This week was not so much a week of new battles as a week of old battles rethought. And re-fought. Perhaps nowhere was this more evident than in the reemergence of Monica Lewinsky.
She gave a TED talk, calling her experience the first case of cyber-bullying, describing how the internet, even in those early days, became a loudspeaker allowing hundreds of strangers to send her shaming messages.
Of course there has been much commentary about her talk, some sympathetic and some skeptical. When I listened to her speak, I was more impressed with her than I imagined I could be, though I kept wondering about a woman who would keep a dress without having it cleaned. But she has chosen an important cause, and is an eloquent advocate. And whatever one thinks of her personally, the fact remains that Bill Clinton lost nothing ultimately, while her life was forever damaged.
International News
Photographer Heidi Levine won the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award for her photographs of Gaza during and after the attacks last summer. Some of the photos have become famous in themselves. Do look at the slide show in this article. Congratulations to her.
An indigenous Peruvian woman is leading the fight against the Newmont Mining company, which wants to create an open-pit gold mine on her and neighboring farms. Here is a petition you can sign to show support.
A Columbian report found that US troops sexually abused 54 underage girls in Colombia between 2003 and 2007.
Here is an organization I had not heard of that supports women fighting for justice around the world. Does anyone know anything more about them? This link is to their home page, which will take you various projects they support.
National News
Laws - making them, and interpreting them - are in the news this week.
The Supreme Court came down on the right side of a workplace discrimination case with its decision in Young v. UPS. I remember this series telling of the appellate decision which threw the case out. This week's decision sends the case back to the lower court with a much fairer definition of what is needed to show discrimination. It's worth noting that UPS already changed its policy when the Supreme Court decided to hear the case.
Another woman suing for gender discrimination, Ellen Pao, will also have her day in court, now that a judge has found that a "reasonable" juror could find that she had indeed faced discrimination because she is a woman. The article also discusses another upcoming Silicon Valley gender discrimination case.
As more and more states are passing more and more anti-woman, anti-abortion bills, (here's the latest example from here in Arizona) and more of these bills eliminate rape and incest as exceptions, more women are following Wendy Davis and telling their personal stories in public debate. This month Victoria Steele spoke in Arizona and Teresa Fedor spoke passionately in Kansas.
Elsewhere:
A man figures out what women have always known.
And kudos to the father who recognized this outrage for what it is.