When Staying Home Isn’t Safe, Domestic Violence Advocates Provide Online Services To Protect Victims

For most of last week, representatives from the Connecticut Judicial Branch and the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence (CCADV) went back and forth, trying to figure out how to protect state residents who are at risk of domestic violence during the pandemic. For some residents, the state’s current motto of “Stay Safe, Stay Home” is sadly ironic. Unemployment claims—though low compared to those of other states—are rising, schools are closed, and sales of firearms and ammunition are up. Early on, domestic violence advocates expressed concern that incidents of violence would increase the longer people are forced to spend time together in close quarters. Meanwhile, the Judicial Branch began closing courthouses around the state to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and those closures made applying for restraining orders difficult.

On March 20, Gov. Ned Lamont issued an executive order (No.

Staying Home: Nice Work If You Can Get It

When it comes to the worldwide spread of the coronavirus, people like Leo Laffitte are on the front lines. Laffitte isn’t a health care provider. He works in facilities at Hartford Public Library and, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Laffitte is one of those workers whose jobs require he be physically present and in close contact with a variety of people, with no opportunity to work remotely, as so many employers have advised their workers to do. (Update: On Friday, the library announced it will close through March 31.)

There is another class of employees whose members are even more vulnerable. While health authorities tell people to stay home if they feel sick in the face of COVID-19, that advice is complicated for low-wage earners, of whom two-thirds are women, or for another overwhelmingly female group of workers such as certified nurse assistants and teaching assistants.

My Queendom For The Candidate Who Takes On Women’s Health

When Amy Klobuchar gave birth a quarter century ago, her baby, who couldn’t swallow, was rushed to intensive care. Though her daughter was being tested and fitted with a feeding tube, Klobuchar, now a U.S. senator from Minnesota, was sent home. Klobuchar’s insurance required new mothers to be discharged within 24 hours of birth. Despite her daughter’s precarious health, Klobuchar’s time was up. The future Democratic presidential candidate checked into a nearby motel and wore a rut—still in her hospital gown—between her room and the hospital so she could pump breast milk for her newborn.

Many Women Told Us Their Story Of Poor Health Care; Here’s How To Get Your Doctor To Listen

Stories of missed diagnoses are everywhere. One woman endures severe pain for a decade before her endometriosis is diagnosed. The source of a woman’s stomach pain is a parasitic worm, but that diagnosis only comes after seven years. Another woman loses her mother to cancer, which her doctors missed until it was too late. After a December C-HIT column about women getting inferior treatment from health care providers, the stories came pouring in.

From The Research Lab To The Examining Room, Gaps In Health Care Leave Women Suffering

In ancient Greece, a woman who complained of pain—or one who acted outside the limited social norm available to her—was thought to be suffering from “wandering womb,” which was closely related to hysteria. The uterus was thought to float free within a woman’s body and cause all kinds of medical and emotional issues. The cure, for the most part, was marriage. Of course, that’s silly, but consider how far we haven’t come in the treatment of women’s complaints about pain. Recent data on women’s shoddy treatment by health care providers paints a stunning picture of medical apathy and worse.

Let’s End Period Poverty

Since two Greenwich students—Amy Barratt and Charlotte Hallisey—convinced their local school board to provide menstrual supplies for free to students in middle and high school, they’ve taken their initiative statewide with an online petition and lobbying at the state capitol. They’ve been joined by other activists. The young women’s initiative—dubbed the Period Project—has earned the support of key state senators and representatives, including Sen. Derek Slap, D-West Hartford. “To me, this initiative is a no-brainer,” Slap said after meeting with other legislators and the Greenwich women in September. “This isn’t a women’s issue; it’s an issue of equality, and it’s something that men should be just as interested in.”

Imagine if you had to pay for toilet paper every time you visited a public bathroom at libraries, restaurants, or schools.

Collecting Evidence Of Sexual Assault Is Not A DIY Project

In theory, a do-it-yourself rape kit, where a victim of rape or sexual assault collects evidence in the privacy of his or her home, seems like a good idea. Going to the police or a hospital after a rape is immeasurably difficult for some. There’s a stigma, and victims may fear mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement or hospital personnel. But advocates and others say newly introduced home rape kits are roughly as useless as the boxes they come in. There’s no guarantee self-collected evidence is admissible in court, and the kits aren’t nearly as comprehensive as those offered by the state.

Sex And The Senior Set

If you Googled “elderly sex” recently­—in Connecticut, at least—up popped an August news story about the arrest of six seniors in connection with group sex in a Fairfield nature preserve. The people ranged in age from 62 to 85, though charges against two were dropped. Morning radio had a field day. When it comes to sex and the senior set, those jokes write themselves. And that’s unfortunate.

‘Red Flag’ Law Is A Start, But Not Enough To Curb Gun Violence

You can have prayers. Or you can have teeth. After two mass shootings within 16 hours stunned the nation earlier this month, conversation turned to how best to remove guns from the wrong hands. Seventeen states—including Connecticut—and the District of Columbia have “red flag” laws, also known as “extreme risk” laws, that, depending on the state, allow family members, household members, or law enforcement officials to petition the courts to remove guns from the hands of someone who might do harm to himself or herself, or to others. It’s an approach that is supported by 85% of registered voters, according to a 2018 Washington Post/ABC poll.

Identifying LGBTQ Community’s Needs Is Network’s First Task

During 2018, members of the advocacy group CT Equality traveled around the state to listen to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) community talk about their challenges and concerns about life in Connecticut. The conversations, said Rep. Jeffrey Currey, D-East Hartford, deputy majority leader who attended one of the meetings in Hartford, had common themes, including a need for additional services and programs.

Among other tangible efforts during the legislative session that ended June 5, such as a ban on the so-called “gay panic defense,” the conversations moved Connecticut legislators to create an LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network, which is charged with creating a safe environment for members of the community. This comes at a time when the Trump administration is rolling back rights at a historic rate. In June, the administration announced it would cut funding for a University of California HIV and AIDS research program. Trump has announced plans to allow “religious exemptions” to adoption agencies that want to deny services for LTBTQ couples.