International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women – marked the beginning of the U.N.’s “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence” campaign, which ends on December 10, Human Rights Day. In October, Secretary Rice urged U.S. ambassadors around the globe to help raise awareness of gender-based violence in their host countries by engaging host-country governments, civil society and media during the 16 Days of Activism.

On December 1, 2008, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST (21:00 to 22:30 GMT), Embassy Suva will host a digital videoconference with NGO activists and others to discuss the prevention of violence against women, the protection of victims and how to increase social services.

NewsBlaze.com

Major employers such as Gap Inc., Kaiser Permanente, Liz Claiborne Inc., Macy’s and Verizon Wireless, along with leading Employee Assistance Program providers including Ceridian, CIGNA, Magellan Health Services, OptumHealth, ValueOptions and others, announced a new national plan to help employers make better use of EAPs to better assist employees who are victims of domestic violence.

Ohsonline.com

BY CLAUDIA GRYVATZ COPQUIN | Claudia Gryvatz Copquin of Northport writes frequently for Newsday.

A tree is to be dedicated today at the School for Language and Communications Development in Glen Cove, in remembrance of Bethpage teacher Leah Walsh. It’s a good time also to recall Carol Kotsopoulos, Lisa Solomon and Annie DiMassino, Long Island women who met violent death at the hands of their husbands – husbands who then attempted to cover up the murders.

In the most recent case, Leah Walsh, 29, was allegedly strangled by her husband of three years. In a scheme to stage her abduction, police say, William Walsh dumped his wife’s body in the woods off a service road of the LIE. They say he flattened a tire on her car, tossing her pocketbook out on the grass, and, to throw everyone off, reportedly sent a warm text message to himself from her cell phone.

Then, as if in a rerun of the Scott Peterson case in California and the Mark Hacking case in Utah – both claimed their wives had disappeared, when instead they had murdered them – Walsh pleaded emotionally for his wife’s safe return.

For all the hotlines, studies, agencies, orders of protection and public-awareness campaigns, domestic violence runs rampant in our culture. The Women’s Center at Southern Connecticut State University estimates there are 28 million battered women in the United States. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in every four women will experience domestic abuse in her lifetime.

NewsDay.com

Elizabeth Bevins

“Timing is everything,” or sometimes it simply seems to not be “the right time.”

One sentence can literally “make time standstill.” Events in all of our lives create “timelines,” clearly defining what our lives were before and what are lives have now become.

My Mom was raised in a very violent home, and she then married my Father, who sadly was also violent and abusive. When my Mom was dying, and I asked her why we stayed, her response was that “it was too late for her… that there was no time, but that I did not ever have to live that way.”

My life was forever changed when her doctor said, “There is nothing more that we can do.” This sentence was spoken a short time before she passed away, days after Mother’s Day.

My mom must have miscalculated the “time” that she had in her life. I believe that if she knew all of what would be, she would have worked very hard to make every minute matter.

Starexponent.com

Please check back soon.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — At 7-foot-1 and more than 300 pounds, Shaquille O’Neal doesn’t look like the type of person who would be easily intimidated.

NBA star Shaquille O’Neal praises Karen Earl for her efforts on behalf of domestic abuse victims.

But volunteering with local law enforcement, the NBA star has learned from his peers that domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous for police officers.

“[It's] a very disturbing thing,” said O’Neal, who himself has dealt mainly with children’s cases.

“I don’t really think a lot of women know what to do,” he said.

That’s where Karen Earl comes in.

As executive director of the Jenesse Center, the oldest domestic violence intervention program in south central Los Angeles, California, Earl is a “tireless and fearless” champion of women and children living in abusive situations, O’Neal says.

CNN.com

Mary Kay Spokesperson, singer-songwriter, Jewel has just announced the cosmetic company’s second annual “A Kiss for Country” promotion. The announcement came Tuesday morning at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville Tennessee.

Jewel and Mary Kay were on hand last night in Nashville for the annual CMA awards. Mary Kay is the proud beauty sponsor of this year’s award show, and the company even gave a lucky winner an all expense paid trip to the event.

The Kiss for Country campaign helps raise money for the awareness and prevention of domestic violence around the United States. Over 60 artists participated in the campaign in which they kissed and signed special Mary Kay prints that will be auctioned off for charity.

OpTree.com