Domestic violence victims denied justice: state of Roraima

                                    fails to investigate, prosecute abusers

      June 21, 2017

      The authorities in the Brazilian state of Roraima are failing to investigate or prosecute domestic violence cases, leaving women at further risk of abuse, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The serious problems in Roraima, the state with the highest rate of killings of women in Brazil, reflect nationwide failures to provide victims of domestic violence with access to justice and protection.

      Killings of women rose 139 percent from 2010 to 2015 in Roraima, reaching 11.4 homicides per 100,000 women that year, the latest for which there is data available. The national average is 4.4 killings per 100,000 women—already one of the highest in the world. Studies in Brazil and worldwide estimate that a large percentage of women who suffer violent deaths are killed by partners or former partners.

      Only a quarter of women who suffer violence in Brazil report it, according to a February 2017 survey that does not provide state-by-state data. Human Rights Watch found in Roraima that when women do call police they face considerable barriers to having their cases heard. Military police told Human Rights Watch that, for lack of personnel, they do not respond to all emergency calls from women who say they are experiencing domestic violence. Other women are turned away at police stations. Some civil police officers in Boa Vista, the state´s capital, decline to register domestic violence complaints or to request protection orders. Instead, they direct victims to the single “women’s police station” in the state – which specializes in crimes against women – even at times when that station is closed. Even when police receive their complaints, women must tell their story of abuse, including sexual abuse, in open reception areas, as there are no private rooms to take statements in any police station in the state.

      Not a single civil police officer in Roraima receives training in how to handle domestic violence cases. Some police officers, when receiving women seeking protection orders, take statements so carelessly that judges lack the basic information they need to decide whether to issue the order. Civil police are unable to keep up with the volume of complaints they do receive. In Boa Vista, the police have failed to do investigative work on a backlog of 8,400 domestic violence complaints.

(Human Rights Watch. www.hrw.org/news/2017/06/21/ brazil-domestic-violence-victims-denied-justice. Adaptado)

Woman who rescued Nigerian 'witch-child' beats Obama and Pope Francis to top list of world's most inspiring people

      A woman who rescued a two-year-old boy who had been cast out by his own community for being a "witch-child" has been recognised in an international list of the most inspiring people of the year. Anja Ringgren Lovén, a Danish care worker who rescued the young Nigerian boy back in February 2016, beat the likes of Pope Francis, Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama to top the list of 100 inspiring individuals compiled by German-language OOOM Magazine.

      An image of Ms Lovén giving the two-year-old boy (now called Hope) some water was shared around the world, and served to highlight the work she was doing to help orphan children in Nigeria. Witch accusations is a growing problem in many African countries, especially in Nigeria, where Anja's charity African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation cares for other children like Hope.

      "When she saw the starving child, she acted like a human being and became an inspiration for millions," said Georg Kindel, OOOM's editor-in-chief, who led the jury that chose the list. Speaking today about the experience, she said: "He was the size of a little baby, my whole body froze. I was thinking of my own son when I saw the boy. For me it was clear at that moment that I would fight with all my strength for him to survive."

Adapted from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/ worlds-most-inspiring-person-2016-ooom-anja-ringgren-lovennigeria-witch-child-a7460976.html

                                   Military operations in megacities

                                         A linguistic perspective

      The challenge of conducting future military operations within megacities (cities with populations over ten million) lies in understanding the dynamic and multidimensional complexities of these urban areas. Military operations in megacities, whether combat-oriented or otherwise, will be similar to those in other urban environments, but will be complicated by factors unique to the megacity environment.

      First and foremost, megacities are largely multilingual. While this can be said of large cities in general, the scale of multilingualism in megacities magnifies its effects. For instance, in New York City (NYC) - a metropolitan megacity of over eighteen million people - nine foreign languages are spoken by communities of one hundred thousand or larger. Language also plays a role in determining one's identity and the language community in which one decides to live. For example, the majority of Russian speakers in NYC tend to live in south Brooklyn and Staten Island, while Chinese speakers tend to cluster in Manhattan and Sunset Park. In megacities, language, culture, and regional context go hand in hand and often reach beyond ethnic identities.

      In order to fully understand the context of a megacity, we must understand the role of the languages used in its communities. How _____(1) language communities interact in megacities? What tensions _____ (2) caused by multiple language communities in urban space? What role______ (3) language play in the power structures (government or otherwise) of megacities?

                                                                              Adapted from Military Review - Jan/Feb 2016

                          A handwritten note from September 11

      In moments of crisis, our first thoughts are usually to get in contact with the people we love. September 11, 2001, was a day when many people wanted to know that their loved ones were safe. At 9:37 a.m., the Pentagon was attacked by terrorists who crashed an airplane into the western side of the building.

      Many people tried using the mobile phones that existed then, but few were successful. Franklin and Daria Gaillard (Frank and Chip) were both members of the Air Force and worked at the Pentagon. They worked in different parts of the building and had a previous agreement that they would meet at their car in the parking lot if there were any emergency.

      Daria was the first to arrive at the car and wrote a note to Franklin saying "Frank - Sweetie I am okay. I'm w/ my office over by the Lyndon B. Johnson Memorial Sign. I'll stay there till you come. Love lots & lots, Chip." Frank found the note and was able to locate his wife in the aftermath of the attack.

      What makes this story so interesting is the handwritten note. Today, in our digital culture, we have a variety of ways to let people know that we are safe. Text messages, voicemail, and different forms of social media can be used to get the information out to loved ones. In 2001, when these attacks__________(1), the cellular network was still growing and was not as robust as it is today.

      This letter is just one of the many objects that The National Museum of American History_________ (2) since 2001. To learn more, visit our online exhibition September 11th: Bearing Witness to History.

              Adapted from http://americanhistory.si.edu/biog/handwritten-note-september-11-2001

                                How diversity makes us smarter

      Decades of research by organizational scientists, psychologists, sociologists, economists and demographers show that socially diverse groups (that is, those with a diversity of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation) are more innovative than homogeneous groups. It means being around people who are different from us makes us more creative, more diligent and more hardworking.

      It seems obvious that a group of people with diverse individual expertise would be better than a homogeneous group at solving complex, non-routine problems. It is less obvious that social diversity should work in the same way - yet the science shows that it does. This is not only because people with different backgrounds bring new information. Simply interacting with individuals who are different forces group members to prepare better, to anticipate alternative viewpoints and to expect that reaching consensus will take effort.

      Diversity of expertise confers benefits that are obvious - you would not think of building a new car without engineers, designers and quality-control experts - but what about social diversity? The same logic applies to social diversity. People who are different from one another in race, gender and other dimensions bring unique information and experiences to bear on the task at hand. A male and a female engineer might have perspectives as different from one another as an engineer and a physicist - and that is a good thing.

      The fact is that if you want to build teams or organizations capable of innovating, you need diversity. Diversity enhances creativity. It encourages the search for novel information and perspectives, leading to better decision making and problem solving. Diversity can improve the bottom line of companies and lead to discoveries and breakthrough innovations. Even simply being exposed to diversity can change the way you think.

        Adapted from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-diversity-makes-us-smarter/

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“I find the easiest way to expand my vocabulary is to make up words.”  

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