Reading Levine's book Harmful to Minors has brought to mind a question about the discussion around the pathologization of sexual violence. Levine brings up questions about whether it's the sexual nature of incest/adult-child sexual contact that harms children or the breaking of trust/exploitation of the powerless that actually cause harm.

I rememer a few years ago I was in a training course for sex educators. One of the facilitators brought up the issue of sexual violence. She said something like "people always say rape is about power and not about sex, but in my opinion rape is a lot about sex." I remember feeling deeply uncomfortable with her statement, but I gave it some intellectual consideration and Levine's book brought up the question anew for me.

So, here are my thoughts. I know that this discussion may be difficult/offensive to some. I am curious about people's thoughts and feelings around the issue and/or the folly of...

Last last year, as many as 10 young men gang-raped a 15-year-old girl, while another 10 people watched, in Richmond, California.  As horrible as the attack was, with many questions that swarm regarding one's ability to witness such a gruesome attack without intervening or calling for help, we already have a name for this phenomenon: the bystander effect.  The term was coined to make sense of how 38 people witnessed, by hearing and/or seeing, the violent rape and murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964.  And, subsequent research has found that the diffusion of responsibility, or the pressure one perceives to intervene, increases as the number of people present increases.

Unlike other countries, like some in Europe, many of the US's Good Samaritan laws are focused on protecting individuals who help in emergency situations from criminal and financial liability, yet, there is little about holding responsible those who fail to intervene in such situations.  (Think back to the 1997...

In Judaism, there is a tenant called ‘”Tikkun Olam”, which translated from Hebrew means “repair the world”.

Last Thursday, eighty high school sophomore students from Emery/Weiner, a Jewish Community School in Houston, Texas descended upon the San Francisco LGBT Community Center to hear a panel of local community activists talk about social and health issues impacting LGBT people. The goal of the panel was for students to learn about issues facing LGBT people as well as to begin to develop tools they could use to promote greater equality for LGBT people back home.

When the Youth Program of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center called me to see if I would be interested in representing NSRC on the panel, I was thrilled (and a bit surprised too) to hear that an event like this was even...