PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR SEXUAL,REPRODUCTIVE, AND PARENTING RIGHTS: AN INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Despite important gains in human rights, persons with disabilities — and in particular women and girls with disabilities — continue to experience significant inequalities in the areas of sexual, reproductive, and parenting rights. Persons with disabilities are sterilized at alarming rates; have decreased access to reproductive health care services and information; and experience denial of parenthood. Precipitating these inequities are substantial and instantiated stereotypes of persons with disabilities as either asexual or unable to engage in sexual or reproductive activities, and as incapable of performing parental duties. The article begins with an overview of sexual, reproductive, and parenting rights regarding persons with disabilities. Because most formal adjudications of these related rights have centered on the issue of sterilization, the article analyzes commonly presented rationales used to justify these procedures over time and across jurisdictions. Next, the article examines the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the attendant obligations of States Parties regarding rights to personal integrity, access to reproductive health care services and information, parenting, and the exercise of legal capacity. Finally, the article highlights fundamental and complex issues requiring future research and consideration.     

The effects of different saturation levels of the Shifting Boundaries intervention on preventing adolescent relationship abuse and sexual harassment

Objectives

Prior research with the Shifting Boundaries (SB) prevention program suggests that it can prevent adolescent relationship abuse and sexual harassment. We assessed the relative impact of a combined set of SB classroom (SBC) and SB building (school-wide; SBS) interventions on adolescent relationship abuse and sexual harassment outcomes when the program is delivered to all three grades in a middle school (full saturation) compared to when only two or one of the three grades receive it.

Methods

We randomly assigned 23 middle schools (1,764 students) in New York City to varying saturation levels of SB: 6th grade only, 6th and 7th grade, or 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.

Results

Providing SB to only one grade level does just as well at preventing peer violence and adolescent relationship abuse as treating multiple grades. However, there was evidence that additional saturation led to sexual harassment reductions. Schools that delivered SB to 6th and 7th graders (compared to just 6th graders) reduced sexual harassment victimization 6 months post-treatment.

Conclusions

The results largely support a minimalist approach, in that SB may be effective in preventing peer violence and adolescent relationship abuse outcomes by delivery to one grade level. However, there is a need for more research to continue exploring the potential benefits of a saturated delivery of SB across all grades, building on our finding that 6th and 7th grade implementation of SB was more effective at reducing sexual harassment than 6th grade only implementation.

     

Analysis of blood and tissue for amoxapine and trimipramine

A method for the identification and quantitation of two tricyclic antidepressants, amoxapine (Asendin) and trimipramine (Surmontil) is presented here. Samples were extracted with hexane at pH 10, back-extracted with 1.0N sulfuric acid. The acidic layer was adjusted to pH 10 and re-extracted with hexane. Electron impact mass spectra were obtained. The base peak and molecular ion for amoxapine were at m/z 245 and 313, respectively. The base peak and molecular ion for trimipramine were at m/z 58 and 294, respectively. There were three forensic toxicology cases involving amoxapine in Cook County, IL, in 1980 and 1981. The concentrations of amoxapine in blood for these three cases were 1.66 mg/L, 7.16 mg/L, and 2.95 mg/L, respectively.     

Clinical forensic medicine

This article discusses the merits of participation by medical examiners in the area of clinical forensic medicine. The present connotation that we deal after the fact should be abandoned with enhanced involvement in assisting the living. The paper focuses on a broad range of categories where forensic scientists by virtue of their training and experience could be most helpful in the application of medical knowledge to the solution of questions of law.     

Asymmetric Two-Stage Group Rent-Seeking: Comparison of Two Contest Structures

Two variations of a two-stage rent-seeking contest areconsidered. In the first stage of the Between-Groupmodel, groups compete through the expenditure of resources bytheir members. Based on group expenditures, one winning groupis probabilistically determined. On the second stage, membersof the winning group compete with one another for an exogenousprize. In the Semi-Finals model a player is chosen fromeach group and then these players compete for the prize.Groups differ in size or in their valuation of the prize.Subgame-perfect equilibrium solutions are constructed forthese two contest structures.     

Legislative Knowledge Networks,Status Quo Complexity,and the Approval of Law Initiatives

In this article, we explore the role of legislative knowledge networks (LKN) in the enactment of tax policy in Argentina. Findings show that legislative innovation follows a hierarchical (power law) structure with a few distinct issue areas dominated by key enacted bills. Taxation in Argentina is well described by three main issue areas: the VAT laws, the income tax, and the revenue‐sharing legislation. We provide evidence that complexity in the status quo, as described by a larger number of important precedent laws, reduces the likelihood of final approval. Our research departs from existing models of delegation by considering complexity in the status quo rather than complexity in the proposal. We argue that more complex status quo should be accounted for when trying to assess whether legislators draft more or less detailed law initiatives.