand. Sandra Allen talked us through the ordeal her daughter, Layla Ibrahim, has faced since she was attacked in 2009. Layla served three years in prison after she reported having been violently attacked by two strangers while on her way home after a night out. Sandra traced how the police’s initial appearance of concern twisted into an investigation of Layla, rather than of her attackers: family members were contacted and told that the police suspected that Layla had inflicted her own injuries, suspects that fitted Layla’s description of the men were not pursued, forensic evidence that supported her story was lost or destroyed. Layla was pressured to drop the charges and told that if she did so she would ‘be dragged through the papers, but not through the courts’. She refused to “confess” to something she hadn’t done. After she served her sentence, one of her suspected attackers was found guilty of raping another woman using similar techniques he had used on Layla.
An appeal against Layla’s conviction is going to the Criminal Cases Review Commission this month. Sandra Allen called for the public to support her daughter’s application so the investigation into the original rape can be reopened and Layla’s name cleared.
Hamish McKenna, whose partner Rhiannon Brooker is serving a three and a half year sentence after reporting rape and domestic violence in a previous relationship, told a similar story. Rhiannon’s decision to speak out was met with persistent mistrust, perverse logic and threats from the police. Her family and friends were investigated; Hamish himself was threatened with being charged for perverting the course of justice should he give evidence in support of Rhiannon. The police even contacted social services in a bid to remove Rhiannon and Hamish’s child, who was still breastfeeding at the time – fortunately social workers saw what a loving family they are.
For Gail Sherwood, a mother of three, reporting her longtime stalker and rapist was met with laughter and suspicion. Gail was placed under surveillance, accused of planning elaborate false attacks on herself, and eventually sent to prison for two years. Whilst serving her sentence, her stalker continued to contact her in prison and since her release he has attacked her again.
We also heard from Verna Joseph, a St Lucian woman trafficked to the UK by a gang who had raped her and forced her to carry drugs into the UK. Despite an expert report submitted to the British court confirming that she had been raped and beaten by the gang and the St Lucia police telling the court that they could not protect her, Verna was sentenced to nine years in prison.
After serving five, she was released and claimed asylum, only to have her claim refused and be sent to Yarl’s Wood Detention Centre. There, on hunger strike protesting racist and sexist abuse from guards and terrible conditions, Verna battled with a series of appeals – she eventually won her release and asylum along with 22 other women from Yarl’s Wood.
Verna has since been raped again whilst staying at a women’s hostel. The man was arrested and put on trial. But during his trial, his only witness was permitted to sit in court while others gave evidence so she could tailor her evidence to discredit Verna’s story. The man was released, and Verna denied justice once again.
A further harrowing account was given by a young woman from Rotherham, who as a teenager had been taken into care and placed with her paedophile uncle. She had never spoken in public before and everyone was moved to tears.
Looking further afield, Professor Lisa Avalos compared how different countries deal with rape. She found that police disbelief, shaming and suspicion toward rape survivors is also common in other Western countries, but that the UK is exceptional in its draconian prosecution policy. She has ‘not found any country that pursues these cases against women rape complainants in the way the UK does. The UK has an unusual approach and I think that approach violates human rights’.
Nigel Richardson, Layla’s and Rhiannon’s solicitor, commented that he had not seen the police investigate any other crime with the dogged, vindictive enthusiasm with which they pursue suspected false rape allegations: digging into women’s pasts to pin stains on their character, threatening friends and family members and concocting elaborate stories in which women violently attacked themselves.
The speakers told us their stories with palpable courage, struggling through the pain of their memories and the indignities they had been forced to suffer to have their truths heard. We were reminded that these cases perpetuate trauma for victims of sexual violence, dragging their experiences long into the future as they suffer the injustices that accompany a criminal record and the pain of not being believed or achieving justice. Amongst speakers and the audience, who often gasped in shock and fury at the details of these women’s stories, there was an atmosphere of care, solidarity and a resolution to move forward. Our host, John McDonnell MP, pledged his ongoing support to the campaign.
The discussion unfolded a commitment to stop these practices, and to connect this struggle to others: one person reminded us of institutionalised abuse of disabled people that went unaddressed; another of police and politicians’ negligence and complicity in widespread child abuse in Rotherham and elsewhere; the galling hypocrisy of police that claim to have neglected rape investigations out of fear of being called racist when they continue to harass, criminalise and sometimes kill people of colour was highlighted; sex workers complained about police turning out en masse to dispossess them in Soho under the guise of tackling sex trafficking while refusing to investigate attacks against them.
As Verna Joseph concluded for us: ‘Everywhere our stories of survival are coming out. We won’t be silenced. We’ll keep on fighting and we will have justice in the end, all of us.’
Help us win justice for rape survivors. Support the campaign to clear Layla Ibrahim’s name.
[1] 2013 Rape Crisis – http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/mythsampfacts2.php
Posted in import from old site, Story | Tagged Black Women's Rape Action Project, False allegations or miscarriages of justice?, Women Against Rape
Rape & Sexual Abuse in Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre
Our report chronicles a regime of predatory sexual abuse (including racist sexual abuse) since it opened and began accepting women and families in 2002. It brings together the many allegations that have been reported to us, with other reports that have appeared in the media. Many of the reports come from All African Women’s Group members some of whom have been centrally involved in protests including successive hunger strikes .
Posted in Asylum from Rape, Campaigns, Hunger Strikes, import from old site, In the Media, Page, Yarl's Wood Detention Centre | Tagged Black Women's Rape Action Project, detention, End the detention of rape survivors, Women Against Rape, Yarl's Wood
Jail Rapists NOT Rape Victims, 2 Dec 2014, House of Commons
Posted on December 14, 2014 by WomenAgainstRape
Women and families affected by biased rape investigations were joined by supporters in the House of Commons on Tuesday 2nd December to discuss the campaign, led by Women Against Rape (WAR) and Black Women’s Rape Action Project (BWRAP), against the prosecution and imprisonment of rape survivors.
Posted in False Allegations, import from old site | Tagged Black Women's Rape Action Project, Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, Layla Ibrahim; false allegations or miscarriages of justice; rhiannon, Women Against Rape
Child Rape in Rotherham: Questions rape survivors, parents and the general public want answers to
Posted on December 2, 2014 by WomenAgainstRape
Submitted to the Home Affairs Committee on 9 September. We have received no substantial reply so far.
The Report by Dr Alexis Jay issued in August 2014, raises more questions than it answers. Unless these questions are asked and answered now, this will amount to a further cover up.
The Report says that over 1,400 girls suffered multiple crimes including: rape, child abduction, threats with guns, being given Class A drugs and alcohol, witness intimidation such as serious injury to themselves and other members of their families. The Report says no councillors or police in the area can say they didn’t know what was going on, following explicit reports by Risky Business to council meetings in 2004 and 2005 naming 50 perpetrators, including names of taxi firms, individual taxi drivers, and takeaways, and addresses where rape took place, yet no concerted action followed for years. Some interviewees told the Report writer they suspected family or business connections with taxi firms, takeaways and hotels where the girls were raped (as Risky Business explicitly named in their reports to Council meetings in 2004 & 5), but police said there was no evidence of this.
Prostitution has been used as an excuse to “blame” these rape victims as involved in “prostitution”, “a lifestyle choice”, being “not blameless”, “undeserving”. Many of these girls were well under 14 when the attacks started, they were victims of the crimes of rape and of paying to have sex with a child. Race and ethnicity were used as an excuse to justify the lack of action against the perpetrators. This presumes that the Pakistani community would stand with rapists rather than victims, which is a blatant piece of racism on the part of the police, the council, the MPs and social services. The Asian community was outraged at the perpetrators and the police and politicians’ protection of the perpetrators. It also presumes that there were no Asian victims; Asian women’s organisations have reported that this is not the case.
The gang rape of children was not investigated and victims were dismissed and even criminalised. This amounts to aiding and abetting rape and all the other violent crimes exposed in this report, which are going on not only in S Yorkshire but all over the UK.
Questions rape survivors and the public want answers to. Given the circumstances described in this report and what has come out from previous reports, it beggars belief that there has been no examination of possible connections, financial or otherwise, between the perpetrators and the police, politicians and social workers who covered for them. Not only all the officers, starting at the top, but all the local councillors and MPs (former MP for the area Denis MacShane was later jailed for fiddling his expenses) and the Home Office must be questioned, and charges brought against those who shielded, enabled, encouraged, organised, profited from or got promoted as a result of this violence against children and their families.
Sex with a child under 13 is rape, there can be no defence of consent. Paying for sex with a child under 16 is illegal.
Why are officers who claimed 12-year-old girls were compliant and consenting to sex with adult men still in the police force? Do they not know what a crime is? Do they not know the difference between the rape of children and sex between consenting adults? Do they not know that sex with a child is rape, and paying children for sex is not prostitution or a lifestyle choice, but rape? Why is the public paying police as law enforcers when they don’t apply the law?
Police aided and abetted the widespread rape of children. This is a crime. Why have no officers been arrested and prosecuted for this? The Select Committee heard evidence in private from a Home Office researcher who feared for her life after two police officers visited her and threatened to pass her name to the groomers. Who were these officers and whose orders were they acting on?
What other illegality are they engaged in or protecting?
How was other reported rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and other child abuse dealt with while this was going on? How many rapes were no crimed? How many victims were pressurized into withdrawing or retracting their allegations? How many were even prosecuted for reporting rape on the pretext that they were lying?
What are the police doing instead of protecting the public from rape, child abuse and murder?
Victims were themselves charged and prosecuted. Loved ones who tried to protect them were dismissed and even arrested.
Who are the officers who arrested the girls and their loved ones instead of their perpetrators? Will they be arrested and prosecuted for perverting the course of justice?
Police provided no protection for the girls who came forward. Even worse they seem to have told the perpetrators about them.
Which police officers leaked to a perpetrator that one girl was about to make a statement about him having broken her brother’s legs? How else would he know that his victim was at that moment in the police station? This information enabled him to text her that he had abducted her 11 year old sister in order to intimidate her into not reporting. Why wasn’t he prosecuted for intimidating a witness – a serious crime?
Dr Jay’s report says police disbelieved the first report as exaggerated: Were police asked why they disbelieved it? Were they asked to look into it anyway? Did they say they disbelieved it in order to ignore it?
Why were police on the side of the criminals rather than their victims? Is it just prejudice against children, especially those in care? Or did they have something to gain?
What is the relationship between the officers and these criminals? What did the police have to gain by not arresting them? Were officers paid or afforded favours to keep quiet about this? A charity named one officer in written evidence to the Select Committee who was taking bribes from groomers in return for information. Is he being investigated? Are others? Were officers who allowed these rapes to continue promoted? How many?
What is the connection of the officers, both those in charge or those on the ground, with the perpetrators? Was money passing hands?
Some perpetrators were given cautions – meaning they admitted their crimes. Whose decision was it to give perpetrators a caution?
Why have they not been rearrested for subsequent crimes and given a more appropriate punishment? Are the police claiming they have not done anything criminal since they were cautioned?
Which of the so called ‘ring leaders’ have since been prosecuted and for what?
Are those not deemed to be ‘ring leaders’ allowed to carry on with impunity or will they be prosecuted as well?
Who allowed police and children’s services to dramatically reduce the number of girls being monitored, and why was nobody challenged about the tiny numbers of girls being identified as at risk of sexual exploitation?
Have the ‘senior investigating police’ been asked to justify their ‘adamant’ refusal to link the alleged ‘honour killing’ of Child S with what they considered ‘totally unrelated …. other local violence against girls’? Who were the men she was said to have had sex with? Were they connected to the grooming of her sister or any of the other girls?
Why didn’t Risky Business go public and alert the Home Office or a government body or go to the media to blow the racket open?
The presumption is that the Asian community would stand with rapists against their victims, which is a blatant piece of racism. Asian women’s organisations have said that Asian girls were also victims. How many? Did any come forward and were they treated any better than the white victims? Is this being investigated now?
The presumption that criminals who are Asian are immune is not credible. How many Asian men were stopped and searched, much of it illegally, over this period?
How much are senior officers determining the priorities for investigation of suspected crimes of their juniors and monitoring what was being done?
Were any police whistleblowers punished or sacked for objecting to this cover up of illegality?
Why didn’t the police know the difference between rape, which is a crime, and prostitution among consenting adults which is not? How widespread is this gross ignorance among police forces?
Crown Prosecution Service
The Report says that the employees of the CPS dealing with CSE before 2010 have now retired. Why should this prevent an investigation? Will they be arrested and questioned?
Why are prosecutors who protect criminals allowed to retire on a pension instead of a jail sentence? Will the connection between CPS and perpetrators, direct or indirect, be scrutinised now?
CPS closed many of the cases because ‘they used rape myths against the victims’. What is being done about this now? Will these cases be re-opened?
Why did it take nine months in one case (as the Report says) for the CPS to make a decision to take no further action against one of the perpetrators? Will this case be re-opened now?
Police and Crime Commissioner
He was aware of the scale of rape and other crime from at least 2005 as the Lead Member for Children and Young People (2005-2010).Why isn’t former South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright being investigated for criminal activities?
Rotherham council – a racket/mafia?
The Report says no councillors or police in the area can say they didn’t know what was going on. Risky Business reported on suspected family or business connections between politicians and perpetrators.
The report refers to rumours that some councillors are related to some of the perpetrators. That is easy to establish. Which ones?
The media has highlighted that ex Deputy Leader Jahangir Akhtar’s cousin was named in Jay’s report as a ‘boyfriend’ of up to 18 underage abuse victims. His son Tanveer is a constable serving in South Yorkshire Police. Cllr Shankat Asli has a relative serving 22 years in prison for flooding the area with ecstasy.
Are there others? What is the connection between councillors and perpetrators? Was money passing hands?
Did the police investigate these allegations? Is this being investigated now?
Why were no minutes kept in 2005, when the present council leader [Roger Stone] chaired a group to ‘take forward’ the above issues raised by Risky Business? Is there no legal requirement to keep minutes of council meetings? Is he being investigated now?
Council Leader in 2006 Roger Stone told a Tory councillor not to publicly raise concerns raised by his constituents about child exploitation, and that they were being dealt with by police. He has now resigned.Will his pension be withdrawn? Will he be investigated?
How can care workers not intervene and stop this mass rape? Isn’t the public paying them to care? Why didn’t they blow the whistle, for example say publicly that the refusal of police to prosecute sexual abuse of girls in their care is making their job impossible?
Why are social workers now not demanding the prosecution of the rapists and the professionals who covered for them?
Some girls have complained that their babies have been taken into care.Why are social services punitively removing babies from young vulnerable women rather than offering them the support and resources they need to care for their children?
Why when the HO was informed did no one take any action?
Children’s Charities
There are many big children’s charities in England: ChildLine, Barnardos, Save the Children, Children’s Society, National Children’s Bureau, Children in Need –
Did they know? If not, why not? If yes, what did they do?If they didn’t do anything, why not?
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection, import from old site | Tagged Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, Rotherham, Women Against Rape
Evidence to Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women From Women Against Rape
We believe the UK government is flouting its obligations under CEDAW, and future obligations under the Istanbul Convention in relation to Violence Against Women.
1. Refusal to prosecute rapists including violent partners
“In the 12 months to March 2013 there were about 10,000 recorded rapes of adults in England and Wales, and about 6,000 recorded rapes of children.
“Only 1,820 (18%) of those recorded rape allegations led to a ‘sanction detection’ in which an offender was charged or cautioned for the offence, and 1,423 (12%) of cases were ‘no crimed’1.”
It is disingenuous of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to claim a 60% conviction rate – they are only looking at the cases taken to court. The majority of cases are closed either by police or CPS without ever being taken to court, resulting in a 6.7% conviction rate of reported rapes. (If unreported rapes, the overwhelming majority, were taken into account, the conviction rate would be even lower.)
Recently, public shock at media headlines exposing serial rapists left unprosecuted for decades, have added to the pressure put by survivors and their organisations on the prosecuting authorities to change. They were found to have been dismissive and prejudiced, even threatening rape victims with prosecution to shut them up. Young girls in particular, raped by celebrities such as Jimmy Savile, or by groups of adult men, in many towns and cities, such as Oxford and Rochdale were treated appallingly by police, social services and the CPS. Care homes, churches and public schools have been exposed for harbouring sex offenders among their staff, who abused their position of authority, raping girls and boys for years with impunity. This has been acknowledged in the national media as the authorities’ “widespread complicity in sexual abuse2“.
What is being done to change this?
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has investigated London’s specialist Sapphire rape units nine times in seven years – that is 19 officers disciplined, three dismissed, one imprisoned for fraudulently closing rape cases and another under investigation.
Last February an IPCC report revealed the Southwark (London) police policy to press women to withdraw or retract rape allegations. This “local standard operating procedure”, authorised by senior officers, increased the number of incidents that were classified as “no crime” and therefore increased the sanction detection rates for the unit by 25%-30%3.
This was also policy in five other London boroughs4.
In November, the Public Administration Select Committee heard evidence from a police whistleblower PC James Patrick, who exposed widespread police pressure on women to retract. Like rapists, they targeted the most vulnerable victims.
The IPCC further revealed that two senior officers involved in the case of serial sex offender Kirk Reid5 (thought to have assaulted between 80 and 100 women) were promoted, rather than disciplined6 . In our own case, taken to the IPPC and then to court by a girl raped in Southwark when she was 15 years old, the police commander who had prioritised car crime over rape investigations was also promoted (more details below).
In 2009 and 2012 we met the heads of Sapphire. We demanded they stop promoting bad officers as this set the tone for rape investigations and discouraged those officers who wanted to do a good job. We also opposed their proposal to prosecute rapists for offences other than rape and sexual assault – a way of downgrading sexual violence while using the reports of distressed victims to gather intelligence on unrelated matters.
Since more than half the rapes reported in London are by partners or ex-partners, we highlighted the police separation of rape from domestic violence as a major obstacle to getting convictions. Different units deal with rape and domestic violence, so the full picture of the violence suffered by the majority of victims remains hidden – as a result cases are dropped and prosecutions fail.
Two women a week are killed by partners or ex-partners. Despite police refusal to act in at least 50 murders investigated by the IPCC over six years, only one police officer has lost his job for negligence.
The 6 month time limit for bringing charges of common assault is routinely used by police and CPS not to prosecute domestic violence attackers. This limit should be dropped, but also charges of aggravated assault or grievous bodily harm rather than just common assault should be used more often in domestic violence cases. That they are not reflects the sexism, laziness and incompetence of the authorities in gathering relevant evidence such as medical records and witness statements, and providing adequate protection to the victim. We are working with a local woman left disabled after years of domestic violence who is taking legal action on this very point. She speaks for thousands.
Like many in positions of power, the police seem to resent accountability. They have responded to the demands of survivors and campaigners like ourselves by improving their PR rather than their performance, and drawing in the voluntary sector. Most rape service organisations (statutory or voluntary) are now funded by the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice, or the police. Not surprisingly they have become less critical, repeating the police mantra that ‘things have improved’ even in the face of much evidence of a worsening situation. How can they be trusted to be independent when their funding is not?
Recent research by Professor Betsy Stanko, Head of the Strategy, Research and Analysis Unit, Strategy and Improvement Department, Directorate of Resources at the Metropolitan Police, documents that women are targeted for rape who are from vulnerable sectors of society, although there are sectors she has overlooked. Stanko acknowledges that girls under 16, women raped by partners, those with mental health problems and those who were drinking are among the most commonly raped and least likely to get justice. In our experience race, immigration status and nationality also make women targets for violence and are used by police and CPS to deny justice to the victims. Those of us who are women of colour and have been attacked have experienced:
• police going after our Black partner or brother, rather than the white man reported as violent, sometimes a racist neighbour;
• racist personal comments from the police such as ‘why don’t you do your hair nicer?’;
• questions about our immigration status; one woman was wrongly accused of having a false identity;
• police suspecting the rape victim is lying, involved in crime, or has some suspicious motive other than trying to bring her attacker to justice.
Ineffective CPS prosecutors and biased judges give the appearance that the defence has too many rights; but it is the prosecutors and the judges who need to protect witnesses from irrelevant and cruel questioning, which is standard practice in rape trials. For example, several women in our network raped in their teens were accused in court of making it up to seek attention because their father had recently passed away. Others who were victims of domestic violence had their reports of violence used against them in court because the police had not acted on them or because the unprotected victim had withdrawn for fear of repercussions. All this ought to have been stopped – it was aimed only at discrediting the victim implying she is unreliable or liable to make things up. But CPS and judges routinely allow irrelevant “evidence” to be brought up or pursued beyond any reasonable limit.
Police must stop promoting bad officers as this sets the tone for rape investigations and discourages those officers who want to do a good job. More robust punishment is needed against officers who don’t implement the law: they should be taken off rape investigations, sacked and/or prosecuted if they break the law. If they are not held to account, nothing will change.
End the Metropolitan Police strategy of prosecuting rapists for offences other than rape and sexual assault – a way of downgrading sexual violence while using the reports of distressed victims to gather intelligence on unrelated matters.
The police must end their separation of rape from domestic violence. Domestic rape and sexual assault should be investigated as one case and all charges brought to bear.
Prosecutors and judges must protect witnesses from irrelevant and cruel questioning by the defence. This is their job and responsibility; if they exercised it more often, defence lawyers would soon learn that new boundaries for cross examination have been set.
End the 6 month time limit for bringing charges of common assault in cases of domestic violence; it is routinely used not to prosecute violent partners and ex-partners, and it enables sexist or lazy police to drag their feet during investigations until it is too late to bring charges.
Apply charges of aggravated assault or grievous bodily harm more often in domestic violence incidents.
2. The law continues to allow irrelevant sexual history questioning
In 1997-99 we campaigned for a ban on victims being questioned on their sexual history with men other than the accused. How many people a woman may have had sex with or what kind of sex she had with them is not relevant to whether or not she consented to sex with the accused. The new law did not make a distinction between sex with the accused and sex with others. And it did not ban sexual history questions if the man ‘believed’ the woman consented. Given that this is the most common defence (except for the rare cases where the identity of the accused is in doubt), the protection afforded to victims is more apparent than real as judges continue to allow irrelevant and highly prejudicial questioning.
Recommendation: Don’t allow the defence to ask sexual history questions on the pretext that the man ‘believed’ the woman consented.
3. False allegations or miscarriages of justice?
Victims who retract allegations can face prosecution and the UK is particularly punitive compared to other countries. Layla Ibrahim and Gail Sherwood were both prosecuted in 2010 (as were at least 30 others). Both said they were pressed to retract under threat of prosecution. One did retract, the other refused. Both were imprisoned.
We have been campaigning for seven years against prosecution of women reporting rape or sexual assault. 27 organisations signed our 2011 letter to the Director of Public Prosecutions. He responded with guidance: the CPS should not routinely prosecute women with mental illness, girls under 18 or victims of domestic violence. But he refused to acknowledge that biased and negligent investigations are resulting in jail for rape victims rather than rapists.
• “Sarah” was jailed in 2010 after reporting her husband, despite the police and CPS knowing that he had raped her. She retracted her claim under pressure from him and his family – the authorities then prosecuted her for making a “false retraction”. After a public outcry her sentence was quashed but not her conviction – she, not her violent husband, has the criminal record. She has applied to the European Court of Human Rights to overturn her conviction.
• A teenager who came to WAR in 2012 faced prosecution because forensic tests did not corroborate her account. Her formal complaint resulted in reinvestigation by another force – new tests found semen where the first police team claimed there was none; charges against her were withdrawn, the rape prosecution was reinstated and the rapist was jailed for five years. Had she not come to us, she would have been prosecuted and even jailed.
• Another young woman we helped was put on trial in 2013 for a so-called false report of rape. The case was thrown out by the Crown Court Judge, who expressed outrage at the lack of evidence against her. She hadn’t even reported rape, only that she awoke in bed with a soldier in a hotel after she suspected she had been drugged to the point where she did not know what happened to her and whether she had been assaulted. The CPS took the case to Appeal, wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money, where it was thrown out again.
This malicious prosecution directly contradicts a police advice leaflet for victims, which says: ‘You can’t remember what happened to you so how can you tell us? This situation does happen. If you or anyone you know are worried or anxious and you think something may have happened to you, you can go to any police station.’
WAR did collaborative research7 with Lisa Avalos, Law Professor at the University of Arkansas, comparing prosecutions of women for alleged lying in the US and UK. We documented three US cases where women were accused of lying about rape and prosecuted – their rapists were later identified and brought to justice, vindicating the women.
Prosecuting women for false allegations distorts the priorities of the police and CPS – they are constantly suspicious that a woman may be lying and therefore less likely to conduct a thorough investigation of the original rape complaint. Prof. Avalos has called for UK police to implement the IACP Guidelines for investigating rape.
Women who do not report attacks are increasingly telling us they worried about being disbelieved but also about being prosecuted instead of their attacker. So while police publicly claim they want victims to come forward, they discourage them from doing so and even punish those who do.
Stop prosecuting women accused of lying about rape.
Police to carry out a thorough investigation into every report of rape.
4. Women are unable to report domestic violence to police or doctors for fear of social services taking their children from them
Domestic violence is commonly used to take children away from their mothers, even if the violence is in the past and the violent partner is no longer a threat. The charity Family Rights Group (FRG), has said: “Our data tells us … that the state’s way of dealing with domestic violence is often to end up with a child being made subject to child protection plans.” The FRG report documents8 that domestic violence – not parental mental illness, drugs or alcohol – is now the main reason children are taken from their mothers.
Similarly the Association for Improvements in the Maternity Services (AIMS) said in 2013 evidence to NICE for draft guidance on Domestic Violence that “admissions of domestic violence, past and present, result in an automatic referral to social services . . .” In AIMS’ letter to the Dept of Health’s Sir Liam Donaldson in 2007, they said “Ironically, the basic, simple help or real support families would like, is unavailable because resources are lacking, and that is not the focus of social work activity . . . Women who are suffering domestic violence are continuing to conceal it . . . Since we have seen cases of babies removed from such women, even after they have left their violent partners and are coping well, we are not surprised.”
Many organisations agree that punitive social workers are preventing women from reporting DV to police or to doctors for fear of losing their children. Social workers don’t seem to care that to separate a child from her or his mother is violence against the child as well as the mother with lifelong consequences for the child. We call this forced separation of child from mother STATE CHILD ABUSE.
This sadistic punishing of victims for the violence they suffered puts both child and mother in danger. If mothers cannot report attacks for fear of losing their children, they will not be able to get out of the situation and the life-threatening torture will continue.
Stop using domestic violence as a reason to take children from their mothers.
Prioritise the rights of the child to stay with the mother or extended family and halt the rush to adoption by strangers.
Give mothers the help and support they need in order to keep their children, rather than take a punitive approach.
5. Legal Aid reform is preventing women holding the authorities to account
The cuts in legal aid remove access to legal representation for everyone with low or modest income. In response to the cuts and the introduction of competitive tendering the best law firms are closing.
For years the police had immunity from being sued [civil] for negligent investigations. However, under the Human Rights Act, rape victims are beginning to take the police and CPS to court for failure to protect them from rape, domestic violence, trafficking and domestic slavery. WAR supported several such cases which will be no longer possible due to legal aid cuts. For example, in 2013 in a landmark human rights case, the daughter of a Women Against Rape volunteer won compensation from the police, following seven years of campaigning, after Southwark Sapphire lost evidence of the rape. The rapist was acquitted; we later learned he had been accused of another rape. A damning IPCC report found that all Sapphire detectives had been transferred, to prioritise motor crime over rape. Four junior officers were disciplined. But the commander who set the policy refused to be interviewed by the IPCC and went on to the National Centre for Policing Excellence.
Similarly, two victims of serial rapist John Warboys have won the right to compensation under the Act for injury they suffered from the police refusal to investigate.
Victims of rape will now be denied legal aid to get a decision judicially reviewed if a prosecution is prematurely closed.
Victims of domestic violence who didn’t report to the violence to the police or their doctor, or stay in a refuge, or have a protective injunction will also be denied legal aid.
Recommendation: Stop cuts to Legal Aid and lower the savings limit so that more people can get it.
6. Welfare Reform – massive cuts are closing our escape routes out of violence
Women, and particularly mothers, depend on welfare benefits to escape from violence as they allow for basic survival and time for recovery – for the mother as well as the traumatised children who need their mother’s presence and reassurance. Government “welfare reform” has slashed benefits, trapping women and children with violent men, and impoverishing women and children who do escape.
• Mothers of children over age five, and single women, are allowed only a three-month respite from job seeking conditions, and are sanctioned with a cut in benefit if they miss appointments.
• Crisis Loans and the Social Fund have been abolished. Many women relied on such funds to set up a new home. Local councils refuse many applications for cash help as these are discretionary.
• Traumatised rape survivors and refugee women recovering from appalling injuries, are found “fit to work” by Atos, the company in charge of applying the work capability test on those who apply for sickness benefit.
• The Benefit Cap limits a family’s total benefits to £500 a week (including housing benefit and child benefit). Mothers and children are being left with nothing after rent is paid. Rents, especially in London, are extortionate even for social housing. As a result thousands of families have already been forced out of London, away from relatives and other protective networks.
A legal challenge was brought by a number of single mother families, two of them fleeing domestic violence. Their solicitor Rebekah Carrier described the Cap as “catastrophic, cruel and arbitrary” and WAR petitioned to end it. An Early Day Motion is circulating among Members of Parliament. The Children’s Society said that 2/3 of those who will be affected are children. Despite all this, the court ruled that the Benefit Cap was legal. The legal challenge is now being taken to the Supreme Court.
Families are being left with no money for food or heating (emergency payments from the local authority are discretionary and short-term) – this in itself is a justification for children to be taken into care. Many refuges and hostels are not exempt from the Cap, so will not accept women unable to pay their high rents.
Single women escaping domestic violence are also hit by the Benefit Cap, which is £350 for a single person. As a result, there is immense pressure to stay with or return to violent men despite the risk of being injured or even murdered.
Recommendation: End the benefit cap and other welfare reform as it harms victims of violence.
7. Criminalisation of sex workers and clients make women more vulnerable to violence
We strongly oppose the blurring of the distinction between consenting sex and rape. It allows for silencing and manipulation of so called victims by people in authority who have their own political agendas.
We oppose the characterisation of sex work as violence against women. It assumes that sex workers cannot tell the difference between rape and consenting sex, and that someone else is better qualified to say what ‘protection’ they need. Criminalisation flies in the face of the anti-rape movement fighting for every woman’s right to determine what she consents to.
In December, over 200 police officers in riot gear accompanied by the media raided sex workers’ flats in Soho, London. The police action has been criticised by sex workers and local people, including the parish priest as unfair, dangerous and unlawful. While the police originally claimed they were acting to protect vulnerable women from rape and trafficking (one of whom they forced into the street in just her underwear), they later admitted that they found no victims of rape or trafficking. Their justification then changed to clamping down on harbouring stolen goods.
Actor Rupert Everett described the raid and flat closures as a ‘land grab’ for a multi-million pound development to gentrify the area.
How can police so short of officers to thoroughly investigate the rapes, sexual assaults and domestic violence that are reported to them, afford to put huge resources into cracking down on sex between consenting adults? Why are they acting for property developers rather than rape victims?
Senior police officers have publicly stated that: “[police] operations to tackle the trade are ‘counterproductive’ and likely to put the lives of women at risk9.”
According to the English Collective of Prostitutes, which supported the women throughout the raids and legal actions, Soho is the safest place in London for sex workers, in part because the women have the support of the local community. Evidence shows it is 10 times safer to work in premises than on the street, especially when working with another woman present10.
Why are the police assuming these sex workers are trafficked? Anti-trafficking enforcement actions have been shown to be punitive to victims, leading to deportation back to their country of origin. They have acted as immigration controls dressed up as safety measures. If the authorities want to stop trafficking, as we do, they need to prosecute genuine traffickers, while safeguarding and supporting victims. The “no recourse to public funds” rule works against victims who need emergency accommodation and money to live on.
We defended a victim of rape in civil war in Uganda who was made to have sex with men by the woman who brought her to the UK, who kept the money they paid. Evidence provided by Freedom from Torture and ourselves about the impact of what this victim had endured in Uganda was used by the immigration authorities against her. UKBA claimed that she was traumatised by the violence in Uganda not by the violence in the UK. So although her account of trafficking was accepted, she was considered no longer a victim of it. As a result her case to remain in the UK was refused on those grounds and she is still fighting for asylum.
As a member of the Safety First Coalition, set up after the murders of five sex workers in Ipswich, we oppose the criminalisation of clients. By driving prostitution further underground it deters women from reporting rapists and other violent men. Sex workers say the police must go after the men they have reported, not those they have not.
We have met representatives of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective and they have shown us evidence that sex workers are safer since prostitution was decriminalised there. It is galling that the UK government had not been interested in such evidence, preferring to press ahead with criminalisation.
The decriminalisation of prostitution for safety’s sake.
An end to raids, arrests and prosecutions of sex workers which all push women into danger.
An end to the use of trafficking legislation to arrest and deport immigrant sex workers rather than protect genuine victims.
28 March 2014, Women Against Rape
Contact WAR at: Crossroads Women’s Centre, 25 Wolsey Mews, London NW5 2DX.
Tel 020 7482 2496 war@womenagainstrape.net www.womenagainstrape.net
This evidence was previously submitted to the Joint Select Human Rights Committee Inquiry into Violence Against Women and Girls (UK)
1. “Police ‘culture of disbelief’ over rape claims alarms official monitoring group”, Alan Travis, The Guardian, 31 January 2014.
2. The Guardian editorial, 14 February 2014.
3. See www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/ipcc-finds-failings-working-practices-southwark-sap…
4. “Police failed to investigate sex attacks across six London boroughs A man accused of rape was allowed to walk free and kill two children as a result of a policy to manipulate crime statistics.” Vikram Dodd, The Guardian, 26 February 2013. www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/feb/26/police-failed-investigate-sex-attacks
5. “Metropolitan police facing crisis after failures in Kirk Reid rape inquiry”, Sandra Laville, The Guardian, 27 March 2009. http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/27/metropolitan-police-rape-inquiry
6. Sex crime: Yard attacked over failures in serial offender probe, with officers later promoted to top jobs, Margaret Davis, The Independent, 26 February 2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/sex-crime-yard-attacked-over-…
7. “False Reports of Sexual Assault: Findings on Police Practices, Laws, and Advocacy Options”. See the research at http://womenagainstrape.net/sites/default/files/final_paper_for_war_9-23…
8. http://www.frg.org.uk/images/Policy_Papers/report-about-advice-service-2007-2013.pdf
9. Chris Armitt, national police lead on prostitution and Martin Hewitt, ACPO lead on sexual offences, quoted in “Mariana Popa was killed working as a prostitute. Are the police to blame?” The Guardian 19 January 2014.
10. Hilary Kinnel, Prostitutes’ Exposure to Rape, June 1993.
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection, import from old site | Tagged Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, UN, Women Against Rape
Read more: key points from Dr Jay’s report
Posted on August 24, 2014 by WomenAgainstRape
A Summary of issues raised in the ‘Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997 – 2013)’ by Dr Alexis Jay, issued in August 2014.
Download a pdf of the full Report here
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham (1997 – 2013)
Good Press report in the Telegraph
This striking report is a breakthrough but leaves many questions unanswered. See WAR’s Questions to the Home Affairs Committee.
Refusal to Investigate and Prosecute
The Report says that over 1,400 girls suffered multiple crimes including: rape, child abduction, threats with guns, being given Class A drugs and alcohol, witness intimidation such as serious injury to themselves and other members of their families. This has been known by council social services and police since at least 2004, perhaps even since the late 1990s.
“At an operational level, the police gave no priority to CSE [child sexual exploitation], regarding many child victims with contempt and failing to act on their abuse as a crime.
“Further stark evidence came in 2002, 2003 and 2006 with three reports known to the police and the council, which could not have been clearer in their description of the situation in Rotherham. The first of these reports was effectively suppressed because some senior officers disbelieved the data it contained. This had led to suggestions of cover-up. The other two reports set out the links between child sexual exploitation and drugs, guns and criminality in the borough. These reports were ignored and no action was taken to deal with the issues that were identified in them.”
No councillors or police in the area can say they didn’t know what was going on, following explicit reports by Risky Business to council meetings in 2004 and 2005 naming 50 perpetrators, including names of taxi firms, individual taxi drivers, and takeaways, and addresses where rape took place, yet no concerted action followed for years. Some interviewees told the Report writer they suspected family or business connections with taxi firms, takeaways and hotels where the girls were raped, but police said there was no evidence of this.
The Director of Education 2001-2005 raised concerns with police three times, after the heads of three schools had told her of girls being picked up at the school gates by taxi drivers for abuse. “Police watched the schools in unmarked cars but the problem persisted.” “… she described how she was shown a map of the north of England overlaid with various crime networks including ‘Drugs’, ‘Guns’, and ‘Murder’. She was told that the Police were only interested in putting resources into catching ‘the ring leaders’ who perpetrated these crimes”. . . “if they were caught, her local problems would cease.” (pp 103-4)
The police and children’s services dramatically reduced the number of girls being monitored so that only tiny numbers of girls were identified as at risk of sexual exploitation. “The Police reason for removing several girls from monitoring was they were pregnant or had given birth. All looked after children were removed from the list.” Risky Business challenged this decision. (pp 104-5)
“…Between 2007-2013, the Police undertook a series of operations, jointly coordinated and designed to investigate cases of suspected child sexual exploitation, although only one resulted in prosecution and convictions … It ended in 2010 with 5 convictions.” (p 4)
“…Operation Chard in 2011 led to abduction notices and 11 arrests but no convictions.”
Child S, aged 17, was murdered – police dismissed it as an unconnected ‘honour killing’ by her boyfriend jealous of her having sex with other men. He was convicted. Her sister had been in care and was known to have been groomed.
The Report says that the employees of the CPS dealing with CSE before 2010 have now retired.
CPS closed many of the cases because ‘they used rape myths against the victims’.
It took nine months in one case for the CPS to make a decision to take no further action against one of the perpetrators.
Rotherham councillors
No minutes were kept in 2005, when Council Leader Roger Stone chaired a group to ‘take forward’ the above issues raised by Risky Business.
Council Leader in 2006 Roger Stone told a Tory councillor not to publicly raise concerns raised by his constituents about child exploitation, and that they were being dealt with by police.
PCC Shaun Wright was aware of the scale of rape and other crime from at least 2005 as the Lead Member for Children and Young People (2005-2010).
A question of priorities
A lot of the girls were in care; why is their safety considered worth less than others?
Prostitution has been used as an excuse to ‘blame’ these rape victims by claiming it was a ‘lifestyle choice’. But many of the girls were under aged 14 at the time, and were victims of rape or paying for sex with an underage girl. When they tried to get help from police, social workers or others in authority, they were not only denied help but criminalised, as were loved ones who tried to get the rapes to stop.
Race and ethnicity were used as an excuse to justify the lack of action against the perpetrators. The Report repeats claims that the authorities feared accusations of racism if they took action. This presumes that the Asian community would stand with rapists rather than victims, which is a blatant piece of racism by the police, the council, politicians and social services. The Asian community was outraged by the perpetrators and the way victims were treated.
Since the Report was published Asian women and girls have publicly stated that Asian girls were also being raped by adults.
What were the police doing instead of investigating and arresting child rapists? S Yorkshire is the same police force found to have been acting illegally at Orgreave during the miners’ strike (1984-5) and Hillsborough.
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection | Tagged Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, police, Rotherham, Women Against Rape
Protest against rape and racism on the day of sentencing the Oxford rapists, Old Bailey, London, 26 June 2013
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection, import from old site | Tagged Black Women's Rape Action Project, Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, Oxford; Rochdale; police; CPS; children; justice; racism, Women Against Rape
Why do the police deal with rape cases so badly? Lisa Longstaff in the Guardian
Their record in rape cases is abysmal – and they seem to resent accountability, preferring to improve PR rather than performance
Lisa Longstaff
theguardian.com, Monday 4 March 2013 09.00 GMT
Allegations of sexual violence and cover-up are threatening every institution. Can rape be dealt with when so many in authority are themselves guilty? Of course it can. But first the police, charged with enforcing the law, must change.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has investigated London’s Sapphire rape units nine times in seven years – that’s 19 officers disciplined, three dismissed, one imprisoned for fraudulently closing rape cases and another under investigation.
The latest IPCC report reveals the Southwark police policy to press women to withdraw or retract rape allegations. “This local standard operating procedure, authorised by senior officers, increased the number of incidents that were classified as ‘no crime’ and therefore increased the sanction detection rates for the unit” (by 25%-30%).
This was also policy in five other London boroughs. Fiddling the figures is fraud, and enabling rapists to go free amounts to criminal conspiracy. How many of the victims denied protection were raped again or worse? We already know that one alleged attacker killed his children. Were other women raped by these men? Did any victims denied justice take their own lives?
Further, victims who retract allegations can face prosecution. Layla Ibrahim and Gail Sherwood were both prosecuted in 2010 (as were at least 30 others). Both said they were pressed to retract under threat of prosecution. One did, the other refused. Both were imprisoned.
We have been campaigning against the prosecution of women who report rape. In 2011, 27 organisations signed our letter to the director of public prosecutions. He responded with guidance: the CPS should not prosecute women with mental illness, girls under 18 or victims of domestic violence. But he refused to acknowledge that negligent and biased investigations can result in jail for rape victims rather than rapists.
We are working with three women facing criminal charges. Several others were prosecuted for harassment after their rapists made counter allegations and were believed. Sex workers who reported violence were also prosecuted.
Last year, in a landmark human rights case, the daughter of a Women Against Rape volunteer won compensation from the police, following seven years of campaigning, after Southwark Sapphire lost evidence of the rape. The rapist was acquitted; we later learned he had been accused of another rape. A damning IPCC report found that Sapphire detectives were told to prioritise motor crime over rape. Four junior officers were disciplined. But the commander who set the policy went on to the National Centre for Policing Excellence – setting standards.
The IPCC now reveals that two senior officers involved in the case of serial sex offender Kirk Reid (who is thought to have assaulted between 80 and 100 women) were promoted, rather than disciplined. One later retired on full pension.
In 2009 and 2012 we met the heads of Sapphire. We demanded they stop promoting bad officers, and opposed their proposal to prosecute rapists for offences other than rape. We later wrote to DCI Duthie: “…resources will be diverted into gathering ‘intelligence’ for less serious crimes, avoiding a thorough investigation of the sexual violence allegations … Is it to do with officers having their own agenda rather than paying attention to what the victim reports?” We warned that “police priorities would again be skewed, the myth that rape is difficult to prosecute reinforced, and thus that there is no point investing too much into investigating it”.
We pointed to the separation of rape from domestic violence as a major obstacle, since more than half the rapes reported in London are by partners or ex-partners. Different units deal with each crime, so the full picture is hidden – cases are dropped or prosecutions fail.
Why do the police deal with rape so badly? Some are rapists themselves – a 2012 IPCC report, produced with the co-operation of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), looked at 54 accusations of sexual assault against officers. Some are sexist – a 2005 Home Office study revealed that many officers believed women are liars. Some are lazy or incompetent. Those officers who are committed to doing their job and seeing victims get justice clearly have less influence over priorities.
Like many in positions of power, the police seem to resent accountability. They have responded to anti-rape campaigning by improving their PR rather than their performance, and befriending the voluntary sector.
The IPCC helps them. Created to police the police, it shamelessly endorses the police claim that the problem is “historic” rather than current. In December 2012 the IPCC invited Eaves, Rape Crisis, NIA Ending Violence, Victim Support and the Havens to meet. The IPCC says all agreed that Sapphire, though patchy, has improved; all that is needed, it seems, is for frontline police to be trained in “informed consent” and “cultural issues”. Each one of these organisations (statutory or voluntary) is funded by the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice or the police. Those of us who are independent of police and government were not invited.
If senior officers were prosecuted when they pervert the course of justice, sexual violence investigations would improve. So would the behaviour of men, beginning with those in authority.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/04/police-behaviour-sex-attacks-women-change
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection, import from old site, Story | Tagged Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, police, Women Against Rape
Police pay compensation in precedent rape claim
Posted on January 14, 2013 by BWRAP
A landmark civil suit was settled on recently with the Metropolitan police paying £15,000 damages to a woman whose rape when she was 15 was badly mishandled by a police Sapphire Team in Southwark, London. With the scandals in the news of scores of girls raped over years in Rochdale, Rotherham and by Jimmy Savile (and possibly his associates), this case puts the spotlight on the flagship Sapphire Rape Units.
Their response so far is not encouraging. Every time they have been exposed mishandling rape investigations, they have claimed that the units had been restructured and cases like this could not happen again. But they continue to happen. When asked this morning on the Today programme why then the conviction rate for reported rape remained so low, Sapphire’s head DCI Mick Duthie said that 40% of women who report rape to the Met don’t want to prosecute. This is not our experience and is given the lie by the figures. All the women who come to us wanted justice and were prevented from getting it. The Met closes over half the reported rapes, and the CPS closes a further 40% of the rest – all decisions made against victims’ wishes.
This precedent claim is based on the Human Rights Act (Articles 3 and 8) and overturns decades of legal obstruction which has prevented victims of rape from suing the police for negligent investigations. The persistence of a mother campaigning with Women Against Rape and legally represented, has opened the way for other victims of crime to hold the police to account for ineffective investigations. On the basis of this claim and what was established here, others will now hopefully be encouraged to make their case.
Commenting on the settlement, the girl’s mother said:
“The police thought we were going to give up, and unless you fight all the way, they will intimidate you and smash you down with their enormous power and resources. But we were determined to win, for my daughter and all the other girls who have been denied justice. Why should victims who are let down have to go through this?”
“The settlement is not all we wanted, but we have won a lot along the way. We got four officers disciplined. We got a personal written apology from Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions. We got some compensation. But the most senior officer DCI Chambers was never held accountable for his actions. The trial judge criticised the police investigation and referred to non investigated issues as a disgrace. After the complaint investigation, a High Court judge said, ‘…It is reasonable to suspect that had the matter been investigated properly and the corroborative evidence obtained, the result might well have been different.’ This case has shown that the problem is not merely the ‘canteen culture’ at the lowest ranks, but the de-prioritising of rape organised from the top.”
The rape of the 15-year-old by a 28-year-old man took place in 2005. Despite the police having the attacker’s address, his vehicle registration and mobile number, it took three months of pressure by the girl’s mother, and another girl reporting the same man for rape, before he was finally arrested.
But that was not the end of the carelessness Ms X and her daughter suffered. At trial in 2006 it became clear that: the police had not interviewed potential witnesses and had lost crucial phone evidence which would have undermined the Defendant’s account. Not surprisingly, the jury did not convict, leaving the victim and her family shattered.
The man walked free and the girl’s mother contacted WAR, and soon became part of a team campaigning for justice.
Arrangements were made to speak to the media and meet both the local MP and the Borough Commander. This sparked an internal investigation by the head of the Central Sapphire Team, which found that the rape investigation had been wanting, and listed the following “mistakes”:
• “A serious stranger rape attack allocated to a PC [not a detective] to investigate.
• Failure to identify the link between the crime scene and the suspect’s vehicle.
• Failure to visit the crime scene at the earliest opportunity.
• Failure to identify the suspect and arrest at the earliest opportunity.
• Failure to properly investigate the allegation thoroughly and expeditiously, with particular emphasis on the failure to obtain correct telephone records.
• Failure to properly and effectively supervise the investigation.”
This report was not disclosed to the victim and her family until 2012, after a lengthy legal battle. Not satisfied with an apology that did not even offer any explanations, a formal complaint was lodged to the IPCC. Under pressure from the victim, her mother, Women Against Rape, and the victim’s lawyer Debaleena Dasgupta, the IPCC issued an unusually thorough and damning report in 2009. It revealed that:
• The Southwark Sapphire Rape Unit was systematically starved of resources, while resources were diverted to motor crime and robbery. At some points, the Unit was functioning without any trained detectives.
• The Unit left hundreds of rapes and sexual assaults to untrained, unqualified officers. The main officer on this case was a PC who had just joined the unit from Safer Neighbourhoods work. The PC was expected to handle over 30 cases at one time, an overwhelming number, with little or no training or supervision, and no experience of detective work.
• Officers (in this case women) who tried to get rape taken seriously and asked for more resources were rebuffed and blocked at every turn by their (male) superiors.
• Just weeks before, two of the officers in this complaint had been the subject of a complaint on another rape case in which they evaded discipline.
The IPCC report makes clear that the most junior officer struggled under an impossible workload; and while four officers were disciplined, it blames the man in charge the then Deputy Borough Commander DCI Chambers, who set the priorities and starved the Unit of resources could not be disciplined. DCI Chambers was able to refuse to be interviewed, and instead prepared a 37-page statement denying responsibility, retire from the Metropolitan Police and swiftly move to another position – at the Centre for Policing Excellence!
The girl’s mother said, “The police have been vicious in fighting our civil claim, and they fought dirty. I had to listen to them in court and felt that they were insinuating that my daughter hadn’t been raped. And when that didn’t work, they tried to minimise how ill their actions had made her – largely because of the additional trauma of being refused justice after the rape and of our family having to fight over years to get the truth disclosed. My daughter’s life has been destroyed, my 30-year marriage has ended under the stress. These injustices affect whole families and communities, and no amount of money can compensate for our loss. Do the police care? Does the Home Office care?
“This has never been about money. We wanted a declaration that my daughter’s human rights had been breached, an admission which would help to other women and girls. We were ready to go all the way to court to get it, but we were forced to settle because of costs risks – we don’t have the huge resources the police have. Working with WAR I see similar cases coming through our door all the time, so they can’t tell me this is all in the past. Victims are dismissed and ignored, especially children and teenagers. Those officers who want to do their job and complain about lack of support within the force also face obstacles.
“This case proves that the police, even when they admit mistakes, will spend lots of public money to stop victims getting justice.”
As Lisa Longstaff of WAR points out, “They keep saying that everything has changed, but these cases – from Rochdale to Southwark, from Saville to Coleman-Farrow[1] – are a continual reminder of what the police policy on rape is in practice. For many, many women, children and families, it is not just that victims are disbelieved but, believed or not, that they face at best carelessness and at worst a complete refusal by police to properly investigate rape. . There is much PR about reporting but in reality children are treated as if they are supposed to be sexually available and keep their mouth shut.”
The claimant in the case said, “I think the police really believed me, but they really didn’t care.”
For interviews contact:
Women Against Rape at 020 7482 2496, or war@womenagainstrape.net
[1] Sapphire Detective Constable Ryan Coleman-Farrow was convicted of falsifying rape records and closing cases of at least 12 survivors of rape recently.
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection, import from old site, In the Media | Tagged civil claim, Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, Human Rights Act, Independent Police Complaints Commission, justice, Women Against Rape
Statement from rural women in India on recent events in Delhi
Posted on January 1, 2013 by WomenAgainstRape
Please help BWRAP and WAR to circulate the statement and article below:
The mass protests taking place all over India, and the international support for them, show how determined women are to end rape, and how we face similar violence and similar sexism by the authorities, wherever we are. For years our Indian sisters in Chhattisgarh have been organizing against rape and murder in the family but also by landlords, police and the military. But Dalit and Tribal women’s struggles have not been given prominence and support by the media or by most middle and upper class women in India or in the UK.
In our experience of dealing with rape and domestic violence here in the UK, the police are also the main obstacle to rape survivors getting justice. Only 6.5% of rapes in the UK end in conviction. We see daily cases dropped, as police have not gathered the evidence properly or the Crown Prosecution Service has decided it is not good enough to take to court. This is especially true for children, women of colour, women with disabilities and working class women generally. That’s why abusers and rapists like Savile and those in Rochdale and North Wales children homes and elsewhere were allowed to go for so long without being prosecuted, despite having been reported to the police and social services a number of times – vulnerable women and girls were treated as ‘plebs’ who exist to be available to sexual predators. We are even having to campaign with rape survivors imprisoned for reporting rape. Many cases of police rape have also come to light in the UK. We know these are only the tip of the iceberg.
Below are statements from a sister organisation based in 400 villages in Mahasamund, Chhattisgarh state; and comments from Arundhati Roy focusing on rape committed by police, army and others in authority, against women who have least. That these rapes are not prosecuted gives all violent men the go ahead – they know the authorities are on the side of the rapist and women are undefended.
We who are demanding justice today in India are demanding justice for all beginning with grassroots women everywhere including in the UK.
Statement from Nawa Chhattisgarh Mahila Samiti (Chhattisgarh Women’s Organisation), Chhattisgarh State, India – 6 January 2013
We condemn the gang rape and murder of the young woman in Delhi, and we demand the rapists get life imprisonment so other rapists are afraid and do not rape. In Chhattisgarh, Dalit and Tribal women and girls are being raped like the young woman in Delhi. Sometimes the media covers it but many times they don’t.
High level people who rape women, girls and boys should also be punished as many times they are not. This is happening in many countries. Our law is made by the government and it should be used against the high level people including if they are in government.
For many years in India there has been a grassroots movement of Dalit and Tribal women against rape. Nawa Chhattisgarh Mahila Samiti (NCMS) is part of this movement and has been working against rape since 1987 — in our area, 3,000 Dalit and Tribal women in NCMS have been fighting it. Women and girls are raped by high caste men, landlords and policemen. We help Dalit and Tribal women report rape and demand the police take statements, gather evidence and bring a prosecution of the rapist. Sometimes in the village area, up to 500 women go together to protest against a rapist at his house and shout against rape. Then the women go to the police station and demand the police file a report and punish the rapist. Last year government soldiers were raping women in the Tribal area, Bastar (Chhattisgarh) and in Kashmir but were not punished. We have campaigned to get bicycles for Tribal girls to go to school as school is far from their homes and this has also helped them not get harassed on the way.
In 2003 a police constable raped a 5 year old girl in Raipur. NCMS supported the girl and her family and helped the family get compensation from the government for the hospital costs for the young girl who had been severely injured. The policeman was prosecuted and imprisoned. This is one case of many where we help women and girls get justice against rape.
Naya Zamaana Aayega! A New Age is Coming!
* NCMS is an anti-racist organisation of Adivasi (Tribal) and Dalit women campaigning against bonded labour; rape, low and unequal pay and other discrimination. It brings together people from these two communities who are divided by landowners and other employers, police and government. NCMS is part of the Global Women’s Strike network.
Police, army rampantly use rape as weapon: Arundhati Roy
Published: Monday, Dec 31, 2012, 11:58 IST
Place: London | Agency: DNA
Reacting to the terrible news of the 23-year-old girl succumbing to injuries sustained while fighting off her rapists in a moving bus in the capital, Arundhati Roy warns that it is a sign of forebodings for women of all classes. About the massive outpouring of protests across the country, Roy said, “While we are seeing some very unexceptional reaction to an event which is hardly exceptional, though it’s a terrible thing to call a tragic event ‘exceptional’.
“However, the real problem is why is this crime creating such a lot of outrage is because it plays into the idea of the criminal poor, like the vegetable vendor, gym instructor or bus driver actually assaulting a middle class girl. Whereas when rape is used as a means of domination by upper castes, the army or the police it is not even punished,” said the feted author.
When asked if there was any chance that these huge protests are going to ring in some genuine change, Roy said, “I think it will lead to some new laws perhaps, an increased surveillance, but all of that will protect middle class women. But in cases of the army and the police as perpetrators, we are not looking for laws. What do you do when the police themselves burn down villages, gang-rape women. I have personally listened to so many testimonies of women to whom this has been done.”
Pointing to the contrast between the actual truth about women across the country and the image of modern India being portrayed by Bollywood and the hi-tech India, the author agreed that there are quite many a world competing here. “Feudal India has a huge history and legacy of disrespect and violence against women. Any accounts of Partition or what is done to Dalit women contains that but now there is sort of psychosis,” she said. See the YouTube video
While stating that the army and the police routinely use rape as a weapon against people in places like Chhattisgarh, Kashmir and Manipur after gaining impunity behind laws like Armed Forces Special Powers Act, Roy said, “More dangerous is the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Earlier, at least the rich did what they with a fair amount of discretion, but now it’s all out there on television for conspicuous consumption and there is an anger and psychosis building up and women at the top, middle and the bottom are going to pay the price for it.”
Posted in Demanding Justice & Protection, import from old site | Tagged Black Women's Rape Action Project, Demanding Justice and protection from the Police and CPS, India, Women Against Rape
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007 One by One: ‘You Only Live Twice’
Posted by Bob Westal (01/04/2013 @ 3:25 pm)
Bullz-Eye is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first James Bond film with look back at every Bond movie, 007 One by One, along with a series of features about the Bond franchise, all laid out in our James Bond Fan Hub.
As the worldwide spy craze peaks, the James Bond series settles in for the long, tongue-in-cheek haul with this often maligned but very enjoyable entry, introducing the world to both ninjas and the original Dr. Evil. It also might have been the final appearance of Sean Connery as 007, except that it wasn’t.
A United States space capsule is hijacked, killing one astronaut. Naturally, the Americans assume the Soviets are at fault and world war seems a real possibility. There’s only one thing for the level-headed English to do: Stage James Bond’s death and send him on an undercover mission to Japan to expose SPECTRE head Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s plot to dominate the world by partially destroying it.
With enormous success comes enormous pressures and change was very definitely in the air as “You Only Live Twice” began production. Now one of the world’s most bankable stars after the mega-success of “Thunderball,” Sean Connery was contractually on board for only one more film and starting to be seriously fed up with all the 007 insanity.
Behind the camera, original Bond director Terrence Young had had his fill and “Goldfinger” helmer Guy Hamilton was unavailable. Editor and second unit director Peter Hunt, who had been instrumental in the series’ creative success, badly wanted to helm the project, but producers Albert “Cubby” Broccoli and Harry Saltzman apparently weren’t ready for a first timer for Bond #5. Therefore, a new recruit was sought out to join the small fraternity of James Bond directors.
An old hand at period pieces and war films, Lewis Gilbert was hot off an Oscar nomination for a classic-to-be about a compulsive womanizer who could give Bond a run for his money. “Alfie” starred Connery’s good friend, fellow movie spy, and now award-winning box office rival, Michael Caine.
Lewis Gilbert also brought along one of the very few directors of photography who could have reasonably stepped into the very big shoes of series regular Ted Moore. Freddie Young had won the first of his four Oscars a couple of years prior for David Lean’s visually stunning 1963 70mm masterpiece, “Lawrence of Arabia.” For the sake of keeping things consistent, all the other key collaborators, were back on board in their regular roles, i.e., composer John Barry, credit designer Maurice Binder, and production designer Ken Adam. For once, they’d all have a nice budget to play with, too.
The script, however, was an issue. The novel “You Only Live Twice,” was the last Bond book published in Ian Fleming’s lifetime and the story was problematic for more than one reason. For starters, it was actually the third and final installment in what literary Bond fans call “the Blofeld Trilogy.” EON’s original intent had been to film the books in their original order. That way Blofeld, who had been teased as a character starting in “Dr. No,” would get his long-delayed onscreen introduction in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and finally suffer James Bond’s revenge in the follow-up, “You Only Live Twice.” Unfortunately, logistics made the ski chalet setting of “Majesty” impractical for the summer release EON and United Artists had their hearts set on.
The other problem was that the plot of Ian Fleming’s novel, which involved Blofeld setting up a lavish sanitarium for wealthy suicides, just didn’t seem to be the stuff of a James Bond movie. It also ended with Bond fathering a child with Kissy Suzuki. Only a few elements from the book would remain in the finished movie, most notably the Japanese setting, love interest Kissy, and friendly spy boss Tiger Tanaka.
There was also a problem with finding a writer. Richard Maibum, who had worked on every Bond up to this point, was deemed unavailable. A rumored screenplay by renowned author Kingsley Amis had been reportedly dismissed. Another script was commissioned by writer Harold Jack Bloom, but little of his work would remain in the finished film.
The final choice of screenwriter turned out to be an interesting one. Decades after his death, Roald Dahl remains one of the world’s most popular children’s writers with such film-friendly classics as “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “The Witches,” “Matilda,” and “James and the Giant Peach” all too his credit. He might have seemed a far likelier choice for writing an adaptation of Ian Fleming’s children’s book, “Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang,” the gig that was apparently keeping Richard Maibum busy. Nevertheless, Dahl had written his share of adult thrillers and had actually performed wartime espionage and been friends with Fleming. Scads of 007-inspired spy spoofs were upping the humor ante and this would be a somewhat more tongue-in-cheek Bond. Dahl’s dark sense of humor would be a plus.
The main thrust of the film’s new plot was apparently invented by Cubby Broccoli, however. Upon seeing a dormant volcano while scouting locations, he came up with the idea of using it as a giant villain’s lair. With the U.S.-Soviet space race at full swing, the Russian-Chinese split a topical news item, and terrorism on the rise, the idea of SPECTRE hijacking spacecrafts in order to start a world war on behalf of Red Chinese clients seemed like a natural.
The Bond Girls (Rule of 3 + 1)
Once again, 007 does the espionage nasty with three beautiful women on his Japan adventure. Shockingly, however, the movie’s main love interest is not one of them.
Ling (Tsai Chow) — This lovely lady of Hong Kong engages in mildly racist pillow talk with Bond and then reveals herself to be an accomplice in the spy’s elaborately faked death. Though her part is small, actress Tsai Chow was already a recording artists and a major star of the London stage in “South Pacific” and “The World of Suzie Wong.” Her very long film career would include parts in “The Joy Luck Club,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and the 2006 Bond reboot, “Casino Royale.”
Helga Brandt (Karen Dor) — The latest Bond villainess with preying mantis-like tendencies, the dangerous Ms. Brandt is the secretary/in-house assassin of the wealthy SPECTRE operative, Mr. Osato. She has her way with Bond, then fails at killing him. It’s only natural that she winds up a victim of SPECTRE’s signature approach to personnel management, which in her case means being fed to the CEO’s pet piranhas. Actress Karen Dor has enjoyed a very long career in German films and television that continues to this day. She also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s unsuccessful spy thriller, “Topaz,” and the modestly titled horror flick, “The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism.”
Posted in: Entertainment, Movies
Tags: 007, 007 50th anniversary, 007 drinks, 007 fan hub, 007 fans, 007 films, 007 gadgets, 007 guns, 007 movies, 007 One by One, 007 villains, Aki, Akiko Wakabayashi, beautiful Bond women, Bernard Lee, best Bond movie moments, Bond babes, Bond films, Bond gadgets, Bond girls, Bond movies, Bond one by one, Bond villains, Burt Kwouk, Charles Gray, classic Bond gadgets, Desmond Llewelyn, Dikko Henderson, Donald Pleasence, Dr. Evil, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Freddie Young, Hans, Helga Brandt, helicopter, iconic James Bond moments, James Bond, James Bond 007, James Bond 50th anniversary, James Bond actresses, James Bond babes, James Bond blog, James Bond craze, James Bond drinks, James Bond Fan Hub, James Bond fans, James Bond franchise, James Bond girls, James Bond guns, James Bond henchmen, James Bond movies, James Bond music, James Bond nemesis, James Bond villains, James Bond violence, John Barry, Karen Dor, Ken Adam, Kissy Suzuki, Lewis Gilbert, license to kill, Ling, Little Nellie, Lois Maxwell, M Bond, Maurice Binder, memorable Bond scenes, Michael Chow, Mie Hama, Moneypenny, Mr. Osato, Nancy Sinatra, Ninja cigarettes, Q Bond, Roald Dahl, Ronald Rich, Sean Connery, SPECTRE, SPECTRE #3, SPECTRE #4, supervillains, Teru Shimada, Tetsurō Tamba, Tiger Tanaka, Tsai Chow, villain's lair, Walther PPK, water-proof sarcophagus, You Only Live Twice
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Governor's Volunteer Service Award nominations due Feb. 15
Award recipients will be recognized during a special luncheon in Springfield
Send a link to a friend
[February 02, 2013] SPRINGFIELD -- The Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service is accepting nominations for the fourth annual Governor's Volunteer Service Awards until Feb. 15. The awards recognize individual volunteers through a statewide award program to highlight the importance of volunteerism and community service in the state of Illinois.
Individual awards will be presented to one youth 18 years and under, one adult 19-54 years old, and one retiree or senior 55 years and older in each of the commission's five service regions across the state -- Northeast, Northwest, East Central, West Central and Southern. National Service Awards will be presented to one AmeriCorps and one Senior Corps member in each of the five regions. One award will be provided to a business in each of the five service regions. Within each category, applications will be given special priority based on these subject areas: economic opportunity, education, environmental conservation, disaster preparedness and response, health, and veterans affairs.
Visit www.serve.illinois.gov for the nomination forms and more information.
Nominations are due to Serve Illinois by Feb. 15. Award recipients will be selected and notified by March 30. The Serve Illinois Commission will host a luncheon to honor recipients on April 18 at the executive mansion in Springfield.
The Serve Illinois Commission is a 40-member bipartisan board appointed by the governor and administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services. Its mission is to improve Illinois communities by enhancing traditional volunteer activities and supporting national service programs, including the Illinois AmeriCorps program.
[Text from Illinois Department of Human Services file received from the Illinois Office of Communication and Information]
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Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Polish-born Jewish writer in Yiddish, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978.
The Polish form of his birth name was Icek Hersz Zynger. He used his mother’s first name in an initial literary pseudonym, Izaak Baszewis, which he later expanded.
21st November, 1902
"Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression."
― Isaac Bashevis Singer
Topic(s): Art
"I did not become a vegetarian for my health, I did it for the health of the chickens."
Topic(s): Environmental
"The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect, between life and death. When literature becomes too intellectual – when it begins to ignore the passions, the emotions – it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance."
Topic(s): Death
"Life is God’s novel. Let him write it."
Topic(s): God
"Kindness, I’ve discovered, is everything in life."
Topic(s): Life
"Doubt is part of all religion. All the religious thinkers were doubters."
Topic(s): Religion
"I am thankful, of course, for the prize and thankful to God for each story, each idea, each word, each day."
Topic(s): Thankful
"A happy wife is a happy life." ― Gavin Rossdale
"Literature is a state of culture, poetry is a state of grace, before and after culture." ― Juan Ramon Jimenez
"I had only two offers of marriage in my life, and I refused both." ― Catherine Helen Spence
"Poetry has the virtue of being able to say twice as much as prose in half the time, and the drawback, if you do not give it your full attention, of seeming to say half as much in twice the time." ― Christopher Fry
"Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I’m concerned, that’s success." ― Tom Petty
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1933, Stunts
Max Baer, Primo Carnera and The Prizefighter and the Lady
October 5, 2015 Donovan Montierth Leave a comment
In the early days of film, fight scenes were “staged” but real. They didn’t learn to fake their punches for the camera until the early 30’s and even then used that type of filming trick sparingly. In this case, where real Boxers were used for the Prizefighter and the Lady, there was no doubt that these matches were going to be real but choreographed. The film climaxes with a heavily hyped fight between Max Baer and Primo Carnera. Primo was the real-life World Heavyweight Champion and Max (the star of the film) was in real-life, his main contender for the title. The shooting of this scene was a major event on the set. People came from far and wide to watch the thrilling fight being filmed. Former Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey was an added treat playing the referee.
The fight scenes were so real, that Max knocked out 2 teeth during one of the “staged” fights in this film. Interestingly, Max Baer beat Primo Carnera in real-life the very next year for the World Heavyweight title, knocking him down a record 11 times in what was written about later as a major beating. Myrna Loy also admitted in an interview later that Max studied Primo’s boxing techniques intently during the film and claimed that he used this “scouting” knowledge to beat him for the title. It’s also interesting to note that Max did not wear a robe with his name on it for the real title fight, he wore the robe he used in this film with his character Steve Morgan’s name on the back. People said he did this to try and get in Primo’s head. The Prizefighter and the Lady was Max Baer’s first acting role and he’s fantastic. He goes on to act in over 20 more movies and TV shows over the years. The Prizefighter and the Lady was directed by W.S. Van Dyke for MGM.
Things to look up (go to IMDB ):
Max Baer
Primo Carnera
The Prizefighter and the Lady
W.S. Van Dyke
Glossary of stunt terms as defined by the book, “FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY” by John Kreng:
Exchange – A series of techniques thrown between combatants without an extended break or pause. A fight scene is usually made up of several exchanges between opponents.
Fight Scene – A fight scene is much like dialogue in the script—it needs to progress at a steady pace. Much like in real life, dialogue can get very tedious and cover the same issue over and over, not really leading anywhere specific. A fight can easily be the same way if you are not aware of the different types of repetition. Also, each successive fight in an action film should be more difficult and exciting than most of the ones that came before, otherwise the overall progression of the film’s intensity will likewise be flat and repetitive.
Check out our new Book, 100 Years of the Best Movie Stunts!
Jack DempseyMax BaerMyrna LoyPrimo CarneraW.S. Van Dyke
Previous PostThe Cast of IntoleranceNext PostStunt Men of Lawrence of Arabia
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Posted on May 12, 2009 June 28, 2015 by Roberta
The State(s) of Children’s Books
Edit: Click on the Wrapped in Foil Website – Reading through the States – for even more books by state. The state names in this post are now linked to a list of books for that state.
A few days ago, I saw a post in On Living By Learning entitled “So Many Places to See.” Sandra Foyt says she is planning to travel this summer and she adds, “I’d also like to add a bit of Storybook Travel by stopping at sites that are the setting for children’s books.”
This post inspired me to write down a list of books for children and young adults with strong settings in US, at least one for each of the 50 states. It took me longer than I expected, but it was fun. I think this list might be useful for reading groups who want to read their way through the states, as well as for writers who want to explore how others have handled the issue of setting. Of course, it would be terrific to have the opportunity to see all the places the authors wrote about as well.
Alabama Moon by Watt Key
About a boy named Moon who is raised in the forest by his dad. When the land is sold and his dad dies, Moon faces many challenges (including time in jail).
Williwaw! by Tom Bodett
This story is a family-friendly action adventure about a brother and sister living in rural Alaska who fry the family’s radio, their only means of communication.
Brighty: Of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis (Illustrator)
This book is a classic. It is the tale of actual incidents in the life of a burro that lives in the Grand Canyon.
Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
This is a sad, complicated tale of a Jewish girl living in a small Arkansas town who meets an escaped German prisoner of war during WWII.
The California Library Association has two lists of books set in California available in .pdf format (fiction and nonfiction) at EUREKA! California in Children’s Literature
Orphan Runaways by Kristiana Gregory
Danny and Judd run away from an orphanage in 1879 California. They head for the mining town of Bodie, where they hope to find their uncle.
Colorado (Colorado Rockies)
Bearstone by Will Hobbs
Story of Cloyd, an American Indian boy who is sent to live with an old farmer in the Colorado Rockies when nothing else seems to work out.
Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Set in Connecticut
Down the Rabbit Hole (An Echo Falls Mystery) by Peter Abrahams
In this mystery for children, eight grader Ingrid Levin-Hill works to solve a murder case.
Red Knot: A Shorebird’s Incredible Journey by Nancy Carol Willis
Although the bird in this nonfiction book migrates long distances, one important stop on the way is Delaware Bay.
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
A boy discovers new friends and burrowing owls after moving to Coconut Grove, Florida. Hiaasen has written numerous quirky books for adults and this book is also filled with unusual characters.
Simon and the Game of Chance by Robert Burch
Robert Burch tells the story of the Bradley family that live in the small town of Redwood, which was gradually becoming a suburb of Atlanta.
Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury
This book is the account of a Japanese American who enlists in the US Army during World War II. (For older kids)
The Garden of Eden Motel by Morse Hamilton
Dal moves with his step-father to rural Eden, Idaho during the 1950’s.
A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories by Richard Peck
Joe and Mary Alice Dowdel go to visit their lively grandmother who lives in a sleepy Illinois town during the 1930’s.
The Beef Princess of Practical County by Michelle Houts
Squashed by Joan Bauer
This is a story about growing up while trying to grow a prize-winning pumpkin.
Grasslands by Debra Seely
A story that explores life in Kansas during the 1880’s.
Tarantula Shoes by Tom Birdseye
When he and his family move from Arizona to Kentucky, Ryan’s life changes in more ways than one.
My Louisiana Sky by Kimberly Willis Holt
In this book set in the 1950s in Saitter, Louisiana, twelve-year-old Tiger Ann Parker, the normal child of “slow parents” (their words), tells the story of the summer she learns to accept the challenges her parents present.
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
Sal, of Blueberries For Sal fame, is losing a tooth. Although for the younger set, worth a revisit.
Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry and Wesley Dennis (Illustrator)
Okay, so it is off the coast of Maryland. The story of the wild ponies that live on Chincoteague Island.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Although Little Women is set in New England, the Alcott family home is in Concord, Massachusetts.
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Describes the life of an American Indian girl during a smallpox outbreak. Sad, but excellent.
Minn of the Mississippi by Holling Clancy Holling
Minn is a snapping turtle who begins a journey along the Mississippi river.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor
Unlike many other Black families in Mississippi during the Great Depression, Cassie Logan’s family owns a farm. They struggle against racism in many forms.
Front Porch Stories at the One-Room School by Eleanora E. Tate
Twelve-year-old Margie’s father entertains her with stories about people and events in their small Missouri town’s past.
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson
Hattie Brooks leaves Iowa in 1918 and travels to a Montana homestead inherited from her uncle.
Worth by A. LaFaye
When Nate’s leg is crushed at his 19th-century Nebraska homestead, John Worth, a boy taken off the orphan train helps take up the slack.
Rhyolite: The True Story of a Ghost Town by Diane Siebert and David Frampton (Illustrator)
Lucy’s Summer by Donald Hall and Michael McCurdy (Illustrator)
Lucy is seven when she spends the summer at her family’s New Hampshire farm.
Everybody Moos At Cows by Lisa Funari-Willever, Elaine Poller (Illustrator), and Glenn Byrne (Illustrator)
The author says this tale was inspired by New Jersey, based on her experiences growing up there.
Georgia O’Keeffe (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) by Mike Venezia
The city:
The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden and Garth Williams (Illustrator)
In this classic, Chester Cricket comes to New York City’s Times Square by mistake.
Upstate:
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
A young adult novel that is about a girl torn between her family and her future, set in 1906 in the Adirondacks.
Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
Previously reviewed in this blog
Lentil by Robert McCloskey
For younger children (ages 4-8)
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Henry and Beezus (Henry Huggins) by Beverly Cleary
Many of Beverly Cleary books were set in Portland.
The Cubby Files; Tales of a Pennsylvania Black Bear Growing Up by John P. Irwin
Bet you didn’t know there were black bears in Pennsylvania.
Finding Providence: The Story of Roger Williams by Avi and James Watling (Illustrator)
The Girl Who Ate Chicken Feet by Sandy Richardson
This is a book that about ten-year-old Amy Claire who lives in Midville, South Carolina in 1960, to the backdrop of the civil rights movement.
Grasshopper Summer by Ann Turner and Erika Meltzer (Illustrator)
It’s actually set in the Dakota Territory after the civil war.
Tennessee/Appalachia
Daniel’s Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla and Joan Sandin (Illustrator)
Set in Tennessee during the pioneer days, this tale of a youngster who is bothered when other laugh at his woodcarving, is for ages 4-8.
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt and David Small (Illustrator) an Ala Notable Children’s Book
Magical tale about a mother cat that befriends an old hound dog.
The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald and Mercer Mayer (Illustrator)
Set in 1890’s Utah, this is one of those rare books that almost everyone enjoys.
The Night the Bells Rang by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock and Leslie W. Bowman (Illustrator)
This book is about a boy in rural Vermont coming to terms with the fact a boy who bullied him has been killed in WWI.
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Donna Diamond (Illustrator)
Jesse really wants to be the fastest fifth grader in his rural Virginia town, but Leslie the new girl beats him. What will he do?
Larry Gets Lost in Seattle by John Skewes and Robert Schwartz
Cute book that seems to appeal to a range of ages.
Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and Barry Moser (Illustrator)
A classic tale of a boy and his dog, who he rescues from an abusive owner.
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Hope moves from New York to a small town in Wisconsin, where she works in a restaurant and learns some lessons about life.
Shane by Jack Schaefer and Wendell Minor (Illustrator)
Although considered young adult, this classic western is showing up on a lot of middle grade reading lists.
That’s it. Hope you enjoy some of these books and find this list useful. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
CategoriesChildren's Books by State Setting Tagschidren's books by state setting, children's books by state, state books for kids
3 Replies to “The State(s) of Children’s Books”
Sandra Foyt says:
This is fabulous! I have a few suggestions from Colleen Dunn Bates & Susan Latempa’s Storybook Travels, but this adds many more. You might also like to see this Google Map of Children’s Historical Fiction US sites:
http://spedr.com/3ihzp
Thank you so much for providing this list! I am a children’s musician and have been putting together a new CD which takes children on a musical adventure across the country searching for children’s literature connections, cool places to visit and “weird” things. The CD will include a map with a book suggestion for every state, and your blog has been an invaluable resource and will be cited in my liner notes.
I can’t thank you enough!
Pingback: How To Plan A Read Across America Road Trip — The Journey Mom
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Name Change: It’s Now IFAS Communication Services
Mike Martin (352) 392-1971
Ashley Wood (352) 392-7228 ext. 293
GAINESVILLE—Mike Martin, University of Florida vice president for agriculture and natural resources, has announced a name change for the Educational Media and Services (EMS) unit in the UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Effectively immediately, EMS will be identified as IFAS Communication Services (ICS).
“The state and national visibility of UF/IFAS programs is more important than ever before,” Martin said. “The new name is a simpler, more concise way of identifying the many essential support services this unit provides to our statewide faculty and staff. We do not anticipate any change in the range of services provided by the unit.”
Ashley Wood, director of ICS, said the new name is more congruent with other communication units at the UF and was approved by the UF Communications Network, which includes all UF communication programs.
“As a part of the Florida FIRST (Focusing IFAS Resources on Solutions for Tomorrow) strategic planning effort, we are reviewing every aspect of our communication program to become more responsive to the needs of UF/IFAS faculty and staff across the state,” he said.
“We look forward to working more closely with faculty and staff who depend upon our services,” Wood said. “We will continue to provide high quality communication products and services, including news and photography, television/video production, distance education, graphic design, exhibits, for-sale publications, printing services and special projects.”
by BLOGS.IFAS
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The Mission of UF/IFAS is to develop knowledge in agricultural, human and natural resources and to make that knowledge accessible to sustain and enhance the quality of human life. While extending into every community of the state, UF/IFAS has developed an international reputation for its accomplishments in teaching, research, and extension.
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Pope was in conflict with conservative Catholics in his Archdiocese
What was Bergoglio's conflict with the Instituto El Verbo Encarnado? That group was born in San Rafael, Mendoza, founded by Father Carlos Miguel Buela, who had come from Buenos Aires. It's a terribly right-wing order that, however, has a lot of priestly vocations (Cathcon- everything is very right wing to the very progressive Catholic who wrote this) -- everywhere, the right-wingers usually have many, many vocations. But this group is so far right that it had confrontations with almost all of the Argentine bishops, to the point that the full Bishops Conference went to see John Paul II to ask him to act on this Institute. But an Argentine layman, the former ambassador to the Holy See during the Carlos Menem administration who had a lot of contacts in the Roman Curia, and the [Vatican] Secretary of State, Angelo Sodano, not only ignored the bishops' request, but in San Rafael a bishop was appointed who was a friend of the Instituto, priestly ordinations from this group were authorized in Buenos Aires, which were performed by Aguer, and José Luis Mollaghan, the only one who hadn't condemned the group, was named archbishop of Rosario. In the Bishops Conference, Bishop Estanislao Karlic and Bishop Guillermo Rodríguez Melgarejo, who was secretary of the Conference, had to resign. I don't think those of El Verbo Encarnado are celebrating Bergoglio's appointment.
Cathcon- if this is how the Pope dealt with a mainstream conservative group, one can guess what he thinks of traditional Catholics.
This is a video of their apostolate
The full article also touches the relationship with Archbishop Aguer, cited also today on CathCon. Monsignor Aguer is an exemplary bishop who never feels inhibited in criticising the secularising errors of the modern world.
Many videos here, unfortunately all, as far as I can see, in Spanish.
Of even more concern, is the Pope's attitude to power- full article here on the Pope of Surprises.
This has been noted about him. Bergoglio prefers for himself the simple title of “bishop of Rome,” and is silent about his power as head of the universal Church, in spite of the fact that this power has been confirmed very forcefully by Vatican Council II.
His autobiography states:
"When a pope or a teacher must say 'I am in charge here,' or 'I am the superior here,' it is because he has already lost authority and is seeking to attribute it to himself with words. Saying that one has the staff of command implies that one no longer has it. Having the staff of command does not mean giving orders and imposing, but serving.”
That is, it seems that Bergoglio does not want to proclaim but to exercise his supreme power as successor of Peter.
Cathcon- what he says is that he does not want to exercise it either. He has no hope of reforming the Curia on this basis.
In effect, in the discourses and homilies from the beginning of his pontificate, Bergoglio has so far avoided touching upon the questions that see the Church most set against worldly powers.
In the discourse to the diplomatic corps he remained silent about the threats to religious freedom, just as in his other statements he has avoided any reference to the critical areas of birth, death, the family.
But in his autobiographical interview, Bergoglio recalls that Benedict XVI also decided to remain silent on one occasion (Cathcon- just one occasion):
"When Benedict XVI went to Spain in 2006, everyone thought that he would criticize the government of Rodriguez Zapatero because of its divergences with the Catholic Church on various issues. Someone even asked him if he had addressed the issue of homosexual marriage with the Spanish authorities. But the pope said no, he had only spoken about positive things and the rest would come later. He wanted to suggest that first of all one must emphasize the positive things, those that unite us, and not the negative ones that serve only to divide. The priority must be given to the encounter among persons, to making the journey together. In this way, afterward it will be easier to tackle the differences."
Cathcon- a pastor leads, he does not encounter (whatever that may mean) the flock. He strangely was not conflict averse when taking on the Instituto El Verbo Encarnado.
The Pope is, in the words of the job title used since the reign of Pope St Gregory the Great
Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West (Cathcon- a title laid aside by Pope Benedict XVI- an action attracting critical comment from the Moscow Patriarchate, as this is a title they are entirely at ease with, unlike the claim to be Vicar of Christ). Primate of Italy, Servant of the Servants of God; Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City.
His calling is as prophet, priest and monarch.
From ChrisG Labels: Argentina, Instituto El Verbo Encarnado, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis
Supertradmum said...
Does a New World Pope understand monarchy and hierarchy? Could there be a problem with the American, both North and South, experience which would cause a misunderstanding of the role of the Pope in the world?
The European popes had an understanding of hierarchy in their blood...
Woody said...
Supertradmum's point is well taken, as always, but I would also ask, is not the protection and employment of the legitimate powers and distinctions of a particular office a part of the duty of state of the person holding that office? And may it not also be a part of the exercise of the virtue of order to act according to the hierarchical status that one has been entrusted with? So, for example, parents do not go out dancing with the friends of their children, and employers do not bare their souls to their employees (or should not).
Pope was in conflict with conservative Catholics i...
Pope mistakes youthful Cardinal for a seminarian
Father Cantalamessa sets out modernising agenda fo...
Opposition from within Argentinian church hierarch...
CathCon in the international news
Episcopal successor of Pope accused of covering up...
Catholic-bashers have embellished the truth about ...
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Disney to Preview STAR WARS, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR, and More at D23 2015
Disney has announced the full lineup for its main series of panels at the upcoming D23 Expo, and it’s a lot of what we expected—but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. The studio’s live-action presentation on Saturady, titled “Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios” will feature special guests and a first look at films like Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Jungle Book, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, “and much, much more.”
And on the animation side, Friday’s Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios presentation, hosted by John Lasseter, will offer an in-depth look at Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and Finding Dory and Disney Animation’s Zootopia and Moana. This presentation will also play host to musical performances, appearances by the films’ stars, and “surprise announcements,” so look for Pixar to announce a couple of upcoming projects.
Take a closer look at the various panels below, via Disney. D23 Expo takes place August 14 – 16th in Anaheim, and you can be sure Collider will have extensive coverage from the event. For more information, visit D23Expo.com.
HALL D23 PRESENTATIONS:
Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Upcoming Films, Hosted by John Lasseter
Friday, August 14, 3:00 pm – Hall D23
After meeting the Emotions inside the mind of an 11-year-old, taking a trip to San Fransokyo, where a boy genius and his robot save the world, and falling in love with a queen with icy powers who wants to “let it go,” come see where Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios plan to take you next. In what has become a D23 EXPO must-see, host John Lasseter, chief creative officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, presents this in-depth look at the animation studios’ slate. Filmmakers will unveil never-before-seen footage from Pixar’s upcoming The Good Dinosaur and Finding Dory and Disney Animation’s Zootopia and Moana. The event will include surprise announcements, musical performances, and appearances by the films’ star voice talent.
Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios
Saturday, August 15, 10:30 am – Hall D23
Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm are home to some of the planet’s best storytellers, immersing audiences fully in the world of each film from beginning to end and beyond. In this exclusive Hall D23 presentation, join Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn for a tour of upcoming live-action projects from these legendary film studios. A bevy of special guests will be on hand to offer a look at an unparalleled slate that includes Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Jungle Book, Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, Star Wars: The Force Awakens—and much, much more.
Image via Lucasfilm
Frozen FANdemonium: A Musical Celebration!
Sunday, August 16, 3:00 pm – Hall D23
Join host Chris Montan, president, Walt Disney Music, and the Oscar®-winning songwriting team of Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez as they take you on a once-in-a-lifetime musical journey through the world of Frozen. This one-day-only performance features your favorite friends from the Walt Disney Animation Studios film—including Anna and Elsa––with sing-along experiences and fascinating stories behind some of your favorite Frozen songs.
CALENDAR OF KEY EVENTS:
In Conversation with the Filmmakers and the Emotions Behind Inside Out
Friday, August 14, 11:30 am – Stage 28
Get the inside story on the making of Pixar’s latest summer release, Inside Out. Hear from Academy Award®-winning director Pete Docter (Up, Monsters, Inc.) and producer Jonas Rivera (Up) as they reminisce and share their personal stories of creating a world that everyone knows, but no one has ever seen.
Image via Disney
Welcome to Zootopia!
Saturday, August 15, 1:30 pm – Stage 28
Welcome to Zootopia, a magnificent mammal metropolis, and home to Walt Disney Animation Studios’ next feature, the comedy-adventure Zootopia. Join directors Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph), producer Clark Spencer (Wreck-It Ralph, Bolt), and artists from the incredible production team as they introduce rookie rabbit-officer Judy Hopps, con-artist fox Nick Wilde and a host of dynamic animal characters, sharing footage and behind-the-scenes stories with D23 EXPO-goers.
Pixar Secrets Revealed! Hear the Stories They Didn’t Want You to Know!
Ever wonder where your favorite Pixar stories began? Hear the stories you don’t know about the classic films that you love. Pixar senior development executive Mary Coleman hosts this experience, welcoming the storytellers behind some of Pixar’s most successful films, including Darla K. Anderson (A Bug’s Life,Monsters, Inc., Cars, Toy Story 3), Mark Andrews (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Brave), Ronnie del Carmen (Up, Inside Out) and Dan Scanlon (Cars, Toy Story 3, Monsters University), as they talk about the twists and turns of crafting a narrative and share some of the crazy story ideas that didn’t make the final cut.
Toy Story: 20 Years Later, the Original Crew Looks Back
From flipbooks to feature films, animation has taken audiences to fantastical new worlds, far beyond the limits of any real-world setting. Pixar Animation Studios has been at the forefront of this evolution, blurring the line between art and technology and bringing beloved characters to life with heart and humor. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of 1995’s Toy Story, the first computer-animated feature film, join members of the original crew, including filmmakers John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich, Galyn Susman, Ralph Eggleston, Sharon Calahan, Eben Ostby, Bob Pauley and Bill Reeves as they share their stories and the challenges they faced along the way.
Aladdin – The Making of a Classic
Join Walt Disney Animation Studios filmmakers, including legendary directors John Musker and Ron Clements, animators Eric Goldberg (Genie) and Mark Henn (Jasmine), as well as Jasmine herself, Linda Larkin, and the two actors who gave life to the character Aladdin: Scott Weinger and Brad Kane, as they unveil the stories behind one of the great Disney classics, Aladdin, a film that led to a “whole new world” for animation.
The Shorts of Walt Disney Animation Studios: from Paperman to Prep & Landing, Feast to Frozen Fever
Sunday, August 16, 11:30 am – Stage 28
When Walt Disney and his brother Roy founded the Disney Brothers Studio in 1923, their first medium for storytelling was the animated short. More than 90 years later, Walt Disney Animation Studios continues this tradition, making groundbreaking and award-winning shorts including Feast, Paperman and this year’s hit Frozen Fever. Join the filmmakers behind these shorts and so many others, including Get A Horse!, John Henry, Lorenzo and The Ballad of Nessie for a conversation about this truly animated art form.
The Tunes Behind the Toons: Screening/Q&A
Sunday, August 16, 6:00 pm, Stage 28
D23 EXPO invites you to a special screening and Q&A panel for The Tunes Behind the Toons, a short form documentary that celebrates the power of music in animation. From the silent film days when organists played live accompaniments, to the music within today’s animated features, this documentary traces the origins of cartoon music and its pioneers. Featuring interviews with Alan Menken, Randy Newman, Patrick Doyle, Mark Watters, Bruce Broughton, Richard Sherman and many others. Producer/director Dave Bossert will lead a star-studded Q&A following the presentation.
ON THE EXPO SHOW FLOOR:
The Walt Disney Studios – Show Floor Exhibition
Step into the worlds of The Walt Disney Studios in this wide-ranging showcase of exciting projects from Disney Live Action, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Disneynature, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm. Among the many highlights:
– For the first time at D23 EXPO, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios have created a joint experience no Disney fan should miss. With live demonstrations, presentations, and autograph signings with top filmmakers from each studio, plus free giveaways and interactive displays featuring the filmsInside Out, The Good Dinosaur, Zootopia, Finding Dory and Moana, this is a can’t-miss attraction for animation fans.
– Explore costumes, props and photo ops from the Studios’ live-action films, including Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm.
Disney Movies Anywhere Tweet Suite
Take pics and share them in the Disney Movies Anywhere Tweet Suite. It’s also the perfect opportunity to learn more about Disney Movies Anywhere, Disney’s digital movie app that lets you watch your Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars movie collection across your favorite devices, anywhere you go.
Say Aloha to John Lasseter’s Film-Themed Hawaiian Shirts
Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios John Lasseter takes Disney and Pixar animation to heart—literally. For nearly every film—fromFinding Nemo and Wreck-It Ralph to Frozen and Inside Out, Lasseter has commissioned an exclusive movie-themed Hawaiian shirt. And those who know the Oscar®-winning storyteller know that he loves his Hawaiian shirts—and dons one for almost every occasion. Animation fans will see their favorite film characters “materialize” before their eyes in this colorful collection, which will be exhibited on the show floor.
An Animator’s Gallery: Eric Goldberg
D23 hosts the first public exhibition anywhere of “An Animator’s Gallery: Eric Goldberg.” Celebrate Goldberg, whose artistry at Walt Disney Animation Studios began with his groundbreaking work on Genie in Aladdin, and continues to this day on projects such as the upcoming Moana and the 2014 Oscar®-nominated Mickey Mouse short Get A Horse! The exhibition features a collection of more than 100 of Goldberg’s caricatured creations of Disney characters, drawn in a style reminiscent of art seen on the famed walls of Sardi’s Restaurant and The Brown Derby. This incredible collection of art is from the newly released book An Animator’s Gallery: Eric Goldberg Draws the Disney Characters, and will be available for purchase in the Walt Disney Publishing pop-up shop on the EXPO show floor.
Frozen Album Signing
With the purchase of Frozen: The Songs or Frozen Picture Disc at the Disney Music Emporium, guests will be issued a wristband to secure a space for an album signing with Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez and Tom MacDougall (Co-Producer, Frozen Soundtrack) on Saturday, August 15 at 10:30 am.
Director Rob Letterman Talks Balancing Humor with Scares and More on the…
Minimalist MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE Posters Highlight the Series’ Big Moments
• Captain America: Civil War • D23 • D23 2015 • D23 Expo • Finding Dory • Moana • Star Wars: The Force Awakens • The Good Dinosaur • Zootopia
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Weekend Box Office: CINDERELLA Has Enchanted Debut; RUN ALL NIGHT Stumbles
by Nicole Pedersen March 15, 2015
As expected, Cinderella was the belle of the box office ball this weekend. Disney’s live-action take on the classic fairytale took in an estimated $70 million from 3,845 locations. That ranks as the fifth highest March opening of all time, behind The Hunger Games, Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great and Powerful, and 300. Oz and Alice both hailed from Disney and created significant buzz on their debut weekends, in 2010 and 2013 respectively. Both films also happened to feature 3D effects – a box office price advantage that Cinderella lacked.
But as we told you yesterday, Cinderella had one major selling point that is less quantifiable than increased 3D ticket prices. Disney included the short film Frozen Fever before Cinderella screenings this weekend, which added significant star power to the film’s debut. Cate Blanchett may be a formidable actress, but she’s not exactly a draw for very young audiences. Elsa and Olaf, on the other hand? Because Frozen now stands as Disney’s biggest global hit of all time, it’s hard to imagine stronger ambassadors for Cinderella than the stars of that animated phenomenon.
Initial projections for Cinderella were in the $60 million range, which means that it’s current three-day estimate of $70 million represents another coup for Disney. Earlier this week the studio announced that Big Hero 6 now ranks as the highest-grossing animated title of 2014 and the studio’s third-highest global release of all time, with $620 million in worldwide earnings.
Though Cinderella did not reach the level of the Disney’s former March blockbusters Oz the Great and Powerful ($79.1 million) and Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million), the fairytale did beat Maleficent’s domestic opening. Considering the latter wound up earning over $750 million worldwide last summer, that’s a strong sign in Cinderella’s favor. Of course, nearly 70% of Maleficent’s global total came from international theatres, where Angelina Jolie and 3D effects are still big box office draws. We’ll have to wait and see how well Cinderella plays on the overseas market. Star Lily James will be recognizable to fans of Downton Abbey, but she’s got nowhere near the global star power that Angelina commands.
While Lily James’ star seems to be on the rise, this weekend saw the luster of a much bigger name somewhat diminished. Liam Neeson, who has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a box office badass in the years since Taken hit theatres, suffered a disappointment with this weekend’s Run All Night debut. From 3,171 locations, the R-rated action-thriller earned an estimated $11.1 million. On this top-heavy frame, that was good enough for second place, but it wasn’t even close to the modest $15 million that was expected.
In terms of Neeson features, Run All Night opened lower than A Walk Among the Tombstones, which bottomed out with just $26.3 million in total domestic earnings last September. That was less than Neeson’s Non-Stop earned on its debut weekend alone in February 2014. Taken 3 proved a more successful launch for Neeson this January, but as the fourth action-thriller from the actor in just over a year, there’s apparently a bit of badass-burnout at play here.
Last weekend’s new titles both suffered in their sophomore frames. Last weekend’s top film, Chappie, was down an estimated 56% – just a bit steeper than the drop that Elysium took in its second frame in August 2013. Meanwhile, Vince Vaughn’s Unfinished Business dropped out of the top ten altogether. After ten days, the comedy has yet to break $10 million in North America.
The news was much better for the box office as a whole. Overall domestic earnings reached $132.5 million, or an increase of 16% over the same frame in 2014. Next weekend should deliver another winning frame thanks to Insurgent. The follow-up to last year’s YA hit Divergent hits theatres Friday and is expected to top its predecessor’s $54.6 million debut. Assuming Cinderella also holds well (and its reviews suggest that it will) the two films should be able to overcome the sea of middling box office performers that surround them. As usual, we’ll let you know what happens.
Title Weekend Total
1. Cinderella $70,053,000 $70
2. Run All Night $11,15,000 $11.1
3. Kingsman: The Secret Service $6,200,000 $107.3
4. Focus $5,805,000 $44
5. Chappie $5,800,000 $23.3
6. Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel $5,700,000 $18
7. The SpongeBob Movie $4,100,000 $154.7
8. McFarland, USA $3,692,000 $34.9
9. American Sniper $2,930,000 $341.5
10. The DUFF $2,900,000 $30.3
AVA’S POSSESSIONS Review | SXSW 2015
Jaume Collet-Serra Talks RUN ALL NIGHT, AKIRA, and More
• Big Hero 6 • Box Office • Cinderella • Frozen Fever • Liam Neeson • Lily James • Run All Night
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culture identity movies
All hail The Chief: A virtual roundtable on Wonder Woman’s Native American inclusion
By Monique on Thursday, August 31, 2017
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman has been a revelation to many who love film. Not only did the film open up the box office to finally accepting a female superhero, but it also paved the way for one of DC’s longest-standing, but often misrepresented character, Apache Chief. In the film, the character is treated a lot more seriously and realistically, only going by “The Chief” to mere mortals, but is actually Napi, a Blackfoot demi-god hoping to protect his people and fight against evil.
The Chief got much of is backstory from actor Eugene Brave Rock, who integrated parts of his own background into the character to make an even richer experience for himself as an actor, for the film, and for the viewer, especially those who might not have ever seen a non-stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans. The role was even more special for Native American viewers, who rarely see themselves portrayed in full in the media.
I was able to catch up with three Wonder Woman fans who are also African-American and Native-American. From their points of view, the DCEU—and movies in general—can only get better with the inclusion of more Native American characters like the Chief.
Cherry Davis, pop culture and lifestyle blogger and Afterbuzz TV guest host, said she is 1/16 Blackfoot and that the Chief is a rare character in a landscape lacking in complex Native roles.
“…[It’s] likely the second time I’ve seen a Native/Indigenous character played by someone of that ethnic background. So big hurrah for that casting choice!” she said. “What stood out was that he didn’t speak in the ‘Entertainment Native Dialect’ and that he wasn’t subservient to the white characters.”
“He was definitely the icing on an already delicious cake of a film. As soon as he appeared on the screen, I all but screamed Super Friends Reunion!” said Dennis R. Upkins, speculative fiction author and activist as well as part Cherokee. “He definitely had a mystique about and while we know little about this mysterious character, he was established enough that he could take the lead in his own narrative in the DCEU.”
Cherese Capadona, who is part Mississippi Choctaw, said what struck her the most about the Chief was his unapologetic approach to talking about “the Native American relationship with White Americans after colonization.” She said the Chief’s statement that men like Steve Trevor killed his people “was accurate.”
“It didn’t say they couldn’t have a good working relationship or couldn’t be friends, but that’s never been addressed in any television show, anything I’ve ever remembered seeing growing up like The Lone Ranger, which has my least favorite representation of a Native American character ever.”
Photo credit: Warner Bros./DC
Due to her Blackfoot heritage, the Chief hits even closer to home for Davis, who also minored in Native American Studies.
“This is dear to me,” she said. “…[I] am always excited to see diverse characters [and] characterizations. I applaud Patty Jenkins for allowing Eugene Brave Rock to truly make the character his own, imbuing the Chief with a backstory nod to his people. Also, a huge nod to Eugene for taking this opportunity as a platform for Native American Blackfoot mythology. I’m hoping that people will be excited enough to read more and that DC Comics will have a ‘hmm’ moment. Expand on his mythology, cast him in some of the DC TV series to gather a fanbase and eventually comic book movie/series/cartoon around an entire mythology that people have little awareness of.”
She said seeing someone like the Chief on the big screen would be “incredible” to Native audience members who usually don’t see themselves represented. She said an audience member might feel “vindicated and excited to see not only someone who looks like them but is one of them and [is] a character treated with dignity in such a huge film.”
ALSO READ: Mo' Reviews: 'Roma' Is A Stunning Examination Of A Maid's Humanity (SLIGHT SPOILERS)
“I’m hoping that this will lead to seeing Chief in other films since as a demigod he’ll live for a long time,” she said.
“I can definitely speak for myself and say that…I felt relieved first of all that he wasn’t just coming in because his name was the Chief,” said Capadona. “You can almost imagine the eyerolling—what’s this character going to be like? But he isn’t what you would expect. Usually when there’s a character called the chief in a movie, there’s a stereotypical headdress, speaking broken English. There are just so many things that are stereotypical and none of that was there. Once I got over the relief portion, I was pretty happy.”
Capadona also hopes the Chief will make more people interested in learning more about the mythology of the nation’s first inhabitants.
“We spend so much time teaching kids Greek mythology and Roman mythology. Since we’ve come out with the Thor movies and The Avengers, there’s been an interest in Norse mythology. [There’s an interest in] Egyptian mythology. There’s never been characters from Native American mythology and every nation has their own creation stories and tales that follow in the realm of mythology,” she said. “I would hope that the chief being a demi-god would spark as much interest in those mythologies and kids don’t get exposed to any of things that are from this land, from this country. Whether you’re Native American or African American, we have our own stories [and] folklore. That was just really exciting for me.”
Upkins said he felt the inclusion of the Chief shows just how inclusive the movie-going experience can be.
“Being part Cherokee, I’m always excited to see this aspect of my culture reflected in the media, particularly in speculative fiction,” he said. “The film’s openness is a reflection of how inclusive Wonder Woman and for that matter the DCEU is. Diana herself is queer/bisexual protagonist which she all but states in the film when she references the fact that men are good for procreating but sexual gratification is best with other women. This is also the film that got to see queer black super heroines get some shine battling the German invaders. This inclusiveness has already paid off in dividends of $700 million worldwide.”
Brave Rock’s portrayal is one of a small number of Indigenous characters or characters played by Indigenous actors to take part in the DCEU. In Suicide Squad, Adam Beach, a member of the Saulteaux First Nations, portrays anti-hero Slipknot, and in Aquaman and Justice League, Jason Momoa, who is of Native Hawaiian, Irish, German, and Native American descent, is portraying Aquaman himself.
Upkins said that the inclusion of the Chief and the addition of Brave Rock’s characterizations “debunks all excuses” for other films when it comes to a lack of proper representation.
“It shows that you can have Native characters in supporting and leading roles and still have a successful film,” he said. “Any claims to the contrary are dead on arrival.”
“You don’t often see Native or people of color during that time period [of Wonder Woman] so it’s sad to say but it’s kind of groundbreaking which is positive but also sad that this type of portrayal is still rare in the 21st century,” he said.
ALSO READ: 22 Race-Related Films That Will Make You Laugh, Cry, and Think Differently
Davis also hopes the film will lead to more casting that accurately portrays the character’s background instead of erasing it.
“…[A]sk [actors] how they can bring their life experience into the role,” she said. “People not only want to see themselves reflected but people both other ethnic/religious background are receptive and interested in seeing new talented faces.”
“I would hope that it would open up another door to not necessarily cast …It’s frustrating, and I know that several people have said this, not just Native Americans…[people] are getting frustrated by roles that are created and they want that character to have a specific look, they have to be Caucasian, this, that or the other,” said Capadona. “The most recent example of someone who is breaking down those barriers is Ava DuVernay’s casting in A Wrinkle in Time. When I was growing up and I read that book, I thought in my mind—because that’s the way everyone portrayed the character to me—that Meg Wallace was a character that should have been white, and here in the film she’s going to be biracial. It’s wonderful the way she’s done that. She’s cast a rainbow of other characters.”
With it being 2017, said Capadona, proper representation and staying away from the “Noble Native” stereotype shouldn’t be an issue. But she hopes accuracy in representation comes “sooner rather than later.”
“I’m just hoping other people will take the hint and do what Patty has done and create more roles and more opportunities for the actors and actresses to enrich these stories they want to tell,” she said.
The roles Capadona, Davis, and Upkins want to see the most involve Native characters living outside of the stereotype.
“I want to see them in the same type of roles that white counterparts have, from playing a bad guy to a hero, to love interest to just being a nuanced human with flaws in all genres,” said Davis.
Upkins said he’d love to see “[q]ueer male leads in speculative fiction.” Capadona said she’d love to have Native characters in all walks of life.
“I would love to see, because I love science-fiction, maybe some science-fiction elements added to a Native American story. I’d love to see a Native American actor or actress play a scientist, somebody who’s beyond the geologist or archeologist—somebody that’s actually doing astrophysics and going into space. We’ve had Native American astronauts; it’d be wonderful to see those kind of characters,” she said. “It’d be wonderful to see a Native American love story on the screen or even interracial, but not something that’s this tragic thing where it’s “My father doesn’t approve of you, I’m going to shame my family because I’m marrying you.” Just something beyond those typical things. Something off the reservation—there are middle class Native Americans in this country. Everybody isn’t on the reservation and dealing with reservation politics and poverty. Something that’s uplifting and showing people as multifaceted.”
“We’re starting to see more facets of Native American culture and I think the role of the chief is starting to turn the gemstone to see those different facets, but we still have a lot of turning to do and I’m really hoping this is the start.”♦
Wonder Woman comes to DVD and Blu-ray Sept. 19.
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DCEU Eugene Brave Rock movies Patty Jenkins The Chief Wonder Woman
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US Official Admits North Korean Missiles Aren’t Threat to America
Geopolitical moves are being made on the issue of North Korea. A day after South Korea’s new government offered to hold military talks with its neighbor to the North, the United States’ second-highest ranking military official admitted Tuesday that North Korean missiles lack the accuracy to effectively target U.S. cities.
Last week, South Korea’s defense ministry proposed that representatives from both the South and North Korean militaries meet at the border village of Panmunjom in North Korea for talks.
“We make the proposal for a meeting…aimed at stopping all hostile activities that escalate military tension along the land border,” South Korea’s defense ministry said in a statement.
The man in charge of North Korean affairs, unification minister Cho Myoung-gyon, said his country “would not seek collapse of the North or unification through absorbing the North” and suggested a positive response from Kim Jong-un’s government would represent a show of good faith.
“North Korea should respond to our sincere proposals if it really seeks peace on the Korean Peninsula,” Cho said, adding that if “North Korea chooses the right path, we would like to open the door for a brighter future for North Korea, together, by cooperating with the international community.”
The defense ministry’s overture falls in line with the approach advocated by new South Korean president Moon Jae-in, who supports diplomatic talks with the North led by South Korea.
Recently, ahead of the G20 summit in Germany, Moon stated that “the need for dialogue” with North Korea is “more pressing than ever before” because the situation had “reached the tipping point of the vicious cycle of military escalation.”
North Korea has yet to respond to the South’s proposal.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the primary driver of the “evil North Korea” narrative, United States appeared to go against the grain and actually downplayed the effectiveness of Kim Jong-un’s nuclear weapons program — or, at least, one senior official defense official did. From Reuters:
“North Korea does not have the ability to strike the United States with ‘any degree of accuracy’ and while its missiles have the range, they lack the necessary guidance capability, the vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Tuesday.”
Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General Paul Selva said North Korea’s July 4 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test showed that the country has no hope of hitting a U.S. target with any “reasonable confidence of success” and that recent talk about its ability to strike Alaska or the Pacific Northwest is overblown:
“What the experts tell me is that the North Koreans have yet to demonstrate the capacity to do the guidance and control that would be required.”
While the general’s admission isn’t on the same level as the actual act of diplomacy just demonstrated by South Korea, the fact that the U.S. military is walking back — even if only just a step or two — a narrative it fought so hard to establish is itself worthy of commentary.
So what gives? Why, in the last two days, have both the U.S. and ally South Korea suddenly taken a softer line — again, in their own ways — on the North Korea issue?
Are all parties concerned about to knock off the rhetoric and allow the Hermit Kingdom to continue to fire missiles into the sea?
Not likely. As with most other issues of geopolitical significance in that region of the world, these moves likely have far more to do with China.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Washington, D.C., for annual bilateral talks, this year dubbed the “U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue.”
It will be the third meeting between the two men, after Xi’s visit to Mar-a-Lago three months ago and their discussions on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany.
Recently, Trump reignited concern over a trade war between the U.S. and China when he said he was considering slapping import tariffs on steel. But these kinds of tactics are nothing new ahead of economic negotiations, as the Washington Post noted last Friday:
“In 1981, the Reagan administration convinced Japan to reduce the number of cars it was exporting to the United States in a bid to boost the U.S. auto sector. In 1984, the administration used the tactic again with the steel industry, as it told dozens of countries to either limit their steel shipments to the United States or lose access to the American market.”
In an article published Sunday titled “U.S.-China trade talks sputtering at 100-day deadline,” Reuters outlined how results from economic negotiations between the two countries have been less than encouraging since Trump and Xi first met at Mar-a-Lago.
The general consensus is that Donald Trump needs a major win with China to prove he’s sticking to the “America first” guns that got him into the White House.
Noting that “North Korea has cast a long shadow over the relationship” between Trump and Xi, Reuters points out that the Hermit Kingdom and its nuclear weapons program have been a hindrance to cooperation for the U.S. president:
“Trump has linked progress in trade to China’s ability to rein in North Korea, which counts on Beijing as its chief friend and ally.”
On Tuesday, the Associated Press also highlighted how Trump has used the issue of North Korea as a bargaining chip at the negotiating table with China:
“As a presidential candidate, Trump attacked China for refusing to pressure Pyongyang to back off from developing nuclear weapons. After the Mar-a-Lago summit, though, Trump praised Beijing for agreeing to help deal with North Korea. As a reward, he abandoned his vow to accuse China of manipulating its currency to benefit Chinese exporters.”
So it may be that this one-two punch from the United States and ally South Korea was a coordinated effort to ease tensions and create an atmosphere conducive to cooperation ahead of critical negotiations between the U.S. and China.
It may be that the Trump administration is signaling that it would be willing to back off on pressuring China to rein in Kim Jong-un if China is willing to make concessions on the economic front — and give Trump the win he needs.
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