Child health: An underplayed variable in parental leave policy debates?

This paper examines parental leave policy from the perspective of infant and young child health. Factors assisting the successful integration of breastfeeding and maternal employment are outlined. Health effects of day care attendance are also explored as an integral component of this assessment. It is suggested that the potential health disadvantages associated with lack of, or inability to access, parental leave to care for infants may be compounded by the possible adverse health effects of involvement in group day care. Possible reasons for the relative lack of attention to infant health concerns, including those related to both breastfeeding and day care attendance, in the English-language parental leave literature are examined. This includes an analysis of the tensions posed for gender equity objectives by a child health emphasis in parental leave discussions. Two contrasting country-level case studies--the USA and Sweden--are presented in order to highlight the implications of specific configurations of parental leave and early childhood education and care policies for both infant health and gender equity objectives. The paper concludes by looking at how parental leave development and design can best take account of child health considerations. Éste articulo evalúa la política del permiso laboral (la baja por maternidad/paternidad) desde la perspectiva de la salud de los niños. Se resumen los factores que ayuden la integración exitosa entre el amamantar y el empleo materno. Además, como elemento esencial se esta investigación, se indaga los efectos de guardería para la salud infantil. Sugerimos que las posibles desventajas para la salud infantil asociadas con la carencia de, o la incapacidad de obtener, la baja para cuidar a los niños pueden agravar las semejantes desventajas asociadas con la asistencia del niño a la guardería. Se buscan explicaciones posibles para la falta relativa en la literatura inglés de la atención al asunto de la salud infantil. Se incluye un análisis de las tensiones en los objetivos de la igualdad de los sexos que salen de un énfasis en la salud infantil en debates sobre el permiso laboral de los padres. Se presento estudios de los casos de los EEUU y Suecia para destacar las implicaciones de configuraciones especificas del permiso de los padres y la política de la educación y guardaría infantil tanto para los objetivos sociales de la salud infantil como la igualdad entre los sexos. En conclusión se considera cómo el desarrollo y diseño del permiso de los padres pueda mejor tomar en cuenta el asunto de la salud de los niños.     

防治职场性骚扰的法律思考

职场性骚扰是一种侵犯人的权利、妨碍两性平等就业的行为。在世界范围内,立法禁止职场性骚扰已成为法律改革的发展趋势。我国《宪法》和《妇女权益保障法》修正案等法律从不同立法层面明确了禁止性骚扰以及保护妇女免受包括性骚扰侵害的精神,但现行法律仍存在一些立法空白和不足,应在相关法律中加以完善。     

Friends’ religiosity and first sex

Researchers have established that individual religiosity influences sexual behavior and that religious support can increase consistency between personal religiosity and behavior. Researchers are less certain, however, of the effect that religious friendship networks have on sexual behavior. In addition, the effects of network characteristics such as density and one’s position in a social network have not been established. This paper uses a network subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effect of friends’ religiosity on the probability of first sex. We find that friends’ religiosity has an independent influence on adolescent sexual behavior that is similar in magnitude to personal religiosity. We also find evidence that friends’ religiosity has the strongest influence on the sexual behavior of adolescents who are embedded in dense social networks, in which teens’ friends are also friends with one another. These results support the hypothesis that group influences depend on the degree of embeddedness within the network and highlight the importance of studying religion as a property of groups as well as individuals.     

Pulling Strings Doesn’t Work in Court: Moving Beyond Puppetry in the Relationship Between Prosecutors and Rape Survivors

Rape survivors, as witnesses, are partners in the criminal justice process, whether prosecutors acknowledge this or not. Minimizing rape survivors’ experiences of a second assault requires that prosecutors become responsive to their key witnesses’ realities and motivations and provide greater information and support before and during court events. When prosecutors approach witness preparation from the standpoint of their own needs they provide information and instruction that is too little and too late. When prosecutors approach survivors’ emotions as resources they may undermine their case by adding to the negative emotional impact of the court event on their witness.     

Fundamental Justice Is the Issue: Extending Full Equality of the Law to Women and Children

The legal doctrines that are in place to protect women and children against male sexual aggression actually operate to minimize the use of the system for redress, and to reduce the impact of the process when it is used. Because the courts are the only means of legal recourse available to women and children who have been sexually assaulted, any failure by the courts to ensure just outcomes actually serves to reinforce male sexual violence. The solution requires that we stop confusing the social conditions under which this form of violence occurs with the criteria used by courts for treating a crime as “not serious.” The key players in the courts can act as powerful forces for instrumental change.     

The Use of Peer Support for Parents and Youth Living with the Trauma of Child Sexual Abuse: An Innovative Approach

ABSTRACT

This article describes and reports on an innovative intervention program for parents of sexually abused children and youth. Peer support provided by non-professional staff and volunteers, who have been personally affected by the trauma of child sexual abuse, is an approach with unique advantages. Many of these consumers have not been able to benefit from traditional service delivery approaches. Goals and objectives of the Peer Support Program (PSP) have been developed through inter-agency collaboration initiatives comprised of a coalition of existing social service agencies. This report examines characteristics of service delivery and level of consumer satisfaction of parents and youth who have participated in the peer support program. Implications for interventions with sexually abused youth and parents of sexually abused children are discussed.     

Child Sexual Behaviors in School Context: Age and Gender Differences

ABSTRACT

The main purpose of the study was to explore the child sexual behaviors that Italian teachers have observed in the school context. A representative sample of 227 children, from 5 to 10 years old, was rated by their teachers through the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory. Frequencies of sexual behaviors among children aged 5 to 6, 7 to 8, and 9 to 10 are presented. Younger children showed a broader range of sexual behaviors that decrease with the growing age, such as males in comparison to females. Moreover, findings showed that child sexual behavior is not only related to age and gender but also to family characteristics. These results suggested that child sexual behaviors reported by teachers through the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory may provide useful information about the development of children’s sexuality. The knowledge of age appropriate sexual behaviors can help teachers discern normal sexual behaviors from problematic sexual behaviors.     

The Importance of Fathers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between self-esteem, sociodemographic factors, father-daughter relationships, and sexual risk-taking in an economically diverse group of late-adolescent African American girls. Participants were 100 African American adolescent girls from the Southeast region of the U.S. Regression analyses revealed that fathers' education was the most powerful predictor of sexual risk, with self-esteem emerging as a significant, yet less powerful predictor. A subset of the initial sample participated in a secondary, qualitative study explicitly examining father-daughter communication about sexuality. Thematic analysis revealed three distinct categories of father-daughter sexual communication. Participants associated directive and insightful communication styles with positive father-daughter relationships and less risky sexual behavior. Absent/avoidant communication was linked to rejection, regret, and more risky sexual behavior. Results suggest that impact of fathers on girls' sexual risk taking is powerful and distinctly different than the effect of the more traditionally explored correlates of risk.     

Stress and Adaptation Among Families of Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Youth

Abstract

As research has accumulated on gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) youth, more attention is being directed to their families. Research on the families of GLB youth is limited, although several studies have identified parental reactions to learning their offspring is GLB, and others have attempted to discover patterns of responses within families. Some problems with current research on the families of GLB youth are identified. A human development model is described which can help direct future research efforts.