Photo from U.S. News
The House must have left all the fighting to the Senate for once! The Human Trafficking Bill that got some senators in a tissy expeditiously passed the House. “Approved in a 420-to-3 vote, the bill — intended to increase penalties for perpetrators and support for victims — moved quickly through the House under a procedure that prevents amendments from being added on the floor.”
While there’s still work to be done, this is a huge step in the right direction. Doesn’t it make more sense to go after those demanding the illegal activity rather than the ones being forced to deliver it?
Needs Our Attention:
Time.com piece from the Everyday Sexism Project reminds us that there’s are so many subtle ways we influence young girls. The story looks at the treatment of young girls dressing for school and how differently we respond to girl versus boys when it comes to our school attire.
Telling a girl her clothing is distracting, brings all kinds of strange attention to her body. Perhaps what’s most distracting and a waste of time is how she’ll now spend twice as long thinking about what she should wear…
This reminds us of the Adam and Eve parable, it’s as though all the onus in still on women, because of course men can’t be responsible.
“At my school our dress code dictates everything about a girls outfit: knee length shorts or skirts only, no cleavage, no bra straps, no tank tops. We can’t even wear flip flops, and girls will be given detentions and sent home for breaking any one of these rules. There’s no dress code for men, and the reasoning? Girls can’t dress ‘provocatively’ because it could distract and excite the boys.”
“When a girl is taken out of class on a hot day for wearing a strappy top, because she is ‘distracting’ her male classmates, his education is prioritized over hers. When a school takes the decision to police female students’ bodies while turning a blind eye to boys’ behavior, it sets up a lifelong assumption that sexual violence is inevitable and victims are partially responsible. Students are being groomed to perpetuate the rape culture narrative that sits at the very heart of our society’s sexual violence crisis. It matters very much indeed.”
