~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE WASH RAG published by Women Against Sexual Harassment ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Available on-line ASAP at http://www.washrag.org/ or http://members.tripod.com/~WASHRAG/ along with earlier issues ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subscribe to e-mail version of this newsletter by going to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WomenAgainstSexualHarassmentNationaland and joining the group. Recent issues are posted here immediately when completed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Issue 10, Number 3 October, 2002 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contents ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harassment at New Jersey State Police Harassment by Doctor/Colleague Sauce for the Gander? National International LOCAL Canadian Resource Directory The Choices We Make THE KALI GUIDE CASA House ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cary W. Goldstein, Attorney at Law Divorce/Custody - Palimony - Domestic Torts Licensed in California - Available Nationwide Located in Beverly Hills, California Please address inquiries to: palimony90210(bleep)hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harassment at New Jersey State Police ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Trenton, N. J. Jennifer Morse, a lifelong Trenton resident, thought she had landed a great career opportunity when she took a job with the division of State Police after graduating high school in 1990. But what she thought was going to be a great opportunity turned out to be 8 cruel years in a sexually hostile environment that left the young woman emotionally broken and ultimately unable to function in normal day-to-day life. Early on, Morse didn’t realize things were as they seemed due to her youth, Morse did her best to ignore daily jokes, innuendoes, solicitations for sex, and other degrading acts and concentrated on her work. In 1993, the conditions had worsened when Lt. Russell Dunfee had become her new unit supervisor by virtue of an internal transfer. He began talking to her about inappropriate subject matter from his sexual ability and urges that escalated to touching, pinching and rubbing of shoulders and an array of other torments. Lt. Russell Dunfee would speak about his stepdaughter walking around in a thong (who was approximately the same age as Morse). Morse’s complaints to then bureau supervisor and current head of State Police (Capt. Frederick Madden) were brushed off. Morse was instructed to "go along with it, the grass isn’t greener on the other side." Lt. Russell Dunfee, who was told of the complaints against him, confronted Morse, telling her, she was not part of the club, she was not a team player, and she should not have gone over his head. After repeated complaints, Capt. Frederick Madden agreed to transfer Morse in 1997. This welcomed transfer was a lateral move to the Facilities Maintenance Unit. This only led Morse through another round of abuse. The principal sources in that unit being Thomas Ely and Donald Jones. Complaints to her new unit supervisor Lt. Edward Sarin went largely unanswered until they finally agreed to make Thomas Ely re-watch the sexual harassment videotape for the purpose of dealing properly and appropriately with people in the workplace. Instead of improving the situation, this sparked retaliation against Morse. During her mental collapse, she was heavily medicated and was seeking psychological treatment to learn that she was terminated. To this day, she is on high level of medication, but her psychological therapy was interrupted by difficulty in paying for that treatment, as the state has paid nothing for Morse’s treatment. Morse’s health has deteriorated over the past 12 years both mentally and physically. She suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Severe Major Depression, Anxiety Disorder with Mixed Emotional Features, Panic Attacks, Insomnia and Psoriasis (which is exacerbated by stress) and now has begun to inflict her with spinal problems. Her liver could be compromised due to her high level of medication. Morse has suffered a tremendous amount, just on a human being level. Her family has suffered just as dearly in trying to help her get through this emotional time. Her fiancée has been forced to work 2 and 3 jobs just to cover the cost of her medical treatment, not to mention normal living expenses. Morse’s case is not unusual at the Division of State Police of New Jersey, where positions of power are abused and used to inflict a cruel and sexually hostile environment. Nja6372(bleep)aol.com (609) 888-0330 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Harassment by Doctor/Colleague ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When did the laws of this country stop protecting everyone? More importantly when did it become expectable? When sexual harassment occurs and the harasser admits to it, why then is he not punished? The Missouri Human Rights Act protects business’s from sexual harassment that are owned and operated by a religious order and does not require the employer to inform new employee’s of this when hired. When a physician sexually harassed an employee, the hospital’s response was to transfer and eventually eliminate the harassed employee and put a letter in the physicians file. Yet when a volunteer who had been employed there for many years patted someone on the rear he was terminated due to a "No Tolerance" sexual harassment policy. Why the difference? Because the laws have shown us that they believe doctors to be beyond reproach. Why do people sexually harass others? Surveys show that it is not about sex, that it is more because the sexual harasser’s need to take advantage of someone in a vulnerable position. It is all about control. Many people who are harassed develop both physical and psychological symptoms. The emotional effects that are most often reported are depression, anxiety, anger and the irritability of coping with their job, family and friends. They lose faith in the system that fails to protect them and allowed them to be treated that way in the first place. The harassed victim begins to wonder if they did anything wrong or gave any reason to believe that it was OK to be treated this way. Feelings of anxiety begin to create a sence of panic and frustration. Then the situation seems to bring on physical effects that can cause a person to lose weight or gain weight. Headaches can start along with insomnia. The person can become tearful and have problems coping with everyday issues. Sexual problems can become active because of the harassed person or because the spouse has distanced themselves because of issues that the family is going through. The effects of harassment can linger for a long time even after the harassment stopped. depaulhospitalsucks(bleep)hotmail.com www.depaulhospitalsucks.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sauce for the Gander? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Do you concern yourself with sexual harassment of men by women, or doesn't that count? I am particularly concerned with what happens to male inmates in US prisons. With the compliance of the federal courts, male inmates' 14th amendment rights to privacy are routinely dismissed, while complaints made by female inmates on this same issue are routinely upheld. Female guards in male prisons are routinely allowed to strip search male inmates; observe them in showers and the toilets and when they are undressed in their cells, both directly and via camera monitors; and pat-down clothed male inmates, a search that requires a thorough manual inspection of the inmate's genital and anal areas. Moreover, female guards are allowed to accompany and observe male inmates when the inmates receive medical treatment, which may involve intimate examinations, or observe while male inmates submit to digital rectal examinations searching for contraband. The courts have said this is all okay, but not the other way around. Male guards may not conduct the same security checks on female inmates. The courts reason (sic) that, based on unsubstantiated surveys that claim that anywhere from 48% to 90% of female inmates have been sexually or physically abused as children and adults by men, male guards' control over them must be limited. These data were collected from surveys answered by the inmates themselves, which of course makes their veracity unassailable. In fact, there are those who argue that most of these women should not be in jail at all. They aren't criminals, not really. They are victims -- of men and society. Beaten, battered, undereducated and poor, most of these women have been victimized by taking drugs. It isn't their fault that they committed crimes to support their habits. It is the drugs' fault. It is society's fault. Most of all, it is men's fault. Anyone's fault but the inmates. And beside, what happens to their children while these women are in prison? Did anyone ever ask what happened to the children while these "victims" were out on the street raising the money necessary to continue being victimized by drugs and men? These delicate little flowers, a substantial number of whom are in jail for homicide, and many of whom are repeat offenders, would be traumatized by male guards strip searching them. Naturally, they don't like the idea of male guards inspecting their breasts, vaginas and anuses. Funny, I've interviewed numerous former inmates of male prisons --none of whom, surprisingly, was a graduate of Choate, Harvard and a wealthy banker at the time of his arrest -- and they didn't particularly like having to routinely expose their penises, testicles and anuses to female guards. But they didn't have a P.C.-besotted court behind. The Title Seven rights of the female guards to equal employment opportunities trump these male inmates' 14th amendment rights -- perhaps the ONLY time a mere statute has been allowed to outweigh the Constitution in US history. I am certainly opposed to ANY harassment of female inmates by male guards, whenever and wherever that can be proved. Such guards should be prosecuted, most especially if it can be demonstrated that they raped a female inmate. At the same time, most penologists will tell you that some -- not all -- but some female inmates will attempt to use sex with male (or homosexual female) guards to gain favors. I also find it passing strange that a male inmate's claim of sexual harassment by female guards, who taunted him and made loud, disparaging remarks about his genitals while guarding him while he was showering, was dismissed (Somers v. Thurman,1997). The court (the robed buffoons of the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals) said that since it only happened occasionally, it was okay. Would it be okay with WASHRAG if male guards occasionally made jokes about female inmates' genitals while watching these inmates shower? How would you feel about this solution to the inmate privacy issue. Either require male inmates to be guarded only by males and female inmates to be guarded only by females (of course this would run afoul of Title 7), or allow total equity to reign with male guards allowed to supervise fully male and female inmates (including all security duties such as routine strip searches, etc.) and female guards to do the same with male and female inmates (as is now the case)? Or, when it comes to women's rights, does "equality" really mean "privilege" for women? John Austin jjaustin1(bleep)hotmail.com Most of the situations of the sexual harassment of women by male guards have involved either sex forced on the women by guards in a power position, the misuse of searches as a form of punishment, or the use of women in prison for pornography. We haven’t seen much in the way of complaints of routine searches. We recognize that prison inmates of both sexes are in prison because they have committed crimes, and they should be treated the same. We believe that statistics have shown that most male prisoners were abused, sexually and otherwise, as children as well. Probably also by men. The truth is, men are more likely to abuse children than women, though it does happen. I don’t think that in the majority of cases, the female prisoners solicit sex from male guards. Even if they do, the guards are in positions of power in prisons, and there is absolutely no excuse for them having sexual relations with female prisoners whether the women want it or not. Sexual abuse is simply more prevalent where there is a power situation: in jobs where women are paid poorly, law enforcement and the military, where the victims are young, retarded, elderly or as in these cases, incarcerated. Although it is offensive to believe this, people who enjoy abusing others gravitate to these kinds of jobs. Institutions do not do enough to weed out these kinds of offenders. The answer is not to only allow men to search men and women to search women, but for the organizations to only hire professional male and female guards instead of perverts. This kind of segregation would be a step towards the burka. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sexual Harassment excused by Arkansas Agency ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A month-long sexual harassment investigation has ended finally in the Arkansas DCC Jonesboro Probation and Parole Office. An alleged incident occurred at a conference held in Ft. Smith this past March. By the recommendation of the woman in charge of Grievances for the agency, an employee called for an investigation. This employee was harassed and stalked by an Assistant Area Supervisor. The supervisor followed her into the bathroom, up to her room, then asked to search her room. When the supervisor was not allowed in the room by one of the witnesses, they sat down outside in the hallway until she came out. Several people were witnesses to the event. At the end of the investigation, it was found by internal affairs that the Supervisor had done nothing wrong, although the witnesses all testified, on tape, that they were afraid of the supervisor during the incident and are still wary of his behavior. When the employee requested a copy of the investigation, she was refused. It happened to a close friend of mine and I was one of the witnesses. I have, along with several others, been tape recorded. She has contacted several lawyers in our area, but they will not take on a case against a state agency. Evidently there is some by-law somewhere in the much amended constitution that prohibits such a thing. Jonesboro is city with approx. 55,000 people and to my knowledge there isn't any local group organized dealing with women’s issues. There really needs to be. I have worked with Cookie this past year. Prior to this, I was in graduate school teaching as a GA. She has tried to find someone to just talk to her. She had faith that the IA of the agency would help, but like I wrote before, they wouldn't even give her a copy of the report. She pursued this investigation after the Grievance person for the agency encouraged her too. Sherry Enderle is the only female that I am aware of that is in a high position with the DCC. Cookie Kueter is the victims name. She is the Accounting Secretary for our office. She was called down to Little Rock this past Monday and told that there wasn't anything at all wrong with what happened to her. The following day, our boss sent out a memo basically aimed at her and the others involved in the testimony. It designated her as the only receptionist, which she was not hired to be, and forbid anyone from conversing with her at the front desk. She is so discouraged that she wants to quit. She is married with a child and her husband has been in law school the past three years. It would be wonderful if she had someone to contact that cared enough to listen. I told you that I had been a witness to the situation. I was tape-recorded on the tenth of this month. Of course, there has been tension in the office ever since. As of yesterday, I am no longer employed with the DCC. About 2:30 my supervisor came in and told me it would be my last day. I asked him why and he said "irreconcilable differences." I told him that I wasn't going to sign the paper of termination and I was quitting. I have worked there since Aug. 2 of last year. They have a 1 year probationary period for new hires. You can be terminated throughout that period. I feared that this might happen because I was the only one involved that was on probation. Jillian Hartley harassedsexual(bleep)hotmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ National ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (WOMENSENEWS)--While the U.S. Senate considers ratifying a landmark international treaty on women's rights, San Francisco has been quietly implementing the treaty's protocols on gender equity--with surprising results. Since San Francisco started to implement the treaty without waiting for the Congress, many changes have been made to improve women’s status. The treaty has still not been ratified by the Senate, which has adjourned until after the elections. Regarding the sexual harassment of women belonging to a Washington, D. C. Athletic Club, we received this: I'm sorry there's no update for you on my story from the summer. We haven't seen the guy we had a problem with at any other event, but we have seen his friends at other kickball events. They're just as grabby, just as obnoxious. I just warn my friends to stay away from them all in general. Beth The joint conference committee on the Defense Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2003 (H.R. 5010) included the following in its final report to the House of Representatives (H.Rpt. 107-732): $5 million for victim advocates with confidentiality at military installations Multidisciplinary teams, fatality review panels within the Department of Defense to operate on a confidential basis multidisciplinary fatality review teams to operate on a confidential basis Annual Report to Congress for 2003 of the recommendations of the Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence Thank you on behalf of victims and survivors of domestic violence within the US Armed Forces. (WOMENSENEWS)--A circuit court judge in Michigan dismissed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Ford Motor Company, citing interviews with reporters in which the plaintiff and her lawyer discussed evidence that was part of the public record. Justine Maldonado contended that Daniel P. Bennett, a manager at Ford, exposed himself to her, demanded oral sex and followed her home. A Ford investigation found that Maldonado's accusations, and those of the other women, were without merit. ETR Associates has a catalog of brochures for violence prevention, including Bullying, harassment, rape, hate, and domestic violence. It is interesting that they are noting the difference between them, as the methods of dealing with them can be quite different. www.etr.org The U. S. Postal service has a packet of information to help people deal with harassment by mail. It is called the Consumer Protection Packet and is available by request. It is aimed primarily to deal with obscene materials delivered by mail. Law and Order, Crime and Punishment had a number of programs this past summer that dealt with domestic abuse. Law and Order, Criminal Intent had a very well done program that dealt with the murder of a doctor who performed abortions, it had a particularly good depiction of the issues, specifically a woman who did not feel ready to commit to raising a child and her boyfriend who was enraged that he could not stop her from having an abortion. There have been several Law and Order episodes including some Special Victims Unit, that have dealt with crimes committed against women because of a male’s bruised ego, once because a girlfriend laughed at her partner when he couldn’t perform sex, once when a less achieving husband wanted to get his wife’s estate and be able to keep his mistresses, once when a very successful female lawyer was threatening the ego of her husband, a less successful public prosecutor. They really deserve some e-mails of thanks for addressing the motivation behind these pertinent issues! Write to: Viewer Relations, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112 LawOrderSVU(bleep)nbc.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ International ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Siam Hope is being set up to help exploited and trafficked women primarily in Asian countries. Members are requested at this time to help compile mail and e-mail addresses of companies and individuals that may help in this cause. This includes addresses of news, press, non-profit organizations, Asian clubs and Asian American press. A list of categories will be established soon, and a list of areas of how you can help will be posted. Please help make difference in someone's life, if you can help devote some time please join. Group name : SiamHope Group home page : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SiamHope siamhope(bleep)yahoo.com (NOW Action Alert) On August 19, a regional Nigerian appeals court upheld the sentence of Amina Lawal Kurami to the ultimate punishment -- death by stoning -- for bearing a child out of wedlock, an action that didn't hurt anyone. Clearly a man participated in this, and yet only Amina Lawal Kurami faces death. Her sentence is both inhumane and discriminatory, and it's clearly a violation of the Nigerian constitution and inconsistent with Nigeria's obligation under the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). A few excerpts from a poll about Violence against women in the Palestinian Society by The Palestinian Working Women Society for Development (PWWSD): When asked whether or not the police should intervene when women are assaulted by their husbands, 53.7% of the respondents disagree out of the token that it is a private family matter, whereas 36.0% support this intervention, and 10.3% refrain from answering this question. 38.7% of men and women respondents believe that Palestinian women should not be treated democratically for they will not appreciate, whereas 55.8% believe the opposite, and 5.5% express no opinion. 51.8% support a man’s abusing his wife physically if she does not obey him, whereas 44.1% oppose, and 4.1% express no opinion kukali(bleep)p-ol.com For information about sexual harassment in Mexico: Grupo de Educacion Popular con Mujeres, A.C. - (In Spanish): - http://www.laneta.apc.org/gem/gem_2.htm Federacion Nacional de Sindicatos Bancarios - (In Spanish): - http://www.fenasib.org.mx/ Instituto Nacional de las Mujeres - (In Spanish): - http://www.inmujeres.gob.mx/ (WOMENSENEWS)--In a recent landmark decision, the European Union Parliament equated sexual harassment with discrimination and decreed that member States must establish laws that would prevent such harassment in the workplace. The August 27th issue of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader had a note that Iran’s parliament had approved a bill giving women the right to sue for divorce for the first time. It had earlier lifted a ban on unmarried women studying abroad. The AAUW Outlook had an item about the Turkish Parliament revising the country’s civil code to formally recognize women’s equality. Beginning last January 1, women can work outside the home without her husband’s permission, enjoy property rights, and keep her maiden name if she chooses. They can also sue for divorce if their husbands commit adultery. On August 20, South Dakota Public Television carried a Point of View about the rape and murder of nearly 300 women in Juarez, Mexico, which is right across the river from El Paso, Texas. An independent film maker’s investigation of the problem was largely in Spanish, and because of weather warnings, the sub-titles were mostly covered up. Funny, I’ve seen warnings on the top of the screen, on the side of the screen, but this time, they were all on the bottom. It also seemed to me that when a man was speaking, the weather didn’t seem to be as threatening. Occasional remarks by the film makers did convey that the Mexican government is doing little or nothing about the problem, and that one woman had been raped in police custody in front of her husband. The problem seems to be that there are many women traveling to Juarez to work because of the many multi-national factories there, and that the investigation has stalled because nobody wants them to close down. In July, I got an e-mail from someone with a German yahoo e-mail address. The message was certainly originally in German, there were translations in (poor) English and French. The author was distressed over some material he had gathered on-line, and for which he gave many URLs. I would be glad to forward the entire text to anyone interested, just e-mail me at washragezine(bleep)yahoo.com. The writer had been able to find so many references for the use of electronic means to manipulate people, using the fillings in their teeth as receivers, etc. While this may seem like X-Files material, there has to be some explanation for some people thinking God has told them to go murder the president or some celebrity. They are either nuts or . . . For more information, go to www.janetleih.com. There is more information on this subject in the Addendum of When Medicine Failed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LOCAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The August 21 issue of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader had a story about a Harrisburg, SD, man, Daron Bunger, who had been cleared in sexual contact cases. This was also carried on TV news. The man was accused of improperly touching four Harrisburg girls ages 10 to 13. The girls apparently spent time in his apartment, including a 10 year old and a 12 year old who slept over. He had in his possession two obscene pictures of girls, and audio tapes of the alleged victims talking sexually including two of them practicing fake orgasms. He had one of the girl’s bras in his closet. He drove them to Sioux Falls, bought them lunch, took them to a movie and bought them toys, candy and underwear. Assistant Attorney General Tara J. Tobin, who prosecuted, said "He chose vulnerable girls who probably would not be believed," it shouldn’t surprise anyone that one of the girls had been institutionalized for her behavior and undergone counseling. It worked, as the jury found him innocent, finding that there was no physical evidence that anything sexual took place, only the girls’ word that he rubbed their breasts when they lay on his bed, and let them take bubble baths in his apartment. Apparently, when they say, "A jury of his peers" in Lincoln County, SD, they mean exactly that. Either that, or the jurors were all brain dead. An old March 21 note turned up on KELO news reporting that Gerald Clark of Mobridge had been charged with rape. According to September 18 KSFY news, Ron Porzio, Director of the VA Hospital in Sioux Falls, has been relieved of duties and transferred to Minneapolis pending an investigation of sexual harassment charges filed by a colleague, a Sioux Falls physician. She claims that he grabbed her, stalked her, made many phone calls to her. Other complaints had also been filed. On September 24th, KTIV in Sioux City reported that Plymouth Manor, a retirement home in Le Mars, Iowa has been cited by state inspectors for not controlling the sexual harassment of female residents by one male resident who concentrated on a female with Alzheimers. She could not be interviewed, but inspectors found him by her bed with her gown pulled above her breasts. He told the inspectors that he could do anything and she didn’t complain. KCAU in Sioux City reported on Oct. 3 that Rita Baker sued John Morrell for sexual harassment and was awarded 1.5 million dollars. Roger Van, the Wayne, NE flower shop owner, who was found guilty of holding a Texas man in a bondage relationship in his basement, skipped bond before his sentencing and is now a fugitive. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Canadian Resource Directory ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CANADIAN SUBSIDY DIRECTORY YEAR 2002 EDITION Legal Deposit-National Library of Canada ISBN 2-922870-02-2 (2002) ISBN 2-922870-01-4 (2001) M.G. Publishing is offering to the public a revised edition of the Canadian Subsidy Directory, a guide containing more than 2800 direct and indirect financial subsidies, grants and loans offered by government departments and agencies, foundations, associations and organizations. In this new 2002 edition all programs are well described. The Canadian Subsidy Directory is the most comprehensive tool to start up a business, improve existent activities, set up a business plan, or obtain assistance from experts in fields such as: Industry, transport, agriculture, communications, municipal infrastructure, education, import-export, labor, construction and renovation, the service sector, hi-tech industries, research and development, joint ventures, arts, cinema, theatre, music and recording industry, the self employed, contests, and new talents. Sold for$49.95, to obtain a copy please call one of the following distributors: Canadian Business Resource Center: (250)381-4822, 8 am-4 pm pacific time. Fureteur bookstore: (450)465-5597 only). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Choices We Make ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Some time ago, there was a letter to the editor of the Mother Warrior’s Voice that rang true to me, and if I had realized at the time how often I would think of it, I would surely have saved the reference. The writer said that she thought that women in this country were hardly any better off than women in Muslim countries. On the surface, this appears ridiculous, but if a person thinks about it, it seems less laughable. I recall, a few years ago when Marlene Dietrich died, quite a few newsmagazines did segments on her career. One thing that was constant was that she was very casual with sex, and apparently had sex with any and all the men she came into contact with. But what seems to be the aim of the men who are perpetrators of sexual harassment? They apparently want all women to be like Marlene Dietrich. Those who don’t behave as she did, end up like many of the women who send in their stories to us. I am lucky that I don’t have to make the decision, but if I had to make the choice between being like Marlene Dietrich or a woman in a Muslim country, I would have a lot of trouble making the choice. I’m not sure that even Marlene Dietrich wanted to be like Marlene Dietrich. In an interview, her daughter stated that the only nice thing she could say about her mother was that she did not enjoy the sex, it was just something she had to get out of her way so she could do the things she really wanted to do. In other words, she had to do it in order to get acting jobs. I’ve known quite a few women who were willing to do the same things to get pay raises, promotions, even to get the jobs in the first place. Are they any better than Marlene Dietrich? I think not. If you had to choose, which you would rather be, like Marlene Dietrich or wear an abaya? Those of us who have refused to be like her feel disenfranchised. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE KALI GUIDE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Directory for Resources for Women has the information YOU need for . . . a better sex life, a woman-oriented vacation, a new career, becoming more creative, medical information, alternative health care, boosting self-esteem, help with an addiction, making new friends, and having more fun. A Directory of Resources for Women, by Stelli Munnis, is a beautifully illustrated directory with contact information for over 1,300 organizations. Sections cover creativity, culture, life work, health and healing, spirituality, sexuality, travel, special interest groups, anti-violence organizations and more. The Kali Guide is more than a directory -- it is a motivational and inspiring book that you will want to read cover to cover. It includes poetry, artwork, quotations, recommended books, and articles by well-known authors. The guide has 214 pages and features full color throughout. (Price $29.95, ISBN: 0-9714085-0-5) ORDERING INFORMATION: Mail -- Zenprint, Inc. 345 Forest Avenue, #202, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Check or Money Order -- Make payable to Zenprint, Inc. Phone -- (650) 326-5588 24-hour FAX -- (650) 326-5599 E-mail -- info(bleep)zenprint.net Internet -- www.kaliguide.com Mention code #9274 and get FREE shipping.Plus, $1 from every book sold will be donated to Women Against Sexual Harassment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CASA House ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In support of the 16 days of activism against gender violence (Nov 25 - Dec 10), is organizing a series of events. these events include a postcard providing support information for women experiencing sexual harassment, a forum about working with women from a 'rights' framework, a multicultural celebration including music and a competition for the best comeback to sexual harassment, and other activities. For more information about CASA House activities around the 16 days, contact Ada Conroy or Jill Duncan at casa(bleep)cryptic.rch.unimelb.edu.au If you’d like to get involved in the CASA House activities, call (03) 9347 3066 or go to http://www.cwgl.rutgersedu/16days02/2002Announcement.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WE’RE ON THE WEB http://www.washrag.org/ and at http://members.tripod.com/~WASHRAG/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This on-line version of THE WASHRAG is being sent to you free. A print version can be obtained by subscribing. In the US, send $10.00 to Women Against Sexual Harassment, P. O. Box 164, Canton, SD 57013-0164. Outside the US, send $20.00 to join. For a sample issue, send a #10 sized SASE. For a Publisher98 print module, e-mail washragezine(bleep)yahoo.com E-mail comments can be sent to washragezine(bleep)yahoo.com. If you know of anyone you think might be interested, just send us their e-mail address and we will put them on our e-mail mailing list. If you do not wish to receive further copies of this newsletter, indicate your preference to washragezine(bleep)yahoo.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ copyright 2002 Tesseract Publications, P. O. Box 164 Canton, SD 57013-0164 (605) 987-5070.