To whom would you rather give money: a needy person in your neighborhood or a needy person in a foreign country? According to new research by Texas A&M University marketing professor Karen Winterich and colleagues, if you’re a man, you’re more likely to give to the person closest to you that is, the one in your neighborhood if you give at all. [...more]
Growth in the human population abounds despite falling fertility rates, and where it heads in the future will continue to confound demographers, according to the latest Vital Sign Update from the Worldwatch Institute. With the number of women of childbearing age growing and future fertility trends unpredictable, closing the “gender gap”—the difference between women’s health, economic, educational, and political status relative to men—may be one key to slowing population growth. [...more]
Pets are part of the family in the majority of American households, where nearly three-quarters of families with school-age children have at least one companion animal. These animals are often treated like members of the family, but if the family is experiencing violence they can become targets as well. Pets are often an important source of comfort and stability to the victims of abuse, particularly children. But abusive family members may threaten, injure, or kill pets, often as a way of threatening or controlling others in the family. [...more]
Around the world, as many as one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or abused in some other way - most often by someone she knows, including by her husband or another male family member; one woman in four has been abused during pregnancy. [...more]
Women's participation in post-conflict nation-building is an important ingredient in achieving an equitable, peaceful and more prosperous society, according to a RAND Corporation study released today. While many policymakers and development agencies fear that pursuing a stronger role for women in nation-building "too soon" will lead to instability, RAND researchers say that the available information suggest otherwise. [...more]
