Network for Good

Every Super Bowl has those one or two ads that everyone is talking about around the watercooler the next day. Remember last year’s Chrysler commercial starring Detroit and Eminem? And that adorable (and notably genderless) kid in the Darth Vader costumewho magically started the family car?It’s no wonder companies spend big ad bucks on the big game. $3.5 million for a 30 second spot buys access to over 110 million viewers, many of whom tune in as much for the ads as for the game. In fact, 66 percent of female viewers say they watch as much or more for the ads, compared to 46 percent of male viewers.

Yet the same polls suggest that men are regularly more satisfied with the ads than women. Why? Because many Super Bowl advertisers turn to sexist, racist, and otherwise offensive stereotypes to market their wares. GoDaddy is a regular offender, showcasing racecar driver Danica Patrick as a sex object rather than a driving champion. And last year Pepsi Max went for a double whammy of racism and sexism with an ad that may or may not have been poking fun at First Lady Michelle Obama. And who could forget Groupon’s ad from last year, making light of the plight of the people of Tibet to promote their services?

Some folks choose to skip watching the bowl altogether rather than rage at the ads. But this year there’s a way to voice your displeasure and make a real change in the way Super Bowl ads are framed. Miss Representation, the movie turned movement to challenge the portrayal of women and girls in the media, is calling for Super Bowl viewers to tweet their displeasure with sexist Super Bowl ads by using the tag #NotBuyingIt. Viewers on this tag will be asking others tweeting about the #SuperBowl who the ad was directed at and what message was sent about gender.

A sample tweet:

Hey @godaddy, your #SuperBowl ad was offensive and degrading to women. I'm #notbuyingit!

While a tweet can do a lot to educate fellow viewers, how do we put companies on notice that these advertising tactics absolutely can’t be repeated next year? That’s where the power provided by change.org’s platform comes in. After you tweet about an offensive ad, start a petition asking the company not to air it again following the big game. If enough voices object to an ad, then the makers will get the message that it’s not welcome on TV and it didn’t resonate with consumers.

Change.org members have pressured JC Penney and Forever 21 to drop sexist t-shirts, Got Milk? to stop an offensive advertising campaign, and are currently pressuring LEGO to give up sexist marketing. When companies see their customers don’t like how they’re portrayed in their ads they change their practices. You, like Lauren Todd and Stef Gray, who beat JC Penney and Forever 21, can change the landscape of advertising.

We look forward to seeing you Super Bowl Sunday on the #notbuyingit tag. Settle down with your pizza and wings and get ready to change the game.

Facebook recently launched a "Women Connect" app, calling it "an online platform for organizations and causes to connect and share information with supporters about issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment.” Apparently, it's a part of Facebook's "Diversity campaign."

Taking action to further gender justice is admirable, but some people see Facebook's internal actions as out of step with this stated mission. The top comment to greet me on the Women Connect page, ranked up through users hitting the "Like" button, reads: "I'm glad that FB is supporting this but they also need to get their own house in order - for example by taking down misogynist & pro-rape pages and dropping their stupid censorship against images of breastfeeding."

The almost 200,000 people who signed the Change.org petition demanding that Facebook remove pages promoting sexual violence and violence against women would most likely agree. As would the thousands of Change.org members telling Facebook to leave breastfeeding pictures alone.

In November, Facebook took some action after a #notfunnyfacebook Day of Action on Twitter denounced their excuse for pro-rape pages: "what one person finds offensive another can find entertaining – just as telling a rude joke won’t get you thrown out of your local pub, it won’t get you thrown off Facebook." A number of pro-violence pages were removed, but Facebook still missed the point, permitting the hate content to remain live if the tag [Humor] or [Satire] was simply added in front of the page title. Facebook users can report content as abusive internally, however when the policy is to protect rape apologism, that won't get rid of the pages.

Under this guise, a number of Facebook pages along the lines of "It's not rape, it's surprise sex," "It's not rape if she's wearing skinny jeans," "Kicking Sluts in the Vagina," and "Riding your girlfriend softly so she doesn't wake up" continue to exist. Meanwhile, many of the "surprise sex" and "sluts" pages appear without even this ineffectual tagging process, along with other gems such as "The awkward moment a slut is not DTF but you fuck her anyway" (DTF means "down to fuck" ... as in, she didn't consent so you raped her). Women's Views on News' (WVoN), one of the major partners in the #notfunnyfacebook campaign, has listed many of these on its "Offensive Pages List" for months, yet Facebook has failed to head their call to take them down.

Facebook representatives attempted to explain that the Change.org members signing the petition just didn't understand their terms policy -- which states clearly, "You will not post content that: is hateful, threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence." People just aren't getting the joke.

While Facebook takes down pictures of mothers breastfeeding their children, a natural act permitted in public, it allows misogynist users free reign to advocate violence against women by adding a meaningless humor tag -- and in many cases they don't even need to do that. Even without WVoN's handy list, it's a simple matter to find a slew of pages advocating violence against women, without any claim of humor. If Facebook wants to help women connect and to promote "gender equality and women's empowerment," the problem starts at home. Cleaning out pro-rape, pro-violence against women pages, making Facebook feel like a safe space for female members and survivors -- that's within their power to do immediately to create global change for the better.

If you want to help send Facebook the message that rape just isn't funny, you can sign the petition here. You can also go to the Women Connect page and leave your own comment letting Facebook know you appreciate the initiative, but you can't give them full props until they've seriously addressed ending the hate and violent anti-women content on the site itself.

In these modern times, athletes are considered heroes and icons to thousands, sometimes millions, of people. Even compared to the idols we make of celebrities and musicians, athletes remain our anointed heroes. They often come with backstories that are the stuff of movies (sometimes literally) with tales of overcoming poverty, racism, broken homes, and a variety of other hard knocks. And most of all, athletes remind us of the human potential. They show us the human form in perfection. They dazzle us with their almost superhuman abilities. And it’s thrilling drama.

These characteristics make athletes intoxicating heroes. And that’s why they must be held accountable when they stumble or fall. They must be made an example of, because they represent what we wish we could be on our best of days.

We’ve such failings play out in almost every major sport:

• Football star Michael Vick‘s animal abuse.
• Basketball star Kobe Bryant’s recent hate speech directed at a ref.
• Baseball’s Mel Hall is currently serving a sentence of 45 years for rape and sexual assault.
• In fact, see a list of crimes by pro athletes across multiple sports here.

In huge professional sports clubs like the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, of course there will be a few bad apples or bad scenarios from time to time. What matters is how those events are handled. And whether it’s because of a sense of right and wrong or merely a glance at the bottom line, major sports franchises, players, and organizations are looking at the issues of hate speech, sexual assault, and even bullying with a critical eye.

Last year, NBA Commissioner David Stern said that professional athletes are role models and hate speech cannot be tolerated. The fact that professional sports organizations are publicly saying that hate speech is wrong is important. And meaningful. This is the responsibility part of being a hero. And this is why it's time for the UFC to step up.

In November 2011, I joined the fight to get the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to enact a code of conduct, following a rape joke tweet by fighter Forrest Griffin. Since then, there’s been a spate of offensive tweets and public comments joking about rape and the sexual abuse scandal at Penn State. Meanwhile, they have had what can almost be called a legacy of anti-gay public remarks and outbursts.

The UFC has signed a reported $700 million deal with FOX Sports and will premiere in prime time this year. Their ubiquity is a sign that they are entering the Big Leagues of sports. I can't turn on the TV or drive down a freeway without seeing some sign of the UFC. So it is time that they act like they are in the Big Leagues and enact a code of conduct, similar to those of other major sports organizations including the NFL and NBA.

As the survivor of sexual violence, this cause is very personal for me.

UFC fighters are rewarded for the popularity of their tweets and the effectiveness of their use of social media. There are monetary bonuses, in fact. So, when Forrest Griffin, Miguel Torres and Rashad Evans joked about rape — each of them making direct or indirect illusions to the Penn State scandal — it is more than just offensive (although that would be enough). It is as if the UFC is rewarding the behavior of perpetrators of sexual violence. (Interestingly, Griffin was rewarded as one of the UFC's most creative users of Twitter!) When Rashad Evans joked that he was going to, “put my hands on you worse than that dude did to them other kids at Penn State,” well, that was like joking about the man who put his hands all over my body. Look me in the eye, Mr. Evans, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Torres, and yes, even Mr. UFC President Dana White, and tell me how it’s funny that a man put his hands all over me when I was a child.

The only way we change attitudes about sexual violence is through public discourse and to act as a society to stop it. There is evidence that awareness campaigns and calls for greater societal standards does change minds — just look at the evolution of “wife beating” to domestic violence and the Violence Against Women Act. In fact, VAWA has been helpful on the sexual violence front, too. (Report, PDF)

Joking about rape and off-color remarks about sexual violence are not only offensive, they are deeply hurtful to those who have survived such experiences. It can be a trigger that makes survivors feel a host of difficult emotions, including anger, sadness, depression, shame, and frustration. For society as a whole, it is a terrible mark of the pervasiveness of rape culture and its bullying effect on the hearts and minds of women, men, girls, boys, transgendered individuals, LGBT people, and more. Joking about rape and sexual abuse is an admission that taking away someone’s power is not only “funny” but somehow acceptable and even encouraged.

If you feel like me, that it’s time the UFC grew up and enacted a code of conduct, please take a moment now and sign this petition.

Photo credit: Kaloozer

Victory! After 100 people signed the petition in just a few hours, the Department of Public Works quickly came to an agreement to allow the Walk for Choice to take place Friday and the banners to remain up until Saturday evening.

Anti-choicers rip down posters for a "Trust Women" event. Women's rights advocates complain about the vandalism. What does the city do?

Threaten to tear down the rest of the banners.

Somer Loen, an organizer for the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights (BACORR), has launched a petition on Change.org calling on the San Francisco Department of Public Works (DPW) to "protect free speech for pro-choice organization." In preparation for Trust Women Week (Jan. 20-27) the Silver Ribbon Campaign -- of which BACORR is a member organization -- put up banners to raise awareness, featuring slogans such as "Fix the Economy -- Support My Autonomy" and "Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights." Loen reports that they had a permit for the banners and an event on Jan. 20th, but the anti-choice Life Legal Defense Fund filed a "bogus" complaint with the city.

Loen and her fellow organizers were looking for a way to deal with vandals destroying their posters when the DPW shockingly invalidated their original permit for a Friday walk, refused to issue a new one requested for Sunday (so as to not overlap with a Friday Occupy event), and announced the remaining banners would be removed.

"Too many of the people who pass restrictive laws and service cuts aren't affected by them," Loen commented. "Women's voices are the most important voices in any discussion regarding our rights. Our intention with these public displays of choice -- from rallies to event banners to actions online --  is to empower everyone to publicly stand up for their rights." Her petition says that the banners mark the "first time in history [that] San Francisco's Market Street is advertising a pro-choice event" -- yet this milestone has been marred by the DPW's decision to give in to unjust anti-choice pressure.

The events of Trust Women Week will include a National Online March as well as events on the ground in San Francisco, including the currently contested Sunday walk and a rally on Saturday. The rally serves as a counter to the annual anti-choice Walk for Life and will celebrate the Board of Supervisors' recent decision to pass truth-in-advertising legislation for crisis pregnancy centers. More than 800 San Francisco residents signed BACORR's Change.org petition to regulate these anti-choice "fake clinics," which have been found to falsely advertise reproductive health services and medical personnel to trick women inside, then serve up misinformation and manipulation rather than comprehensive medical care. The victorious campaign inspired petitions in other cities in California, New York, Florida, and elsewhere calling for similar legislation in their area.

To tell the San Francisco Department of Public Works to respect women's rights, approve the Trust Women walk, and leave the banners alone, sign Somer's petition here.

There is nothing pretty about boxing. It’s strenuous, fatiguing, and comes with its share of aches, pains, hits and unanticipated smacks. My body still refuses to forgive me for the aftermath of my first fight. The visceral pain in my joints made typing a four letter word on a keyboard so painful I cringed. As a grad student and self-proclaimed twitter addict, it was, to say the least, somewhat debilitating!

Nevertheless, there is a particular kind of beauty in roughness. Boxing invigorates and animates every muscle and fragment of flesh in my body. I still remember the astonishment of my coach in reaction to the amount of power I was able to harness in my first punch. What is it about the strength of women that still shocks us? What is so intolerable about a woman in control of her abilities that makes an organization like the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) want to confine her to a mini-skirt? If there is something menacing about a woman in shorts it suggests that there is still something menacing about a woman in full ability to thrive. While men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women are taught to apologize for their strengths.

In a way, boxing encapsulates everything that is regularly socially discouraged of women. However, in my opinion, there is nothing more satisfying than doing something that isn’t expected. When someone expects you to be weak, have the courage to be strong. When someone expects you to be compliant, have the bravery to resist. If women are told they must be seen not heard, then they must stand up and speak louder. Given that we are often encouraged not to fight back, it’s about time we enter the metaphorical rink and kick some serious figurative butt.

This petition is not about a piece of fabric, it’s about athletes. It’s not about their clothing, it’s about their credibility. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned through my experience as a boxer, it's that when someone throws a punch, curling up in the fetal position is not an option. You stand up and you fight. You don’t ask for power, you just take it.

Sign the petition on Change.org now and show the AIBA we’re not willing to throw in the towel before we’ve won the fight!

More than 35,000 people have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) to allow girls to play football.

Members of the U.S. National Women’s Tackle Football Team launched the online petition on Change.org after they heard that starting linebacker Mina Johnson, a student at Southampton Academy in Virginia, was forced to sit on the sidelines when an opposing team threatened to forfeit rather than play against a girl. The opposing school was a member of the NCISAA, which prohibits girls from playing on boys’ varsity teams.

"The members of the U.S. national women's team and I felt it extremely important to support Mina in her desire to play football,” said Adrienne Smith, who launched the campaign on Change.org on behalf of her teammates. “At one time or another, everyone on the U.S. national team has faced similar discrimination. We wanted to show unanimous support for Mina and her teammates, as well as her coach and community, by speaking as one voice through our petition."

“Johnson and her peers don’t play football year after year on a whim, a dare, or as a hobby,” Roseanna Smith, another member of the U.S. Women’s National team, wrote in an article on Change.org. “No man or woman who has ever played the game at a high level would say it was any of those things. Football is a sport that teaches its players how to challenge themselves beyond mental and physical limitations, to never give up, and to find a way to reach a collective goal.”

The U.S. National Women’s Tackle Football Team is asking the NCISAA to adhere to Title IX regulations and change an outdated policy that prohibits girls from playing football. In addition to targeting the NCISAA, Adrienne and her teammates hope to expand opportunities for girls nationwide by challenging similar policies that keep girls like Mina off the field.

Tens of thousands of people have joined the campaign on Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change, and Mina Johnson has given her personal support and hopes it "will help a lot of people change their minds about girls playing varsity football." As a result of the campaign, the NCISAA’s Board of Directors plans to discuss the policy at its upcoming board meeting on Wednesday, January 18, at Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Happy New Year -- out with the old, and in with the new!

More than 140,000 Change.org members signed a petition launched by Ms. Magazine demanding the FBI recognize that rape is rape -- and it worked. On Friday, the Obama administration approved a new nationwide definition of rape, the first change in 80 years. Goodbye and good riddance to the FBI's narrow Uniform Crime Report definition: "The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.”

And a hearty welcome to the new definition: "The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." For the first time in decades, this federal definition of rape includes victims of all genders, forced oral and anal sex, and drugging or unconsciousness. "With a modern, broader definition, FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics will finally show the true breadth of this violence that affects so many women’s lives,"  said Ms. Executive Editor Katherine Spillar. As these statistics are utilized to understand crime rates and trends, which in turn influence decisions about funding and prioritization, this change can have a real impact in reducing sexual violence across the country.

The glaring discrepancy between the reality of rape and the FBI's definition spurred Ms. Magazine to launch the "Rape Is Rape" campaign, spotlighting the stories of and seeking justice for survivors who discovered their violation wasn't legally considered rape. Once the non-profit organization started a petition on Change.org and brought this travesty to the attention of members like you, nearly 150,000 people jumped up to tell the FBI that rape is rape,  making this one of the most popular Change.org Women's Rights petitions of all time.

You succeeded in convincing the FBI advisory board to vote in favor of an improved definition. You won FBI Director Robert Mueller's approval. You were victorious in getting Attorney General Eric Holder to announce formal revisions to the Uniform Crime Report. "These long overdue updates to the definition of rape will help ensure justice for those whose lives have been devastated by sexual violence and reflect the Department of Justice’s commitment to standing with rape victims," stated Attorney General Holder. Long overdue indeed, because moving the FBI is no mean feat -- and you did it in a matter of months.

Photo credit: Ms. Magazine

When female boxers enter the ring, the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) would like them to be wearing skirts, according to a recommendation by the sport's governing organization. After all, nothing says pugilistic prowess like a good miniskirt.

The AIBA came up with this brilliant idea as a way to help distinguish female boxers from their male counterparts. Apparently, this has been a problem for some folks in the past, though I can't imagine who.

Female boxers have already had to fight long and hard outside the ring to get the respect they deserve inside of it. The 2012 London Games will mark the sport's Olympic debut, after having been previously rejected by the International Olympic Committee  in 2005 for not meeting safety and universality standards. AIBA's sartorial suggestion undermines that progress.

After AIBA issued this suggestion, only two nations had their female boxers wear skirts: Romanian and Polish fighters wore them in the the European Championships late last year. Most athletes seem to share the opinion of  Ireland's three-time world champion, Katie Taylor. "I don't even wear miniskirts on a night out," Taylor said. "So I definitely won't be wearing miniskirts in the ring."

The AIBA, responding to criticism, has said that, as of now, the skirts are merely a suggestion. Final uniform dress codes will not be decided until they meet this month from January 18-22. Until that time, the organization is asking for input from the wider boxing community and from the general public.

Change.org member Rachel Walden seized the opportunity to have her voice heard and created a petition asking the AIBA to rescind its recommendation that female boxers wear skirts. "The ideal result of this petition is to send the message that this sort of misogyny is intolerable, " says Walden. Join her in asking the AIBA to play and not require female boxers wear skirts.

Photo credit: babastever

Gooooooaaaaaaallllllll! When the U.S. Soccer Federation announced on November 20 that Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), the national league where World Cup stars like Hope Solo and Abby Wambach train up to rock it on the international field, risked losing sanctioning if it couldn't add a sixth team in two weeks, prospects looked dim. But a game-saving goal come in the form of outcry from players and fans determined to save WPS -- 50,000 of them.

Alex Sahlen, a player for the WPS Team the Western New York Flash, started a petition on Change.org asking U.S. Soccer to grant her beloved league a one-year waiver from the minimum team requirement. Her campaign attracted 48,000 signatures, while another petition started by Colleen Kelly, an ardent fan of the WPS Team the Philadelphia Independence, brought the number of supporters to just shy of 50,000. This week, U.S. Soccer announced that it will allow WPS to continue to develop and expand over the next year, recognizing that a sport with such devoted fans has an opportunity to thrive.

"I would like to thank all of the fans for their unwavering support throughout this difficult time and persisting with us to reach our ultimate goal of a 2012 WPS season," said Alex Sahlen after hearing the good cheer about WPS. "The support has been amazing and really touching and humbling for many of us. We are looking forward to another successful WPS season and will look to build upon this season to keep women's professional soccer around for many years to come."

Half of youth soccer players are female, and Sahlen sees herself and players like Solo as role models for what these girls can accomplish. Fans and players alike exclaimed that the dissolution of WPS would dash many young girls dreams of pursuing a professional soccer career, scoring winning goals -- and perhaps even Dancing With the Stars. With WPS's survival assured for another year, prospects are soaring.

A record number of viewers -- for any soccer game -- tuned in to ESPN to watch the U.S. Women's Soccer Team's heart-stopping battle against Japan in the World Cup finals this summer, with the tied game coming down to a penalty shoot-out in overtime. The American team ended up in the runner-up spot, but with the help of additional training in a competitive Women's Professional Soccer national team, they have a shot to turn silver into gold next time. And with a U.S. women's soccer team headed to London next year for the Olympics, 2012 promises to bring even more attention to the sport. Alex Sahlen and 50,000 fans are counting on it.

More than 26,000 people have signed Emily Hehir’s petition calling for 2Day FM advertisers to withdraw their support of Kyle Sandilands. Your support has sent them a clear message that it’s unacceptable to financially support a radio host who uses phrases like “fat slag”, “you’re a piece of sh*t” and "I will hunt you down" to attack a journalist.

The media storm and consumer backlash has resulted in up to 60% of advertisers on the Kyle and Jackie O show withdrawing, at a cost to Austereo of $8 million. Despite this, Sandilands and his employers are breathing a sigh of relief -- Sandilands is off air for summer and they’re hoping attention on Sandilands will fade away and allow advertisers to return next year. But Vodafone, Blackmores, and McDonalds have committed to not advertising on any radio show hosted by Kyle Sandilands in 2012 -- can you help other petition signers build pressure on other major advertisers to follow Vodafone and rule out advertising on Sandilands' shows in 2012? There's also a group just started by one Change.org member for people to take regular and ongoing action on this issue -- you can join by signing a pledge here.

Here are the brands that haven't ruled out a return to Sandilands in 2012:

Harvey Norman: http://on.fb.me/t5yWvQ
Car History.com.au: http://on.fb.me/rt66Mi
Dick Smith: http://on.fb.me/rA86nc
Piazza D'Oro: http://on.fb.me/uvObh7
Westfield http://on.fb.me/umSTVE

Samsung: http://on.fb.me/ufQYeu
Goldmark: http://on.fb.me/u728bZ
Pepsi: http://on.fb.me/u5zpPV
Holiday Inn: http://on.fb.me/vz8VeY
Olympus: http://on.fb.me/unOvpD
TPG: http://on.fb.me/vIa32i
Toys R Us: http://on.fb.me/tvetSZ
Commonwealth Bank Australia: http://on.fb.me/rM64CO
iSelect: http://on.fb.me/vCEIfd
Big W: http://on.fb.me/ukPs0U
ING: http://on.fb.me/tWYjUH

Roseanna Smith is a member of the U.S. National Women's Tackle Football team. Roseanna, Adrienne Smith, and their teammates have launched a petition in support of girls' right to play football.

When I was 17, I joined my high school football team.

Even in 1999, it wasn’t very popular move, talent aside -- and I didn’t have much of it then. What I did have was a desire to test the limits of what I thought I could do. By lifting weights and training harder than I ever had before, I earned biceps, abs, and a spot on the team. I worked full-time in the summer between two-a-days and a part-time evening gig at the local newspaper. Every practice, my goal was to be a full participant in every drill, exercise, and conditioning session. I only finished last at the beginning.

I didn't understand the offense at first. Many days, I would draw up plays and ask questions in the coaches' office after practice. I made too many mistakes to count. Some of the most embarrassing were lining up in a three-point stance as a tailback in practice or forgetting the play on the way to the huddle during a game. But there were many positives, the two most important: I learned how to be a player by earning a role on the team, and the opportunity to play football changed my life.

I’m telling you part of my story because it’s vitally important to understanding why other girls need to play football.

Back then, the only girls I had ever heard of who played were kickers. Times have changed. Now, girls all over the country are stat leaders and game-changers for their teams. They play every position. They dominate. Their teammates accept them.

Mina Johnson’s story revealed that there are still many old-school hurdles.

Johnson, an eighth grader at Southampton Academy, sat out a JV game this fall because her team’s opponent threatened to forfeit if she was allowed to play. Johnson is a starting defensive tackle who made four sacks in a game this season. She, if given the opportunity to play, has unlimited potential. Learn more about Johnson here.

Our petition seeks to provide support for Johnson and all girls like her across the country.

Meet some of the other girls: Panama (N.Y.) Panthers senior Andrea Marsh was honored in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd this fall and was a co-leader in tackles as a two-year starting defensive back. Glamour magazine recently named Pinckney (Mich.) senior Brianna Amat one of 21 Amazing Young Women of 2011 for kicking her team’s winning field goal. The story was news also because Amat was named homecoming queen at halftime. The good part: she accepted the crown in her No. 12 jersey. Detroit’s Monique Howard of Pershing High is a starting right tackle who uses football to stay out of trouble.

There are many reasons girls need to play football.

I’ll give you the best one: we need to prepare the next generation for international play. In 2010, 45 players, including myself, represented the first-ever TEAM USA for women’s tackle football in Sweden. We went undefeated and came home with gold medals. I think our work has just begun.

At the Women’s World Championships, most European teams were composed of teenage girls. Meanwhile, talented girls in the United States are being asked to step aside or to sit out. Many of the thousands of adult women now competing in tackle football leagues around the country were fighting for access to play any sports when they were in high school.

Times have changed and we have a different future.

Johnson and her peers don’t play football year after year on a whim, a dare, or as a hobby. No man or woman who has ever played the game at a high level would say it was any of those things. Football is a sport that teaches its players how to challenge themselves beyond mental and physical limitations, to never give up, and to find a way to reach a collective goal.

TEAM USA’s mindset was simple. As the first 45 women to represent the United States to set the international stage (hopefully for the Olympic Games someday), it was our duty to make an unforgettable impression through talent, sportsmanship and hard work. Our mantra from training camp through gold medal ceremony was “One Team, One Mission.”

Our next mission is to ensure girls have the opportunity to accomplish their dreams.

Supportive coaches made my football dream a reality. Please consider signing the petition to support Mina Johnson.

The opportunity to play could change her life too.

The Milwaukee area has two hospitals that provide services for sexual assault victims. If you are unfortunate enough to go to one of the hospitals that does not provide that service, you will be sent away. Or worse, you may wait. Perhaps you will wait for over an hour before leaving, angry and frustrated -- not knowing that after such a long wait, when someone finally came to see you, you would have been sent away anyway. This was my story. This story was in many ways why the SlutWalk movement appealed to me, why I began SlutWalk Milwaukee, and why I am pushing a Change.org petition to fix this situation; a petition that most are shocked to sign because most believe that they, or their daughters, their mothers, their friends, would be treated at any medical center were they the victim of a sexual assault.

A few years ago, I was working with a group of underprivileged youth. Many of the girls in this program had a history that included sexual violence. Some believe this to be the product of poverty. It is not. That these girls shared their stories with me was based on my position, but high school classrooms all over the United States have the same issue. One in four girls will be sexually assaulted before the age of 18. During my time at this program, one of the girls came to me to say that she had been raped the day before. I did what I thought was the most responsible thing to do: I immediately drove her to the nearest medical center. We were sent away. This was a small clinic that did not have the resources to aid a sexual assault victim. Before we were sent away, a nurse thought it would be a good idea to talk to us anyway. She asked a teenage victim of sexual assault very intimate and personal questions about her body, and then when she giggled out of nervousness, the nurse told her that it didn't sound to her as though she had been raped.

Once we left, we were told to go to the city, where a hospital there could care for us. And that is where my story started. Waiting in an emergency room with a teenage girl who became more agitated with every minute that were not seen, until she eventually begged me to leave.

The entire time we attempted to get services, she attempted to explain herself. She wanted me to know that she didn't "ask for it." She wanted to me know that she was sorry. She wanted to convince that she was "not a slut." Those were her words. She asked me to forgive her for being raped.

I wish I could say that I know where she is now. I do not. I know that afterwards, while she would come to see me on occasion, her attendance became less and less frequent. Her behavior around her friends changed. They did not know why. They did not know what had happened, and there was no way that I could tell them in an effort to encourage support. I tried to get her counseling, but it did not happen. She faced this alone. She faced this alone and she shouldn't have.

What happened to her was the failure of a society to care for its youth, to care for its women, and to care for its victims and survivors of sexual assault. We live in a society where we convince teens that they need to apologize for being raped, because only sluts get raped. We have labeled sexual assault as the victimization of the deserving.

In the course of their lifetime one and three women will be sexually assaulted, one and six men. Most will not report because we have labeled victims as sluts, we have labeled them as deserving, and few want to fight an accusation of asking for their body to be robbed.

I began SlutWalk Milwaukee for this reason. We cannot create better services for victims and survivors of sexual assault until we, as a society, can illuminate the pervasive power words like slut have had in how we treat victims and how we encourage them to treat themselves. We cannot create better services until we come understand the social reality of sexual assault, and until we can first always say that we believe you, we do not blame you, if you have been the victim of sexual violence.

The petition is an effort to change services for sexual assault victims. SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) responders provide vital services to victims. Not just a rape kit and STI testing, but initial counseling and a knowledge of resources for agencies of support. By making immediate services accessible to our population, we may be able to encourage more to report and get whatever services they need to aid them in their healing journey.

The lack of services we have right now is emblematic of a society that is not considerate of victims of sexual assault. Demanding this change is not only a demand that we make necessary medical services available to victims of sexual violence, it is a demand that we begin to consider the victims of sexual violence, and a statement that their fight is our fight. You are not alone.

Over 180,000 of you have petitioned Facebook asking for the removal of pages advocating sexual violence and violence against women, signing your name to a campaign launched by Florida activist John Raines. You've pointed out that Facebook's own Terms of Service ban content that is “hateful, threatening,” or contains “graphic or gratuitous violence.” But Facebook has refused to take action, writing these hateful pages off as humor: "what one person finds offensive another can find entertaining – just as telling a rude joke won’t get you thrown out of your local pub, it won’t get you thrown off Facebook.”

Today, you can join a Twitter Day of Action to tell Facebook that you don't find pages like "Riding You Girlfriend Softly So She Doesn't Wake Up" funny. Facebooks knows these pages exist, but has made a decision to permit pages like this one advocating sexual violence -- pages like this one, where the admin engages in further hilarity about drugging women and threatening critics with assault -- so reporting them isn't enough. The Change.org campaign includes supporters who will be taking action from all around the world, and similar campaigns are being run out of Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, where Women's View on News (WVoN) has been leading and compiling resources.

Facebook has previously been criticized for being quick to delete inoffensive pictures of same-sex couples kissing and regularly taking down breastfeeding photos/groups. Yet when it comes to hate speech and advocating violence against women, suddenly Facebook is ready to shrug their shoulders and say it's all in good fun, nothing for them to do about it.

By tweeting at Facebook using the hashtag #notfunnyfacebook, you can send a message that this excuse is simply unacceptable. Here are some suggested tweets, which include the names of pages that Facebook has failed to take down, despite being cited and protested by either the campaign on Change.org or WVoN:

.@facebook “Riding your Girlfriend softly, Cause you dont want to wake her up” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV

.@facebook “Let's have sex.. LOL jk i'm a rapist, were doing it wether you like or not” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV

.@facebook “Kicking sluts in the vagina because its funny watching your foot disappear” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV

.@facebook “1.5 Million 'likes' and I will rape my mom!” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV

.@facebook “It's Not Rape If You Yell Surprise” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV

.@facebook “Whats 10 inches and gets girls to have sex with me? my knife” #notfunnyfacebook http://chn.ge/r9T2EV

If you liked this suggestion and want to receive emails to take part in future actions on a range of women's rights issues, sign up here to become a Women's Rights Hero(ine).

Somer Leon decided that she didn't want one more San Francisco woman tricked by crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). With her volunteer group, the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights, Leon launched a campaign on Change.org, calling for truth-in-advertising legislation that would bar these "fake clinics" from claiming non-existent services. The bill passed the local Board of Supervisors with overwhelming support on Tuesday, with Leon's petition credited for demonstrating support for the bill.

Thousands of CPCs exist nationwide, and the majority -- 87%, according to a Congressional report -- mislead or lie to patients. These ideological fake clinics lure in pregnant women with false advertising about offering comprehensive reproductive health care, only to pursue a conservative religious agenda. They lack trained medical personnel, don't provide advertised services, and deceive patients with fabrications about abortion leading to breast cancer, mental illness, and infertility. Many resort to shaming tactics and pressure women to "accept Jesus"; some go as far as telling a patient she's not pregnant in order to keep her from considering abortion, which can pose a serious health risk.

Similar legislation has already passed in New York City, Baltimore, and Austin. What can you do to make sure that women in your hometown won't get tricked by crisis pregnancy centers?

1. Use the list of known CPCs on CPCWatch.org or Google to find out if there are centers in your area.
2. Find out who the members of you local City Council or Board of Supervisors are.
3. Start a petition on Change.org asking them to pass truth-in-advertising legislation regulating crisis pregnancy centers.
4. Share your petition with friends and through social media such as Facebook, Twitter, tumblr.

In this way, you can take a simple but important action for women's health and consumer protection, by making sure crisis pregnancy centers are honest about what they do. Start a campaign today.

Other resources:

Committee on Government Reform Report on Crisis Pregnancy Centers (pdf)
State reports from NARAL on CPCs in California, New York, Virginia, and North Carolina -- check out your state NARAL's website for further information.
For Halloween, the Feminist Majority Foundation advises, "Don't Get Tricked, Get Treated."