Week of March 3rd
International Women’s Day protests highlight violence, inequality
Calls to end forced marriage, domestic abuse and job discrimination marked International Women’s Day on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets worldwide.

Push for Creation of a Centralized UN Women’s Agency
The Campaign for Stronger Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) called for the creation of a centralized UN women’s agency last week. The activist groups leading the campaign include Amnesty International, Center for Women’s Global Leadership, International Planned Parenthood Federation, and Women’s Environment and Development Organization. The campaign was launched last week during the 52nd Commission on the Status of Women, which ends on March 7.

Karen Bass Elected First Black Woman Speaker of California Assembly

The California State Assembly unanimously elected Karen Bass as the new Assembly Speaker last week. Bass is the first African American and the first women to hold the position. She has served in the California state legislature since 2004 and was the Assembly Majority leader before winning the Speaker position.

Woman sues ex-De Anza players in alleged rap
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The young woman who says she was sexually assaulted a year ago by a group of De Anza College baseball players at an off-campus party has sued 10 men she believes were involved.
The woman filed suit in Santa Clara County Superior Court, claiming that the men took turns raping her while she was unconscious at a party March 3, 2007, took photos of the attack and sent them to acquaintances.

Ex-parole agent sentenced in sex assault

SACRAMENTO – A former California parole agent was sentenced Tuesday in federal court to two years of probation for misdemeanor sexual assault
on a woman parolee under his supervision.
Conditions of probation imposed on 56-year-old Ronald Travis of Elk Grove include six months of electronically monitored home confinement, 50 hours of community service and a $2,000 fine.
14 Americans arrested in child porn sting
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Fourteen Americans are in custody as part of a global crackdown on a well-organized child porn ring that used sophisticated encryption technology, the FBI and,Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Dozens Rally Outside Coalinga State Hospital

Coalinga State Hospital sits about 60 miles southwest of Fresno and is home to more than 1,000 sexually violent predators from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Less than one percent of all sexual offenders are in this category of ‘sexually violent predators’. They are the worst of the worst,” said Nancy Kincaid, Spokesperson for Coalinga State Hospital.

Sex offenders in, out of hotel

The Carson Plaza Hotel at 111 W. Albertoni St. in Carson houses convicted sex offenders not as part of a program but due to its location in a light industrial area away from houses and schools.