3 Women 3 Ways

There are judges, guardians, lawyers, arbitrators, psychologists, advocates, mediators, child protection services, social workers, and more who all can be involved when there is a divorce or litigation in family courts across the country. Who are these people? What do they do? How expert are they? What do they know about intimate partner violence? Who do they represent? What do they cost? Do they help or hurt? And how can they impact decisions like child custody? There have been studies of the situations with these ancillary court personnel, and there is pracitcal experience about them. Richard Ducote joins us for a discussion about al the people who make up cases and decisions in family court. Ducote has represented hundreds of abused children over the last 30 years of his law practice. In the 1980's he began reoresenting victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence focusing on cases where courts had awarded custody of children to molesters and violence perpetrators. He is an ardent opponent of the so-call

THE CRISIS IN THE FAMILY COURTS: THE ROLE OF THE FATHERS' RIGHTS MOVEMENT What is the Fathers' Rights Movement? What are the tenets of it, how did it get started, who are these people promoting it, and what is the reality behind the message?  Judges are buying into it and women and children are impacted by the junk science and propaganda behind it.  So what is the real research, and what can we do about the fall out from this movement? Join us as author Doreen Ludwig talks about the movement, who's funding it, and what it means.  

WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR FAMILY COURTS?           Abuse through the courts, revictimization, parental alienation, women lie, children given to abusers, judges who think that just because a woman is frantic there is something wrong with her, guardians ad litem, lawyers, psychologists, and a system that arguably makes more things worse than it makes them better, So what’s going on in our family courts?           Two experts who really know the experiences, the reasons, and the truth behind the crisis in the family courts join us for an in-depth look at where we are, how we got there, and what we can do about it.           Barry Goldstein, co-author of “Representing the Domestic Violence Survivor,” and author of “Scared to Leave Afraid to Stay,” among other books and articles, has been an attorney, educator and expert witness in domestic violence and custody cases. His latest book, “The Quincy Solution” Stop Domestic Violence and Save $500 Billion,” details reducing domestic violence.  Maralee McLean is a chil

There are federal laws saying convicted domestic violence abusers can't buy guns, but what if they already own firearms?  There's a good chance they can just keep them and no police or judges or even laws will make them surrender what they already own.  And even if a state does require relinquishment it's up to judges to require it.  Shannon Frattacoli, PhD., Associate Director for Outreach, Center for Injury Research and Policy at Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research has studied the effects of gun injury prevention policies. She will join us to talk about domestic violence, guns, and public policy laws.

Where can you find pregnant 12-year-olds, women pregnant again and again just months after giving birth, and teens with high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, and multiple pregnancies? A third world country perhaps? Maybe. But you really don't have to look that far. Right here inthe USA we have areas where there are no local access to maternal health care, where extreme poverty prevents women from getting medicine or from transportation to doctors. So how rampant is this problem, who is affected and what are we doing about it?  Dr. Keisha Renee Callins is a women's health professional at Mirian Worthy Women's Health Center, and Assistant Medical Director for Albany Area Primary Health Care. She has earned numerous awards for resident teaching and research, presents at local and national conferences and is an expert in teenage pregnanacy prevention, obesity prevention, and physician workforce issues . She works every day in one of the most poverty stricken areas of the US and she sees the catastrophe that is m

FAMILY COURT RESPONSES TO INCEST AND SEXUAL ABUSE IN CUSTODY DISPUTES The Boston Globe just ran a story about a little girl who, for five years, was forced by the courts to live with the father who she said was sexually abusing her.  The girl’s mother believed the child, and took her to the doctor, then to the psychologist, and everyone believed the girl. Then they got to the courts and that’s where the child’s life hit a very sad bottom. Even sadder:  this is happening all the time. Thousands of times. Thousands of children. What is going on with a court system that forces children to be exposed and at risk by those who are abusing them? Maralee McLean is a child advocate, protective parent, domestic violence expert, and author of PROSECUTED BUT NOT SILENCED: Courtroom Reform for Sexually Abused Children. Her work has been published in the ABA Child Law Journal, Women’s E-News and other publications on the problems of family courts not protecting abused children. She organized a National Rally of Mothers

There is a woman in Florida who was sent to jail for not testifying against her attacked. Her attacker was her husband. She defied a court order when she didn't show up at his trial.  Advocates say she was scared, and that it happens all the time that a victim doesn't face her abuser in court. They say most judges understand and don't revictimize the victim by punishing her.  Some say a court order is a court order, and if witnesses don't appear in court, criminials get off. That's just the way it is.  So who's right? Jeanne Gold, attorney, journalist, women's advocate and CEO of SafeHouse in Florida joins Robert Rhodes, Seattle attorney and veteran of numerous trials and intimate partner violence cases, join us to discuss the issue of REVICTIMIZING THE VICTIM: WHEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SUFFERRERS GET HIT AGAIN BY THE LAW.  

  PRETTY IS AS PRETTY GETS: DO ATTRACTIVE WOMEN GET BETTER GRADES? I was a good student, I was good at soccer, I was vice president of the student council, I was a pretty girl. Evangeline Lilly Lilly doesn’t mention her grades, but if her experience is typical of that found in a recent study, she probably got higher marks than her less attractive female friends. Yep – pretty girls get better grades, according to an economics professor’s study of more than 5,000 college women. And it didn’t make a difference whether the grader was male or female. So what does this mean? Not only does this have implications from an academic point of view, but also from a social point of view.  Does it diminish the all A’s the class knock out got? Does it make a difference to the less attractive woman who is working hard for those A’s?  Or does it really change anything now that we know it happens? Rey Hernandez-Julian is an associate professor of economics at the Metropolitan State University of Denver, and he likes to us

Women in the media - where are they? what is their influence? Find out with Katy McCarthy from the Women's Media Center

Any girl who ever went to junior high risked being called a slut. You know what a slut is, right? It's any girl who was promiscuous, looked like she might be promiscuors, or like she might be developed sexually, or like she might someday have sex, or was just unlucky enough to be targeted by bullies. Emily Lindin knows all about that since she was the target of "slut shaming" from age 11 to 14. But unlike most of us who just geot depressed and kept our heads down, she's doing something about it. Lindin is the author of the new book "UnSlut: A Diary and a Memoir" and founder of The UnSlut Project, an online community where survivors of sexual bullying and slut shaming can share their stories, and where girls who are currently suffering can find support and solidarity. Now a Harvard graduate pursuing her PhD in California, Emily started the project by blogging her own middle school diaries. "UnSlut: A Documentary Fils" is currently screening around the country, and Lindin has shared her story on TV and Radio

  MISUSE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IN CUSTODY LITIGATION         Do you know that the Leadership Council estimates nearly 60,000 kids a year are forced by the courts to be with an unsafe parent? One article in Family and Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly (spring 2013) reported 175 documented cases of kids killed by their fathers after the court disregarded their mothers’ concerns about safety for children – and that was in just a two year period! So what’s up with the courts? How can this happen?         One reason is that the courts are using junk science and a skewed idea of “fairness” in determining child custody.  One researcher found that courts often misuse psychological science in custody litigation. And instead of recognizing what can be dangerous to children, family courts see themselves as fair and balanced and those concerned with abuse as ideologues with an ax to grind. The losers?  As usual, it’s the children.         Joan Meier, attorney and Professor of Clinical Law AT George Washington Un

                            This show is a replay of a previously aired episode A friend once told me that her brother made her sit in a lawn chair while he attached it to a car battery to make an electric chair. What?! Sometimes sibling rivalry isn't harmless. Sometimes it's violent abuse that can lead to problems in adulthood for victims. Two people who work with and have experienced sibling abuse join us to talk about what it is, how it is minimized, and the later implications for victims. Amy Meyers, PhD, is an assistant professor of social work at Molloy College and sees victims of sibling abuse in her clinical practice. She sees the terminology we use when talking about brothers and sisters as one way we overlook sibling abuse. Nancy Kilgore, MS, knows how brother and sister relationships can be traumatic and harmful. Autor of "Girl in the Water: A Personal Story of Bullying and Sibling Abuse," and "The Sourcebook for Working with Battered Women," Nancy works with victims of abuse by sibling.  

With the healthcare business being what it is today, it seems like all the health care providers are parts of big organizations and most of those organizations are headed up by men. So if there is a difference between men and women in the way patients are treated and care is dispensed, what does it mean if most of the direct providers are female and the head honchos are male? Lots of questions, some answers. Andrea Piatt, PhD., ABPP, is the principal and founder of Commonwealth Psychology Associates in Massachusetts. She is a board certified clinical neuropsychologist who specializes in assessment of adults with neurological injury or disease, medical conditions, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and or emotional problems that impact academic or work life. And she is interested in helping women providers be owners and not just worker bees when it comes to helping patients.  

A Washington State police officer turned psychologist looks at the treatment of first responders who are just expected to deal with it in the aftermath of some pretty nasty and traumatic work. Loreli Thompson, PhD also counsels victims of trauma and violence. Join us as we look at the world of the first responder.

There's been a push for years to have doctors, nurses, and health care folks to become more involved in screening and treating victims of intimate partner violence. There have been flyers taped in bathrooms, brochures stacked in waiting rooms, and once in a while a quesion about domestic violence on an intake form. But what are we really doing, is this the appropriate response, and what can we do better? Project Connect, a program funded by the Department of Human Serivces, has trained doctors and nurses about how to talk with patients about domestic violence and sexual assault, and that can be a tough thing to do. Lisa James, Director of Health at Futures Without Violence, has worked with experts in medicine, violence and policy to work out an effective health care response to abuse. She is a recipient of the American Medical Association's Citation for Distinguished Service for her efforts to train health care provicers on domestic violence, and she coordinates the biennial National Conference on Health Ca

Think big business and big money are only influencing politics? Have you looked at judicial elections lately? A report issued by Justice at Stake found that special interest spending is skyrocketing in even obscure and small town judicial elections, and that is leading to some heavy influence at play for special interests. Not such good news for the "little people" who are looking to the courts to help settle issues in our lives. So how bad is the problem, and what can we do about it? Scott Greytak is the Policy Counsel and Research Analyst for Justice at Stake, where he designs and manages advocacy campaigns to protect courts from special interest influence and politicization by utilizing legislative, letigative, communications and organizing strategies. He is the lead author of "Bankrolling the Bench: The New Politics of Judicial Elections 2013 - 2014." He has been an Ohio public defender and sits on the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation's Capital and the American Constitution Soci

We see it all too often in the news - dad (once in awhile it's mom), goes nuts and kills mom, the kids, anyone who happens to be in the way, and then, often, himself. What is going on here? The media stories often say something just snapped for dad. Domestic violence experts look at it as an extreme form of control that erupts when an abused women tries to leave. But what is really going on, and why on earth does the perpetrator kill the poor kids? Sharon Maillous, PhD did a research study into just this phenomenon, and she shares with us her knowledge about not only familicide but why children are targeted in these cases.

Casey Gwin, attorney and president of the Family Justice Center, joins us to discuss children who grow up exposed to trauma like domestic violence and his new book, "Cheering for the Children."

They used to say men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses, but that was a long time ago before we became enlightened and all gender neutral. Or..was it? According to a recent study, men are less attracted to women who are smarter than they are, at least when the women are psychologically close by. They apparently feel differently about women who are more out of reach. So what does this mean for relationships today? And what does that say about our culture, our society, and our progress in interpersonal relationships? Lora Park, associate professor of psychology and coauthor of the study, has made it her business to study how such personal aspects of individuals can shape their lives. She has researched self-worth, how power is experienced and perceived in others, and in one study funded by the National Science Foundation, she looks at how romantic goals affect women's interest in science, technology, engineering and math. Join us as we discuss her latest research and what it means for us.      

SO ARE THERE SOME GOOD PARTS TO THIS GROWING OLD THING? Let’s see…you get old, your knees go bad, you forget things, you’re no longer socially relevant, and your hair gets thinner, right? Well, maybe. But the big surprise is that there are actually some pretty good things about aging that no one seems to be talking about. So we will. Join us as Dr. Ken Dellefield, a San Diego consulting psychologist and gerontologist helps us uncover and celebrate all the unexpected gifts and joys that face us as we get older. Ken has specialized in working with older adults and their families for 39 years, and has developed older adult programs in hospitals, nursing homes, day treatment programs, outpatient mental health clinics and home based services.  He was the founding chairperson of the San Diego County Mental Health System of Care Advisory Council and has been very involved in developing older adult mental health services in San Diego.  Call-in to share your opinions and questions at (646) 378-0430. Live at 11 am