TIME Living Sexual Assault

This Is What It Looks Like When Women Come Out of the Shadows

The reason for optimism amid more reports of military sexual assault

It could be easy to get discouraged reading about the Pentagon survey Thursday that found reports of sexual assault in the American military are on the rise. But a closer look at the numbers gives reason for optimism: There are more reports of assault because more women are reporting those assaults rather than staying silent.

“This is a remarkable change in terms of victims being willing to talk to people in the military about what happened to them,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), one of the key advocates of military sexual assault reform in Washington, said Thursday afternoon at a news conference with fellow lawmakers.

Reported assaults hit 5,983 in the 2014 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up 8% from last year and up from 3,604 in 2012. But the proportion of service members who said they were assaulted decreased by roughly 27%. Among those who were assaulted, one in four reported it, a sharp increase from one in 10 in 2012.

MORE: The sexual assault crisis on America’s campuses

Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes in the U.S. because of the stigma survivors face. Raising the rates of reporting, therefore, is a key goal as reformers look to hold perpetrators accountable and reduce the number of assaults. That was true for Congress when it passed a number of reforms to the military’s handling of sexual assault over the last several months. And the rise in reports, along with promising responses from victims about being satisfied by the way their cases were handled, indicates a shift in culture that is moving in the right direction.

The military isn’t the only institution that has seen an increased culture of reporting: higher education is moving in this direction, too. Earlier this year, a government report showed that the number of sex crimes reported by colleges themselves rose 52 percent between 2001 and 2011, with a particularly sharp rise in 2010 and 2011.

MORE: Here’s the real reason college sex reports are rising

The military report was not all good news. Reports of retaliation remained high, especially among peers, raising questions about how much better the broader culture in the military really is.

But at a moment when awareness of violence against women has hit a high water mark after highly publicized incidents on campuses, in the military, in professional sports and in Hollywood, Thursday’s news holds out promise that victims will continue to feel more empowered to come out of the shadows across the country.

TIME Living viral

Watch a Pregnant Woman Confront Anti-Abortion Demonstrators Outside a London Clinic

“You’re standing out here making people feel guilty. I think this is wrong on so many levels.”

A pregnant woman’s passionate diatribe against anti-abortion protesters outside a London health center that offers abortions has gone viral.

“You’re standing out here making people feel guilty,” the unidentified woman can be heard telling members of British pro-life group Abort67 on the video, which has racked up 140,000 views in the 24 hours after being posted Wednesday. “I think this is wrong on so many levels.”

Her occasionally profane speech, which begins about a minute into the video, was captured by journalist and activist Sunny Hundal. Hundal has covered Abort67 in the past, and tells TIME that he went to the clinic with the intention of showing women being intimidated by protestors:

“I was walking over to confront them about their use of video cameras, [to document who goes into the clinic] when I saw [the pregnant woman] standing by and then she started criticizing them, at which point I let her speak her mind. She did a far better job of showing their hypocrisy than I could have.”

In the video the woman, who has a very visible baby bump, objects to the protesters “judging and filming” women going in and out of the clinic, accusing them of potentially traumatizing victims of abuse by showing graphic images of fetuses. “Many people have been abused, you don’t know what their reasons are for,” she said.

Abort67 posted a response to the filming on its Facebook page:

In the video, an Abort67 activist said that the cameras weren’t used to identify patients at the clinic but rather to gather evidence to counter claims that they use harassment tactics during protests. The group also told BuzzFeed:

Suggesting that we are harassing and intimidating women when there is no actual harassment or intimidation occurring is misogynistic. It suggests that women are inherently too weak to be fully informed about abortion. If harassment were occurring, the police who keenly observe us at our invitation, would arrest us.

Sunny seems to miss the irony of filming us outside the clinic whilst he vilifies us for filming ourselves outside a clinic.

 

TIME Newsfeed Bizarre

These Pillowcases Smell Like Bacon

bacon pillowcase
J&D’s Foods

This bedding retails for just $12.99

By now, we know the whole world is bacon-crazy, so let’s forgo all the pomp and puns and wishes of “savory dreams” and just cut to the chase: bacon-scented pillowcases are for sale.

From J&D’s Foods, the two-man operation that turned Bacon Salt into a bacon empire, you can now purchase pillowcases that smell like cured meat. These bacon-scented pillowcases, if cared for according to included instructions, claim to maintain their aroma “for 6-12 months or more.” They can even handle multiple wash cycles, though the company advises you to wash them separately from the rest of your clothes, lest you end up with a wardrobe that makes you smell like a short order cook.

Unfortunately, this bizarre bedding—which retails for just $12.99—is currently sold out, because everything that finds its way to Internet fame sells out. But their website promises “new product will be available next week (before holiday shipping deadlines).” Sounds like a lot of people will wake up on Dec. 26 smelling like a headful of bacon.

This article originally appeared on Food & Wine.

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TIME Living Sexual Health

How Investing in Women’s Sexual Health Helps the Economy

Birth control pills
Laura Johansen—Getty Images

A new report looks at the myriad benefits of increasing contraception access and prenatal care around the world.

For about the cost of ticket to the movies and small popcorn, says Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), millions of women across the globe could gain access to vital reproductive health services.

The benefit of doing so, he says, can have a lasting impact not just on women and families, but the global economy.

“When you do that, protect the health of the woman or the girl,” says Osotimehin,”she becomes more productive in her community and the world. She becomes an asset.”

According to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute, an estimated 225 million women in developing countries do not currently have access to contraceptives, despite wanting to delay or avoid pregnancy.

Once they become pregnant, millions do not receive the pre- and postnatal care that can help protect their and their babies’ lives. Fifty-four million women do not attend the minimum prenatal visits recommended by the World Health Organization. Forty-three million deliver babies outside of a health care facility, and some 33 million newborn babies don’t get the care they need for health complications after birth. There are many more staggering statistics about women who cannot and do not access sexual health services, which can exacerbate fixable problems like contracting a bacterial sexually transmitted infection causing infertility and newborn death.

Compare that to the developed world, where almost all American women have babies at a hospital.

“We’re similar in that the more disadvantaged you are in the U.S., you have less access to care, but over all we’re doing a lot better than the disadvantaged in developing countries,” says Jacqueline E. Darroch, a senior fellow at Guttmacher and one of the report’s authors.

And yet, that’s not to say there hasn’t been dramatic progress over the past two decades. There are over 140 million more women using modern contraceptives today than in previous years. Infant and maternal mortality rates have fallen and more women are gaining access to prenatal care now than were in 2004, when the first Adding it Up report was released. Yet, in many parts of the world disparities persist, particularly in areas where health systems are the weakest including sub-Saharan Africa, parts of Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The greatest unmet need is in the poorest countries and among the poorest people,” says Darroch.

And making additional progress will not be cheap: it would cost about $39.2 billion to provide the necessary services for women annually, which averages out to about $25 per woman between 15 and 49. Currently, funding levels are at about $18 billion annually. In some countries, where access to care is worse, the cost ticks up to between $31 and $76 per year. It will fall on current funding sources: women and families seeking care, governments, and private organizations to boost dollars.

But, the long-term impact, Osotimehin says, will be significant. As the former Minister of Health in Nigeria, he has seen first hand the benefits of investing in reproductive health to better the lives of women, girls, and families.

“When a woman’s health needs are met, and she is able to go to school, she has children who also do that,” Osotimehin says. “Then you can begin to have new generations of young people who are more viable, more empowered than older generations.”

 

 

 

TIME Living Parenting

U.S. Birthrate Declines as American Women Wait

Portrait of woman wearing striped dress
Getty Images

In troubling sign for economy

U.S. birth rates hit a record low in 2013, federal researchers said Thursday, down 9% from a high in 2007.

The “baby bust,” revealed in a report from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicates that women are delaying having children until later in life. The declines were among women under 30, while the rates for women over 35 actually went up. Childbearing among older women has risen over the last three decades, according to the CDC, with rates for women 35 and older at the highest levels in roughly 50 years.

The decline in childbirths is not good news for the U.S. economy. Years of declining populations rates have created economic crises in Europe and Japan, as labor forces contract, the tax base shrinks, and the population gets older.

The good news? Birth rates did fall 10% among teenagers.

TIME Living beauty

There May Be 50 Shades of Red but Only Marsala is the Color of the Year

“Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal.”

A marsala shade of red will be the in color next year across fashion, makeup and interior design.

So says the design consultancy firm Pantone, which picked Marsala as the Color of the Year.

“Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal, while its grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness,” Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a statement. “This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.”

Pantone, which is owned by X-Rite, the maker of color-matching products, has named a Color of the Year since 2000. Last year it was radiant orchid, and the year before it was emerald.

TIME Tech legal

Will Revenge Porn Laws Really Keep Your Nude Photos Safe?

Can Revenge Porn Protect Your Nude Photos?
Getty Images

A California man was jailed for revenge porn this week

Exchanging nude photos is a more common activity than you’d think. But that practice doesn’t come without risks.

Aside from the threat of having your nude photos hacked, another danger is revenge porn: the non-consensual distribution of a person’s nude photos, often with the intention to inflict severe emotional harm. Some states have passed laws criminalizing the practice — California’s year-old revenge porn law saw its first conviction just this week. However, there’s still a battle being fought to pass similar laws in other states, as well as make sure they’re actually working in the states that already have them.

What does the California conviction mean?

A Los Angeles man was convicted under California’s revenge porn law for allegedly sharing topless photos of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook, accompanied by harassing messages. The conviction sends “a strong message that this type of malicious behavior will not be tolerated,” the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney said in a statement.

It’s also a chance for more lawyers and victims to learn that such a law exists. California’s revenge porn statute was signed into law in October of last year, meaning it took over a year for the state to see its first conviction. That was because of an awareness gap, says Meaghan Zore, a California-based attorney whose practice areas include data privacy and human rights.

Which states have revenge porn laws?

Fifteen states currently have criminal revenge porn laws, according to information compiled by Carrie Goldberg, an attorney specializing in revenge porn and cyber civil rights:

The laws vary from state to state, which is why the National Conference of State Legislatures counts only thirteen states. Some consider revenge porn to be only the non-consensual sharing of photos, while others tack on an additional requirement — an intention to inflict emotional harm. (Examples of revenge porn range from big websites seeking to embarrass women or one person’s malicious social media posts.)

However, some observers worry that revenge porn laws which include language about intent don’t address situations like the celebrity nude photo hacks that happened earlier this year.

“If we were trying to prosecute [celebrity nude photo hackers], it would be really hard to claim they were trying to cause the victim’s emotional distress. They were in it for the ‘LOLS [laughs],'” Goldberg said. “We really have to encourage legislators not to include the language that requires an intent to cause emotional distress, because it excludes a huge subset of revenge porn that occurs.”

Will revenge porn laws keep your private photos safe from hackers?

Probably not — it’s hard to imagine that revenge porn laws would discourage hackers when hacking itself is already illegal.

Why isn’t revenge porn already criminalized?

Those against criminalizing revenge porn believe it’s a matter of free speech. Arizona’s revenge porn law, for example, doesn’t include language about intent, and has thus come under fire from opponents who claim it makes illegal images like “Napalm Girl,” the iconic photo of an unclothed Vietnamese girl running from a napalm bomb, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

However, some revenge porn law advocates believe that rules against posting revenge porn actually benefits free speech by making it more safe for people to express themselves. “Really, by having these laws, we’re also promoting free speech — free private speech,” said Goldberg, a member of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, which is in favor of revenge porn laws. “I don’t see the activity of taking and sharing nude pictures consensually diminishing. And without these laws, we’re going to have an increase in people who are wounded.”

TIME Living The Amateur

Home Improvement for the Holidays

The togetherness is bliss. But I need an antidote for all the stuff that comes with it

Do you find yourself walking around in December muttering to no one in particular, “Why are the holidays so stressful?!?” I used to do that, until two things happened. One, I matured enough to know that my holiday stress is actually faux (i.e., mostly self-imposed), and two, my oldest child went to college, and a piece of my heart went with him. And then the holidays became spectacular and perfect, because it meant my son came home and my heart was whole again.

So I vowed never to complain about holiday stress again. But some vows are made to be broken, right? Because I gain a few things–besides a mended heart–when my son comes home from college. Overnight my house is filled with stuff. It’s like a miracle, except it’s horrible, which makes it an un-miracle. You see, my cherished child leaves a trail of belongings wherever he goes: shoes in doorways, coat on living-room chairs, keys on stairs, wallet on kitchen counter, iPhone on kitchen table, sweatshirt on bannister. It’s “Hansel and Gretel,” the teenage-boy version. Except no one is starving (see faux stress) and I am the witch. Because while I intend to focus on my full heart and the sheer joy of my son, I really just want to burn all his detritus in a big oven in my gingerbread cottage in the woods.

Wait, did I say that out loud? I think the faux stress of holiday stuff made me do it. Everyone knows that too much stuff can make you feel crazy, which is why the Container Store was invented–so we can feel in control without having to get a prescription.

Now, let me be clear that too much stuff = faux stress = first-world problem. But we residents of the first world love stuff, and we love to complain about stuff, and Christmas is the Stuffapalooza of our calendar year. Which means many prophylactic suggestions for stuff control from writers of magazine articles: Family activities instead of presents! A one-gift limit! Have any of the people who write these articles heard of grandparents? If I suggested a one-gift limit, my in-laws would pull my husband aside and whisper, “I can have our lawyer draw up the divorce papers for you on Monday.” And while I know “experts” are always telling us that children are resilient, I’m not sure how resilient they will be after their mother is declared mentally ill for suggesting we cancel Amazon Prime.

Someday a company will be brave enough to broadcast a holiday TV commercial featuring a happy family sitting around with each member holding one present. Extra points if that present is homemade. Until then, it’s all abundance and smiles and hilarity, but what you don’t see is the thought bubble above the mom, which does not say, “Oh, look how happy my children are!,” but instead says something like, “Where the hell are we going to put all this stuff and is that remote-control helicopter broken already?”

Years ago I worked for a woman whose desk was always so neat that it both fascinated and intimidated me. The neatness of her desk signaled a superhumanness that I would never achieve. It wasn’t until I had worked with her for a few months that I realized the reason her desk was so neat was that she threw everything out. Sometimes even things she hadn’t looked at–poof, gone. It was staggering in its bizarre efficiency and, frankly, its disregard for everyone who worked for her. Horrible and beautiful at the same time. I’ve considered this approach to holiday presents but decided against it (see mother declared mentally ill).

There are two ways we can approach the overwhelming amount of stuff this season always brings. We can decide to throw away random gifts, like my old boss and my father, who every year drags out a contractor-size garbage bag and starts shoving stuff into it before half the gifts are even open. (I’ve been known to do this myself, which I blame on my DNA. And if you mistakenly throw out assembly instructions–not that I ever have!–you’ll find that it’s amazing what Google has to offer.)

Or we can take the more sensible approach, which requires the most thought and time, which is why the sensible approach to anything is often the most boring. In our house, this is called the one-in-one-out rule, meaning for every new thing you get, you have to donate an old thing. (I personally would prefer a one-in-two-out-rule, which would eventually result in a completely empty house. Depressing … or nirvana? I can’t decide.) One-in-one-out means the amount of stuff in our house stays relatively constant–until our son goes back to college in January, of course. Then my heart may be broken again, but the house is a heck of a lot neater.

Van Ogtrop is the editor of Real Simple and author of Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom

TIME Newsfeed language

Oxford Dictionaries Adds ‘Duck Face,’ ‘Man Crush’ and ‘Lolcat’

Dictionary
Getty Images

'Five second rule' and 'Obamacare' also made the cut

In their latest — and biggest-ever — quarterly update, Oxford Dictionaries Online added words that remind us who we are and what we care about in 2014.

Take xlnt (adj.), a symbol of our desire to skip tedious letters in today’s fast-paced conversation. Consider digital footprint (n.), a phrase that encapsulates our increasing worries about privacy and being monitored online. Or ponder man crush (n.), which explains modern man’s natural, platonic reaction to Benedict Cumberbatch.

All told, Oxford added about 1,000 new entries this quarter. It’s important to note that this deluge is flowing into the branch of Oxford that reflects modern usage — the words we’re using now and how we use them. The bar for entry into the historical Oxford English Dictionary is much higher, requiring words to prove they have greater staying power.

Here’s a selection of the new admissions:

al desko (adv. & adj.): while working at one’s desk in an office (with reference to the consumption of food or meals).

chile con queso (n.): (in Tex-Mex cookery) a thick sauce of melted cheese seasoned with chilli peppers, typically served warm as a dip for tortilla chips.

cool beans (exclam.): used to express approval or delight.

crony capitalism (n.): (derogatory) an economic system characterized by close, mutually advantageous relationships between business leaders and government officials.

digital footprint (n.): the information about a particular person that exists on the Internet as a result of their online activity.

duck face (n.): (informal) an exaggerated pouting expression in which the lips are thrust outwards, typically made by a person posing for a photograph.

five-second rule (n.): (humorous) a notional rule stating that food which has been dropped on the ground will still be uncontaminated with bacteria and therefore safe to eat if it is retrieved within five seconds.

hawt (adj.): (chiefly US) informal spelling of “hot.”

IDC (abbrev.): (informal) I don’t care.

jel (adj.): (informal, chiefly Brit.) jealous.

lolcat (n.): (on the Internet) a photograph of a cat accompanied by a humorous caption written typically in a misspelled and grammatically incorrect version of English.

MAMIL (n.): (Brit. informal) acronym: middle-aged man in Lycra. A middle-aged man who is a very keen road cyclist, typically one who rides an expensive bike and wears the type of clothing associated with professional cyclists.

man crush (n.): (informal) an intense and typically non-sexual liking or admiration felt by one man for another; a man who is the object of another’s intense liking or admiration.

misery index (n.): an informal measure of the state of an economy generated by adding together its rate of inflation and its rate of unemployment.

Obamacare (n.): (in the U.S.) an informal term for a federal law intended to improve access to health insurance for U.S. citizens. The official name of the law is the Affordable Care Act or (in full) the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

permadeath, n.: (in video games) a situation in which a character cannot reappear after having been killed.

Secret Santa (n.): an arrangement by which a group of friends or colleagues exchange Christmas presents anonymously, with each member of the group being assigned another member for whom to provide a small gift, typically costing no more than a set amount.

shabby chic (n.): a style of interior decoration that uses furniture and soft furnishings that are or appear to be pleasingly old and slightly worn.

simples (exclam.): (Brit. informal) used to convey that something is very straightforward.

tech wreck (n.): (informal) a collapse in the price of shares in high-tech industries.

the ant’s pants (n.): (Austral. informal) an outstandingly good person or thing.

WTAF (abbrev.): (vulgar slang) what the actual f-ck.

xlnt (adj.): (informal) excellent.

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