Emma Thompson is one of my favorite actresses. I’m not sure anyone else could have made me almost cry while watching the uber-cheese fest Love Actually (the scene of her standing alone in the bedroom listening to Joni Mitchell is amazing). She always manages to find that little piece of humanity and portray it simply by looking at you.

And of course, it comes as no surprise that she is involved in charity. Her cause? The inspiring Helen Bamber Foundation. The foundation works with survivors of genocide, torture, trafficking and rape who seek safety and refuge. Their team is made up of human rights experts who are constantly working to come up with creative solutions to many of the world’s cruelties.

One of those creative solutions is an art installation project entitled Journey:

‘The installation is comprised of seven shipping containers, which you walk through, each of which represents a leg of the journey. It is designed to give the audience an engaged sensation of human trafficking.’ [Variety]

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A teenage girl named Crystal has turned to Youtube to share her story of being raped. According to CNN, Crystal is among dozens of young people who are turning to social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to talk about sexual assault.

Sadly, the comments which appear below the Youtube video are disgusting. Many think the girl is putting on an act, while others support the attacker. Everything about this makes me sick: the fact that a girl who claims she was raped has no where to turn but to the internet, that people commenting on the video think rape is funny, and that rape even happens at all. I’m really not sure what to make of all of this.

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It’s quite difficult to hold back tears and vomit as I read the disgusting report of a 73-year-old man in Austria who confessed to holding his daughter captive in his home cellar for nearly 24 years and fathering seven children by her! WTF!?

The father, called Mr. F, lived upstairs with his oblivious wife Rose F while his captive daughter and three of their kids remained locked in the basement! Again, in case you didn’t catch that, Rose F lived above four of her husbands prisoners and never noticed a thing!?

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With this expansion of the legal definition of rape, Maryland joins seven other states whose courts have determined that a man can be charged with rape if he ignores a woman’s calls to stop even if she had previously consented to sex.

“This goes to the heart of women’s autonomy,” said Lisae C. Jordan, legal director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which filed a brief in the matter. “It says that, yes, women do have the right to make decisions about something as intimate as sexual intercourse.”

The Maryland Court of Appeals’ opinion in a rape case from Montgomery County overturns what defense attorneys and a lower appeals court said was existing common law and the high court’s own 1980 opinion. [Baltimoresun.com]

While I suppose this is “good news” it’s also incredibly sad that any state would ever rule that a woman cannot revoke her consent after intercourse begins.

and get involved at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network http://www.rainn.org/

Singer Ricky Martin recently visited a Cambodian shelter in Siem Reap where a teenage rape victim performed a song she wrote about her ordeal as a trafficking victim. Martin was representing his Ricky Martin Foundation when he visited the Cambodian shelter that houses 65 victims.

The Ricky Martin Foundation works as advocates of children’s rights focusing their our work in benefiting this most vulnerable population around the world by supporting structured, equal opportunity initiatives that will secure children the right to be children, and provide them a more promising life. Check out this AOL video where Martin discusses his activist work.

According to the United Nations, about 2.5 million people are involved in forced labor as a result of trafficking, with most victims between the ages of 18 and 24. The US State Department has called Cambodia a country that is a source, destination and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor. and get involved with The Ricky Martin Foundation by visiting www.rickymartinfoundation.org

Last month I blogged about the upcoming debut of the film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo a shocking exposé of a ic of Congo (DRC). Now you can take even more action and join hundreds of activists and viewers across the country to watch the premiere of this HBO documentary. The organization ENOUGH has teamed with HBO to coordinate and organize house screenings across the U.S. to view and discuss the film together on Tuesday, April 8th at 10:00 PM EDT.

The ENOUGH project is a group that uses in-depth knowledge to create clear, viable policy recommendations, and engage activists to apply pressure on the perpetrators and well-meaning governments whose own inertia prevents them from taking the steps necessary to stop genocide and

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Mediarights.org has a great interview with Lisa F. Jackson, director of the film The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo which will premiere on HBO April 8th. The film, which won a Special Jury prize from Sundance this year was shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006. The documentary breaks the silence surrounding the tens of thousands of women and girls who have been kidnapped, raped and sexually tortured in that country’s intractable civil war.

Just viewing the short trailer below sent chills through my body. I feel infuriated and disgusted by the horrors these poor victims of war have faced and continue to face. I can only imagine the powerful impact this film will have on viewers.

and visit the links page for The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo which features a comprehensive list of organizations working to help women in the Congo.

Did you know you could celebrate International Women’s Day without even leaving your house, or getting out of bed, or changing out of your pajamas, or spending a penny? Here are 10 ways you can show your support, make change, and even raise money for good causes on International Women’s Day:

1. Send this fun animated e-card about women, body issues, and self-esteem. Don’t worry, it’s funny, not a downer. Plus with e-cards from Care2, you’re not just supporting women. You’re helping the environment. Because for every e-card you send, Care2 makes a donation to an environmental nonprofit to save a square foot of rainforest.

2. Send this funny animated “Keep Young and Beautiful” e-card about women who torture and contort themselves to fit into certain clothes and shoes. But don’t worry. It has a happy ending involving an ice cream cone. Again, you’ll be helping out the rainforests.

3. Or try celebrating International Women’s Day with this Celebrating Women e-card.

4. And this Marie Curie animated e-card is a great way to cure the International Women’s Day blues.

5. Now that you’ve put all those cards in the mailbox, treat yourself and treat the world with some care2 “click to donates.” You raise money for organizations and campaigns without paying a cent. When you “click,” a company “donates.” So if you want to support Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women programs, just click here.

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A recent survey shows a quarter of Scots think that a raped woman is partially responsible for her assault if she is a bit tipsy or wearing sexy clothes. Additionally, nearly one in five Scots surveyed believe rape can be a woman’s fault if she is known to have had several sexual partners.

In response to this ignorant victim blaming, Rape Crisis Scotland has developed a series of ads showing a scantily clad female and bearing the slogan “This is not an invitation to rape me.”

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I am thrilled to hear the latest news about Nicole Kidman, just in time for Valentine’s Day! In case you missed the news, I’ll give you some hints about what the star told the people attending Germany’s Cinema For Peace ceremony last night. 1) Nicole is feeling some maternal instincts, 2) is going to be delivering something precious some time within the next 9 months, and 3) is looking forward to watching that something grow. Did you figure it out yet? Of course, I’m talking about Nicole’s announcement that she’s expecting– expecting people from all around the world to Say No to Violence Against Women!

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