One woman or girl is killed every other day in Canada. This is not a new fact nor does it represent a new trend. For 40 years, this fact has varied little; similarly, rates of other forms of violence against women and girls have remained persistently stable. Violence is a product of our culture. So, too, […]
When you’ve survived childhood abuse, it’s common to carry emotional baggage with you into adulthood. And it makes sense — if the only messaging you received in your upbringing was abusive, it’s no wonder children who were abused grow up to have greater struggles with self-esteem, interpersonal relationships and mental health. In addition to carrying […]
An Oregon couple has been fighting a legal battle after they lost custody of their two kids because both were designated not intelligent enough to care for them in a safe and proper manner. A relative to the couple initially expressed concern in a complaint to authorities regarding the Christopher’s well-being under the care of […]
Many fans are shocked and heartbroken over the loss this week of Chester Bennington, the fierce lead singer for the rock band Linkin Park. Police say they are treating his death as a possible suicide, which would make the pain even harder to bear.There’s a famous saying, “When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” […]
Trauma is something that Michael knows all too well. He says he was about four years old when he and his siblings were first apprehended by child protection services. “There was lots of violence in my home,” he says. After being removed from his home multiple times, he and his sister were sent to live at separate […]
A vague new child marriage law in Bangladesh invokes the parental permission loophole setting no minimum age for marriage — an astounding turn of events that has human rights groups up in arms. In spite of protests over the law in Jan., the government’s parliament has approved what is called the “Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017,” which […]
A deadly fire that killed 28 girls at an orphanage in Guatemala last Wednesday was started after resident children set mattresses on fire and launched a riot as a way of protesting the shelter’s poor conditions. The government-run children’s shelter was meant to be a safe shelter for vulnerable and abused teens in the semi-rural, […]
Malawi has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, where approximately one out of every two girls marry before age 18. It has the ninth highest rate in Africa. However, on Tuesday February 14, 2017, Malawi made a historic amendment to its constitution to fully outlaw child marriage following more than a […]
Last month, Cruz pleaded guilty to manslaughter for failure to provide medical care, in the July 14, 2013 death of her baby son Nicholas. Monday, she was testifying at a Gardiner hearing — basically, a prelude to sentencing — in the case of Joel France. At the time of Nicholas’s death, France was Cruz’s live-in […]
Domestic violence is a devastating social problem that affects every segment of the population. But while the conversation is focused on harsher penalties for the perpetrator or help for the wounded, no one is talking about the hidden victims: children. Many children are victims and can also become victims as they are forced to leave their […]