Hallo?

Hallo vennen. Det er pappa.
Er mamma i nærheten av telefonen?

Nei, hun er oppe på soverommet sammen med onkel Paul.

Etter en kort pause sier pappa:
Men, vennen min, du har jo ingen onkel Paul.

Joho, det har jeg, og han er oppe på soverommet sammen med mamma akkurat nå!

Kort pause.

Jaha, okei da. Dette er hva jeg vil du skal gjøre:
Legg fra deg telefonen, løp ovenpå, bank på soveromsdøra og rop til mamma at pappa akkurat kjørte inn i oppkjørselen.

Ok, pappa, bare et lite øyeblikk.

Noen få minutter senere kommer den lille piken tilbake i telefonen. Jeg gjorde det pappa.

Og, hva hendte da vennen? spurte pappa.

Jo, mamma ble kjemperedd. Hun hoppet ut av senga uten klær på og løp rundt og skrek. Så snublet hun i gulvteppet, slo hodet i kommoden og nå rører hun ikke på seg i det hele tatt!

Å herre min Gud! Hva med onkel Paul?

Han hoppet ut av senga uten noen klær han også. Han hoppet ut av bakvinduet og ut i svømmebassenget. Men jeg tror ikke han visste at du hadde tømt ut alt vannet i forrige uke. Nå ligger han på bunnen og han rører ikke på seg heller!

Laaang pause.

Pappa:
Svømmebasseng? Er dette 48 65 73 19?

A handful of laughable common comments:

I'm not homophobic, but I think Section 28 shouldn't have been repelled.

I'm not homophobic, but I don't think gay people should be able to marry/ adopt

I'm not homophobic, but I think public displays of affecion (e.g. holding hands) are inappropriate

I'm not homophobic, but I have my own legal, moral, relgious reasons for not accepting everyone is not heterosexual

Why is it that people feel the need to comment so often on (homo)sexuality? Furthermore, why is it these are usually always the people who say "I'm not homophobic. That means fear of homosexuals. I don't fear gay people"
Oh puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurlease!

I fail to see how anyone can claim the above statements (and yes, i've heard them all said!) are any more acceptable than declaring:

I'm not raicst, but I don't think black people should have the same rights as white people

Whether you are morally, legally or religiously opposed, we are here to stay... just as you are.

...In the form of begging letters.

Though mildly annoyed by this letter, I feel empathy towrds those christians (or indeed believers of other religions) who are disregarded and de-humanised by these type of organisations/ campaigns and their followers.

On 27th Novemeber, my friend's uncle went missing from his home in Preston. The news vaguely followed the story, reminding us earlier this week that he has not been found.

Today, her mum (the missing man's sister) picked up the local newspaper to find on the front page the following article:

Three held in pensioner murder probe
Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murdering missing Preston pensioner Brian Hartley.
The two men and one woman were being questioned by detectives on Friday about the disappearance of the 71-year-old from Adelphi House, Adelphi Street.

He has not been seen since around midnight on Monday, November 27.

Police have stressed that no body has been found and are still treating the case as a missing person inquiry.

Earlier this week, they released the last-known CCTV images of Mr Hartley in the Church Street area of the city.
15 December 2006

As his next of kin,it hardly seems fair to publish this without informing family first.

In light of ongoing news of the murder enquiry in Ipswich, Suffolk, I have already received three separate jokes about this tragic situation.

Is it that people de-humanise these women and make sick jokes because they are prostitutes?

Copied from Safriz. This is cool. I want to see more of the world. Someone donate to me a round the world ticket!!

How depressing...

City's shocking toll of sex attacks on women
Preston has one of the highest rates of sexual attacks on women in the North West, shock new figures reveal today.

A report from the North West Public Health Observatory shows the city has the third highest rate of sexual assaults in the region.

Between 2001 and 2006 there were 1.11 sexual assaults for every 1,000 women in the city. Only Blackpool with 1.4 and Manchester with 1.8 had a higher rate of incidents.

It means there has been more sexual assaults in Preston than crime hotspots such as Liverpool. And the shock figures put Preston above the North West average of 0.85 offences. The England and Wales average is 0.88 offences.

Preston MP Mark Hendrick today said the findings were worrying.

He said: "I'm very concerned about these figures. I think we need to look more deeply into the statistics before coming to any conclusions, but I would be interested to see how they relate to figures on alcohol abuse."

The North West Public Health Observatory said higher figures have been seen in more "deprived" areas of the North West.

Prof Mark Bellis, who co-authored the report, said: "These indicators paint a clear picture of the challenges the region faces, especially in its poorest communities."

The figures are more favourable in other parts of the county. In South Ribble there were 0.6 sexual offences, in Wyre there was 0.44, 0.38 in the Ribble Valley, 0.63 in Chorley, 0.58 in Chorley and 0.48 in West Lancashire. In Lancaster there were 0.82 and in Fylde 0.58 per 1,000 women.

05 December 2006

http://www.prestontoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=73&ArticleID=1914087

Another horrific story...

Male rape victim speaks about his ordeal
Read Aasma Day's full and frank interview with a man who was raped and deliberately infected with HIV.
The 49-year-old Preston man says his life has been wrecked after he was raped by a man he trusted who drugged his drink.

Peter Robinson, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, admits that if it were not for the support he received from the Sexual Assault and Forensic Examination (SAFE) centre based at the Royal Preston Hospital, he would have taken his own life.

He has described the harrowing experience which left his life in tatters.

Peter recalled: "It was a 45-year-old man who I had met through my work and I had been out for a drink with him on three occasions.

"We had mutual interests, such as cycling and walking, and seemed to get on well.

"It was on the fourth occasion when we arranged to meet up for a drink and he changed the arrangements and said that he would come to my house instead.

"We had a few drinks, watched a film and were planning to order a takeaway. I went into the kitchen to get the takeaway menus and came back and topped up our drinks.

"I suddenly began feeling dizzy and sick, and the feelings began to intensify. I became alarmed and told him that I thought I needed to ring for a doctor or go to A&E.

"He just looked at me and smiled and said: 'Don't fight it. Just go with it.' It was then that I realised he had drugged my drink."

As Peter drifted into unconsciousness, his final thoughts were that the man planned to rob him and ransack his home.

It was only when he came back round that he realised the true horror of what had happened.

Unable to hold back his tears, Peter said: "My head felt like it had an axe in it and I felt very nauseous.

"I knew immediately then that he had raped me.

"The pain was incredible and it felt like I had a burning poker inside me."

For several hours, Peter lay slumped on the floor unable to come to terms with the horrifying attack.

Peter said: "I was utterly devastated and I knew I should call the police as this man should not be able to get away with this brutal physical violation.

"But I realised I had nothing on him as he had been amazingly clever and planned everything carefully with military precision.

"I had trusted him and it was the ultimate betrayal.

"I had no way of identifying him to the police as I did not know where he was from or even his real name. He had been very evasive with all his answers."

Peter did not confide in anyone but bottled his emotions. He spent the next few months hiding away from the world.

But just when he thought things could not get any worse, he was dealt a devastating blow.

He said: "A few months later, I became very ill with food poisoning and was put on a course of antiobiotics which gave me thrush.

"I went to a clinic to get it checked that it was thrush and I was offered others tests.

"When the results came back, they confirmed the man had given me HIV.

"My world just collapsed. He had left me with a permanent reminder of what he had done.

"At that moment, I just wanted to die."

Peter went through some very dark days and spent hours of each day sobbing.

His HIV consultant realised Peter could no longer suffer alone and put him in touch with the SAFE Centre based at Royal Preston Hospital.

The centre provides a service for forensic medical examination as well as comprehensive counselling and support for women, men and children who make a complaint of rape or sexual assault.

Facilities at the centre include a police interview suite.

The centre serves the whole of Lancashire and is a joint venture between Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and was initially supported financially by the TJH Foundation, a major local charity.

Peter said: "I spoke to a counsellor and released some of that awful burden. She was just so lovely, understanding and non-judgmental.

"I felt such a feeling of relief that there was someone who understood and cared as the mental strain had got too much for me to bear."

Peter has continued to receive counselling and support from the SAFE Centre and has slowly built his life back.

He has since reported the rape to Lancashire Police who believe the man deliberately infected him with HIV.

Peter said: "Without the SAFE Centre, I would certainly have ended my life. I was right on the edge and they brought me back.

"I wish I had known about the SAFE Centre when the rape happened, instead of a few months after.

"I have now told my family and my closest friends about the rape. They have been very supportive, but people do not know how to react when they hear a man has been raped.

"Men are supposed to be the protectors and providers and when you are raped, you feel you have failed.

"For ages, I kept asking myself what I had done wrong to make this man rape me.

"But the fact that he drugged me gave him the power to do it.

"I have recently discovered that as well as HIV, he gave me hepatitis C and I will now have to have treatment for that too.

"I feel a lot of hatred, anger and bitterness towards this man. I want him to die a slow and painful death. He put me through so much physical and mental suffering.

"No human being has the right to violate another human being in such a way."

Men are less likely than women to report rape to the police and are too afraid to even tell other people.

The SAFE Centre dealt with 673 referrals of people who had been raped or sexually assaulted from 2005 to 2006 - and only 54 of these were men.

But the Lancashire Male Rape Association hears from around 30 calls from men every month - and around 10 of these are from Preston alone.

DCI Kath Thundercloud from Lancashire Police said: "Very few men report rape or sexual assault to the police and we do know there are a lot more offences taking place than we know about.

"We encourage anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted to come forward to the police and they will be looked after and listened to.

"But if people do not want to report it to the police at the moment, they can self refer themselves to the SAFE Centre and do not have to tell the police at all as everything is confidential."

Anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted can contact the Safe Centre on 01772 523344. Men can ring Simon at the Male Rape Association on 07932 898274 or email malerapemrsa2001@yahoo.co.uk

From 25th Novemeber - 10 December each year, 16 Days of Action against gender violence takes place.

During this time, activites, parades, workshops, etc take place. I'm usually actively involved in the organising of events in my area, but this year, unfortunately, my time has been limited I will be attending the final day parade however.

Here's an article from UK's Amnesty International Website:

16 Days of Activism against domestic violence

Domestic violence happens everywhere. It affects someone near you. At least 1 in 3 women has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime. Usually, the abuser is a member of her own family or someone known to her.

Get active against domestic violence as part of the 16 Days of Activism.

Kicking off on November 25 - International Day Against Violence Against Women – make the human rights of women your business. For 16 days, until December 10 - Human Rights Day – you can take a different action every day. Tell the world about this human rights scandal and make governments act on their obligations to women.

Be an activist against domestic violence!