NCFM UPDATE: The LA Times picked up the article posted the day before in the Glendale News-Press (below). It’s interesting that in the LA Times article things went missing, two comments that bolster our position. Same old chivalrous LA Times… then came FOX News!
1. “Just because you have a penis doesn’t mean you come out of the womb with a black belt in karate,”
2. And, “Lawrence Rosenthal, a law professor at Chapman University and a former Asst. U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said if these classes are open to the general public with the only restriction being the gender-based discrimination, then they may be considered illegal.
“Both sexes have to have equivalent opportunities and any special programs targeted at women have to have a clear justification in terms of remediating some sort of inequality of opportunity that women face,” he said.” Article here: Men’s group objects to women’s self-defense classes in Glendale .
National Coalition for Men claims free classes violate equal protection clauses.
Letter challenges Glendale’s women’s self-defense classes
By Brittany Levine, Los Angeles Times
By limiting free self-defense classes to women only, the city of Glendale and its Commission on the Status of Women is violating federal and state civil rights laws that protect against sexual discrimination, according to a letter sent this month to city officials by the National Coalition for Men.
“Just because you have a penis doesn’t mean you come out of the womb with a black belt in karate,” Harry Crouch, president of the San Diego-based nonprofit that aims to end harmful gender-based stereotypes, said in an interview Thursday.
Letter: NCFM writes to city of Glendale regarding female-only self-defense classes
For years, Glendale’s Commission on the Status of Women has hosted self-defense classes in April on city property for women and girls in honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
Click on the picture to read the letter (PDF)
This is the first time the National Coalition for Men, which was established in 1977, has sent a letter asking the city to open the classes to men and boys as well. Crouch said his organization was only recently made aware of the discriminatory classes.
According to the letter, the classes, which are set to take place in Glendale Police Department’s community room twice next month, “violate a host of federal and California anti-discrimination laws. Such female-exclusive or male-exclusive actions by government and private actors violate the equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution and California Constitution.”
“It always astounds me that some of our governmental agencies who are charged with protecting us from violations of law simply acquiesce to things like this,” Crouch said, adding that anyone can be a victim of sexual assault, not just women and girls.
In the United States, about 10% of all sexual assault victims are male, according to statistics provided by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Sexual assault includes sexual touching, forced penetration and other crimes.
Since receiving the letter, city officials have done preliminary research into the matter and have found that there may be federal law that permits the self-defense classes for women, but more research into state law is planned.
After the research is complete, officials intend to send a response to the National Coalition for Men as well as review the class structure, if necessary.
The classes are paid for by fundraising by Commission on the Status of Women, said Senior Asst. City Atty. Lucy Varpetian.
Lawrence Rosenthal, a law professor at Chapman University and a former Asst. U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said if these classes are open to the general public with the only restriction being the gender-based discrimination, then they may be considered illegal.
“Both sexes have to have equivalent opportunities and any special programs targeted at women have to have a clear justification in terms of remediating some sort of inequality of opportunity that women face,” he said.
Follow Brittany Levine on Google+ and on Twitter: @brittanylevine
Please send Brittany a thank you for helping to expose this injustice and bureaucratic arrogance.
If you believe that men should be treated fairly please join us, join the National Coalition For Men. It costs $$$ for us to stand tall for you and your families rights, regardless of gender. http://ncfm.org/lead-with-us/join-ncfm/
The National Coalition For Men has been fighting for your rights since 1977. What have you been doing?
140327 NCFM Letter re Glendale No-Men-Or-Boys-Allowed Self-Defense Classes
“In the United States, about 10% of all sexual assault victims are male, according to statistics provided by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network…”
“Rape is caused not by cultural factors but by the conscious decisions, of a small percentage of the community, to commit a violent crime…RAINN’s recommendations pointed to research that suggests that more than 90% of college rapes are committed by about 3% of college men” http://www.rainn.org/news-room/rainn-urges-white-house-task-force-to-overhaul-colleges-treatment-of-rape
I feel it is worth noting that the Commission on the Status of Women, a state funded organization, should be very interested in men participating in defense classes. With the increasing push for “bystander intervention” they should want the majority of men who are NOT RAPISTS to be able to fight off the 3% who do perpetrate this heinous crime…