Lady Troubles

Court Closures Pose Safety Risk for Domestic Violence Victims

April 27, 2013 By Camille Hayes 6 Comments

I’m a writer for the Sacramento Bee, contributing a monthly column on politics and women’s issues. I post links to my columns here on the blog.

While the rest of the country celebrates the arrival of spring with baseball season openers, picnics and cherry blossom festivals, for Sacramento political types the warmer days and budding foliage herald a different annual rite: budget season in California. All this month and into May, legislative budget subcommittees are meeting to determine what the state can afford to fund, and which services will need to be scaled back or eliminated. [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Legal, Uncategorized Tagged With: California, California Legislature, Court Closures, Domestic Violence, Protective Orders, Restraining Orders, State Government, TRO, Victims

Vaginas, Wetbacks and Gays: The Democrats’ New Coalition of the Ostracized

April 17, 2013 By Camille Hayes Leave a Comment

Much has been made of the Republican’s 2012 postmortem, in which they attempted to answer the pressing question, why does everyone think we suck? The conclusion they reached, that it was mostly a messaging problem, was so obviously misguided that … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: US Politics Tagged With: 2014 Midterms, Barack Obama, Chained CPI, Democrates, GOP, gun control, Hillary Clinton, Republicans

Dear Mr. President, Please Put a Sock in It

April 5, 2013 By Camille Hayes 4 Comments

It took me five attempts to decide on the title of this post, with each version growing progressively less snarky and more measured. Though I’m feeling rather put off by Obama’s boneheaded comments about California Attorney General Kamala … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Equality, Uncategorized Tagged With: California Attorney General, Fox & Friends, Kamala Harris, Lilly Ledbetter, Obama, President Obama, Sexism

It’s Baaaack . . . Would the Equal Rights Amendment Change Anything for Women?

March 31, 2013 By Camille Hayes Leave a Comment

Starting this week, I’ll be a writing for the Sacramento Bee, contributing a monthly column on politics and women’s issues. I’ll post links to the columns here on the blog. In grade school, I proudly wore a colorful array of … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Editorial, Legal Tagged With: Congress, Equal rights amendment, ERA, Ms. (magazine), Sacramento Bee, Senate, Senator Bob Menendez, US Senate

Scalia Will Be a Jerk About Gay Marriage Because He’s a Jerk About Everything

March 26, 2013 By Camille Hayes Leave a Comment

Today all eyes were on the Supreme Court as it heard the first day of oral arguments on California’s Proposition 8, which made same-sex marriage illegal in the state back in 2008. Even more than electing Arnold to a second term, Prop 8 is a blemish … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Breaking News, Legal Tagged With: Antonin Scalia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, gay marriage, Proposition 8, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, same-sex marriage, SCOTUS, Sex, Supreme Court

Points of Entry, or Why Everyone’s Yelling About Sheryl Sandberg

March 11, 2013 By Camille Hayes 4 Comments

There’s an argument that the American women’s movement has been having with itself on and off since since the late 1800’s, and it looks like we’re in for another round this week. It’s an argument about authenticity and the movement’s true … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Books, Equality, Feminism Tagged With: Books, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Feminism, Lean In, Lucy Stone, Second Wave Feminism, Sheryl Sandberg, Women's Movement

Sequester THIS

March 4, 2013 By Camille Hayes Leave a Comment

Well, hello, there, America! How have you been? Are you enjoying your sequester so far? As you’ve no doubt heard, the Budget Sequester, or as I call it, Showdown at the Douchebag Corral, took effect March 1. Surprising exactly no one, it turns out … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Equality, News, US Politics Tagged With: Austerity, Books, Budget, Budget Cuts, Defense Spending, Military, Sequester, US Congress, Xbox

Thank You for Your Service: “The Invisible War” Confronts Military Rape

February 21, 2013 By Camille Hayes Leave a Comment

It’s Oscar week, so I decided I’d get in on the fun by watching a nominated film that touches on my pet issues and doing a little write-up. Of course, “fun” in this case means watching a devastating documentary about rape in the military and … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Rape, Violence Against Women Tagged With: 2013 Oscars, Academy Awards, Best Documentary Feature, Chuck Hagel, Department of Defense, Documentaries, Leon Panetta, Military, Movies, Oscars, Rape, Rape in the Military, Sexual Assault, The Invisible War, US Army, Women's Issues

Sovereign

February 13, 2013 By Camille Hayes 2 Comments

Let me set the scene: it was 2005, and I’d been working in the domestic violence field about six months. It was my first real job as an activist, the realization of a hazy, amorphous dream I’d left a Ph.D. program to chase (albeit in a typically … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: Rape Tagged With: Amensty International, Criminal Justice, Domestic Violence, GOP, House of Representatives, Human Rights, Rape, Sexual Assault, VAWA, Violence Against Women Act

The Anti-Wonk’s Guide to the Violence Against Women Act

February 7, 2013 By Camille Hayes 9 Comments

Today the Senate votes, again, on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), so everyone brace yourselves to read a lot of bad reporting on it. It’s not all the reporters’ fault; political reporters have a problem, which is … [Continue reading]

Filed Under: VAWA, Violence Against Women Act Tagged With: Anita Hill, Bill Clinton, Chuck Grassley, Clarence Thomas, Congress, GOP, House of Representatives, Joe Biden, Media, Native American, Native Women, Office on Violence Against Women, OVW, Policy, Rape, Senate, Senate Vote, VAWA, Violence Against Women Act