Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 23~24

Chapter 23 Mom and Terrapin Pie â€Å"She's in town,† Jody said. â€Å"She's coming over in a few minutes.† Jody lowered the phone to its cradle. Tommy appeared in the bedroom doorway, Scott still dangling from his sleeve. â€Å"You're kidding.† â€Å"You're missing a cufflink,† Jody said. â€Å"I don't think he's going to let go. Do we have any scissors?† Jody took Tommy by the sleeve a few inches above where Scott was clamped. â€Å"You ready?† Tommy nodded and she ripped his sleeve off at the shoulder. Scott skulked into the bedroom, the sleeve still clamped in his jaws. â€Å"That was my best shirt,† Tommy said, looking at his bare arm. â€Å"Sorry, but we've got to clean this place up and get a story together.† â€Å"Where did she call from?† â€Å"She was at the Fairmont Hotel. We've got maybe ten minutes.† â€Å"So she won't be staying with us.† â€Å"Are you kidding? My mother under the same roof where people are living in sin? Not in this lifetime, turtleboy.† Tommy took the turtleboy shot in stride. This was an emergency and there was no time for hurt feelings. â€Å"Does you mother use phrases like ‘living in sin'?† â€Å"I think she has it embroidered on a sampler over the telephone so she won't forget to use it every month when I call.† Tommy shook his head. â€Å"We're doomed. Why didn't you call her this month? She said you always call her.† Jody was pacing now, trying to think. â€Å"Because I didn't get my reminder.† â€Å"What reminder?† â€Å"My period. I always call her when I get my period each month – just to get all the unpleasantness out of the way at one time.† â€Å"When was the last time you had a period?† Jody thought for a minute. It was before she had turned. â€Å"I don't know, eight, nine weeks. I'm sorry, I can't believe I forgot.† Tommy went to the futon, sat down, and cradled his head in his hands. â€Å"What do we do now?† Jody sat next to him. â€Å"I don't suppose we have time to redecorate.† In the next ten minutes, while they cleaned up the loft, Jody tried to prepare Tommy for what he was about to experience. â€Å"She doesn't like men. My father left her for a younger woman when I was twelve, and Mother thinks all men are snakes. And she doesn't really like women either, since she was betrayed by one. She was one of the first women to graduate from Stanford, so she's a bit of a snob about that. She says that I broke her heart when I didn't go to Stanford. It's been downhill since then. She doesn't like that I live in the City and she has never approved of any of my jobs, my boyfriends, or the way I dress.† Tommy stopped in the middle of scrubbing the kitchen sink. â€Å"So what should I talk about?† â€Å"It would probably be best if you just sat quietly and looked repentant.† â€Å"That's how I always look.† Jody heard the stairwell door open. â€Å"She's here. Go change your shirt.† Tommy ran to the bedroom, stripping off his one-sleever as he went. I'm not ready for this, he thought. I have more work to do on myself before I'm ready for a presentation. Jody opened the door catching her mother poised to knock. â€Å"Mom!† Jody said, with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. â€Å"You look great.† Frances Evelyn Stroud stood on the landing looking at her youngest daughter with restrained disapproval. She was a short, stout woman dressed in layers of wool and silk under an eggshell cashmere coat. Her hair was a woven gray-blond, flared and lacquered to expose a pair of pearl earrings roughly the size of Ping-Pong balls. Her eyebrows had been plucked away and painted back, her cheekbones were high and highlighted, her lips lined, filled, and clamped tight. She had the same striking green eyes as her daughter, flecked now with sparks of judgment. She had been pretty once but was now passing into the limbo-land of the menopausal woman known as handsome. â€Å"May I come in,† she said. Jody, caught in the half-gesture of offering a hug, dropped her arms. â€Å"Of course,† she said, stepping aside. â€Å"It's good to see you,† she said, closing the door behind her mother. Tommy bounded from the bedroom into the kitchen and slid to a stop on stocking feet. â€Å"Hi,† he said. Jody put her hand on her mother's back. Frances flinched, ever so slightly, at the touch. â€Å"Mother, this is Thomas Flood. He's a writer. Tommy, this is my mother, Frances Stroud.† Tommy approached Frances and offered his hand. â€Å"Pleased to meet you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She clutched her Gucci bag tightly, then forced herself to take his hand. â€Å"Mrs. Stroud,† she said, trying to head off the unpleasantness of hearing her Christian name come out of Tommy's mouth. Jody broke the moment of discomfort so they could pass into the next one. â€Å"So, Mom, can I take your coat? Would you like to sit down?† Frances Stroud surrendered her coat to her daughter as if she were surrendering her credit cards to a mugger, as if she didn't want to know where it was going because she would never see it again. â€Å"Is this your couch?† she asked, nodding toward the futon. â€Å"Have a seat, Mother; we'll get you something to drink. We have†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jody realized that she had no idea what they had. â€Å"Tommy, what do we have?† Tommy wasn't expecting the questions to start so soon. â€Å"I'll look,† he said, running to the kitchen and throwing open a cabinet. â€Å"We have coffee, regular and decaf.† He dug behind the coffee, the sugar, the powdered creamer. â€Å"We have Ovaltine, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He threw open the refrigerator. â€Å"Beer, milk, cranberry juice, and beer – a lot of beer – I mean, not a lot, but plenty, and†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He opened the chest freezer. Peary stared up at him through a gap between frozen dinners. Tommy slammed the lid.†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ that's it. Nothing in there.† â€Å"Decaf, please,† said Mother Stroud. She turned to Jody, who was returning from balling up her mother's cashmere coat and throwing it in the corner of the closet. â€Å"So, you've left your job at Transamerica. Are you working, dear?† Jody sat in a wicker chair across the wicker coffee table from her mother. (Tommy had decided to decorate the loft in a Pier 1 Imports cheap-shit motif. As a result it was only a ceiling fan and a cockatoo away from looking like a Thai cathouse.) Jody said, â€Å"I've taken a job in marketing.† It sounded respectable. It sounded professional. It sounded like a lie. â€Å"You might have told me and saved me the embarrassment of calling Transamerica only to find out that you had been let go.† â€Å"I quit, Mother. I wasn't let go.† Tommy, trying to will himself invisible, bowed his way between them to deliver the decaf, which he had arranged on a wicker tray with cream and sugar. â€Å"And you, Mr. Flood, you're a writer? What do you write?† Tommy brightened. â€Å"I'm working on a short story about a little girl growing up in the South. Her father is on a chain gang.† â€Å"You're from the South, then?† â€Å"No, Indiana.† â€Å"Oh,† she said, as if he had just confessed to being raised by rats. â€Å"And where did you go to university?† â€Å"I, um, I'm sort of self-educated. I think experience is the best teacher.† Tommy realized that he was sweating. â€Å"I see,† she said. â€Å"And where might I read your work?† â€Å"I'm not published yet.† He squirmed. â€Å"I'm working on it, though,† he added quickly. â€Å"So you have another job. Are you in marketing as well?† Jody intervened. She could see steam rising off Tommy. â€Å"He manages the Marina Safeway, Mother.† It was a small lie, nothing compared to the tapestry of lies she had woven for her mother over the years. Mother Stroud turned a scalpel gaze on her daughter. â€Å"You know, Jody, it's not too late to apply to Stanford. You'd be a bit older than the other freshmen, but I could pull a few strings.† How does she do this? Jody wondered. How does she come into my home and within minutes make me feel like dirt on a stick? Why does she do it? â€Å"Mother, I think I'm beyond going back to school.† Mother Stroud picked up her cup as if to sip, then paused. â€Å"Of course, dear. You wouldn't want to neglect your career and family.† It was a verbal sucker punch delivered with polite, extended-pinky malice. Jody felt something drop inside her like cyanide pellets into acid. Her guilt dropped through the gallows' trap and jerked with broken-neck finality. She regretted only the ten thousand sentences she had started with, â€Å"I love my mother, but†¦Ã¢â‚¬  You do that so people don't judge you cold and inhuman, Jody thought. Too late now. She said, â€Å"Perhaps you're right, Mother. Perhaps if I had gone to Stanford I would understand why I wasn't born with an innate knowledge of cooking and cleaning and child-rearing and managing a career and a relationship. I've always wondered if it's lack of education or genetic deficiency.† Mother Stroud was unshaken. â€Å"I can't speak for your father's genetic background, dear.† Tommy was grateful that Mother Stroud's attention had turned from him, but he could see Jody's gaze narrowing, going from hurt to anger. He wanted to come to her aid. He wanted to make peace. He wanted to hide in the corner. He wanted to wade in and kick ass. He weighed his polite upbringing against the anarchists, rebels, and iconoclasts who were his heroes. He could eat this woman alive. He was a writer and words were his weapons. She wouldn't have a chance. He'd destroy her. And he would have. He was taking a deep breath to prepare to light into her when he saw a swath of denim disappearing slowly under the frame of the futon: his dismembered shirt sleeve. He held his breath and looked at Jody. She was smiling, saying nothing. Mother Stroud said, â€Å"Your father was at Stanford on an athletic scholarship, you know. They would have never let him in otherwise.† â€Å"I'm sure you're right, Mother,† Jody said. She smiled politely, listening not to her mother, but to the melodic scraping of turtle claws on carpet. She focused on the sound and could hear the slow, cold lugging of Scott's heart. Mother Stroud sipped her decaf. Tommy waited. Jody said, â€Å"So how long will you be in the City?† â€Å"I just came up to do some shopping. I'm sponsoring a benefit for the Monterey Symphony and I wanted a new gown. Of course I could have found something in Carmel, but everyone would have seen it already. The bane of living in a small community.† Jody nodded as if she understood. She had no connection to this woman, not anymore. Frances Evelyn Stroud was a stranger, an unpleasant stranger. Jody felt more of a connection with the turtle under the futon. Under the futon, Scott spotted a pattern of scales on Mother Stroud's shoes. He'd never seen Italian faux-alligator pumps, but he knew scales. When you are lying peacefully buried in the muck at the bottom of a pond and you see scales, it means food. You bite. Frances Stroud shrieked and leaped to her feet, pulling her right foot free of her shoe as she fell into the wicker coffee table. Jody caught her mother by the shoulders and set her on her feet. Frances pushed her away and backed across the room as she watched the snapping turtle emerge from under the futon merrily chomping on the pump. â€Å"What is that? What is that thing? That thing is eating my shoe. Stop it! Kill it!† Tommy hurdled the futon and dived for the turtle, catching the heel of the shoe before it disappeared. Scott dug his claws into the carpet and backed off. Tommy came up with heel in hand. â€Å"I got part of it.† Jody went to her mother's side. â€Å"I meant to call the exterminator, Mother. If I'd had more notice†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Mother Stroud was breathing in outraged yips. â€Å"How can you live like this?† Tommy held the heel out to her. â€Å"I don't want that. Call me a cab.† Tommy paused, considered the opportunity, then let it pass and went to the phone. â€Å"You can't go out without shoes, Mother. I'll get you something to wear.† Jody went to the bedroom and came back with her rattiest pair of sneakers. â€Å"Here, Mom, these will get you back to the hotel.† Mother Stroud, afraid to sit down anywhere, leaned against the door and stepped into the sneakers. Jody tied them for her and slipped the uneaten pump into her mother's bag. â€Å"There you go.† She stepped back. â€Å"Now, what are we going to do for the holidays?† Mother Stroud, her gaze trained on Scott, just shook her head. The turtle had wedged himself between the legs of the coffee table and was dragging it around the loft. A cab pulled up outside and beeped the horn. Mother Stroud tore her gaze away from the turtle and looked at her daughter. â€Å"I'll be in Europe for the holidays. I have to go now.† She opened the door and backed out through it. â€Å"‘Bye, Mom,† Jody said. â€Å"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Stroud,† Tommy called after her. When the cab pulled away, Tommy turned to Jody and said, â€Å"Well, that went pretty well, didn't it? I think she likes me.† Jody was leaning against the door, staring at the floor. She looked up and began to giggle silently. Soon she was doubled over laughing. â€Å"What?† Tommy said. Jody looked up at him, tears streaming her face. â€Å"I think I'm ready to meet your folks, don't you?† â€Å"I don't know. They might be sort of upset that you're not a Methodist.† Chapter 24 The Return of Breakfast The Emperor lay spread-eagle on the end of a dock in the Saint Francis Yacht Club Marina, watching clouds pass over the bay. Bummer and Lazarus lay beside him, their feet in the air, dozing. The three might have been crucified there, if the dogs hadn't been smiling. â€Å"Men,† the Emperor said, â€Å"it seems to me now that there is, indeed, a point to that Otis Redding song about sitting on the dock of the bay. After a long night of vampire hunting, this is a most pleasant way to spend the day. Bummer, I believe a commendation is in order. When you led us down here, I thought you were wasting our time.† Bummer did not answer. He was dreaming of a park full of large trees and bite-sized mailmen. His legs twitched and he let out a sleepy ruff each time he crunched one of their tiny heads. In dreams, mailmen taste like chicken. The Emperor said, â€Å"But pleasant as this is, it tastes of guilt, of responsibility. Two months tracking this fiend, and we are no closer to finding him than when we started. Yet here we lay, enjoying the day. I can see the faces of the victims in these clouds.† Lazarus rolled over and licked the Emperor's hand. â€Å"You're right, Lazarus, without sleep we will not be fit for battle. Perhaps, in leading us here, Bummer was wiser than we thought.† The Emperor closed his eyes and let the sound of waves lapping against the piers lull him to sleep. Lying at anchor, a hundred yards away, was a hundred-foot motor yacht registered in the Netherlands. Belowdecks, in a watertight stainless steel vault, the vampire slept through the day. Tommy had been asleep for an hour when pounding on the door downstairs woke him. In the darkness of the bedroom he nudged Jody, but she was out for the day. He checked his watch: 7:30 A.M. The loft rocked with the pounding. He crawled out of bed and stumbled to the door in his underwear. The morning light spilling though the loft's windows temporarily blinded him and he barked his shin on the corner of the freezer on his way through the kitchen. â€Å"I'm coming,† he yelled. It sounded as if they were using a hammer on the door. He did a Quasimodo step and slid down the stairs, holding his damaged shin in one hand, and cracked the downstairs door. Simon peeked through the crack. Tommy could see a ball-peen hammer in his hand, poised for another pound. Simon said, â€Å"Pardner, we need to have us a sit-down.† â€Å"I'm sleeping, Sime. Jody's sleeping.† â€Å"Well, you're up now. Wake up the little woman, we need breakfast.† Tommy opened the door a little wider and saw Drew dazzling a stoned and goofy grin behind Simon. â€Å"Fearless Leader!† All the Animals were there, holding grocery bags, waiting. Tommy thought, This is how Anne Frank felt when the Gestapo came to the door. Simon pushed through the door, causing Tommy to hop back a step to avoid having his toes skinned. â€Å"Hey.† Simon looked at Tommy's erection-stretched jockey shorts. â€Å"That just a morning wood, or you in the middle of something?† â€Å"I told you, I was sleeping.† â€Å"You're young, it could still grow some. Don't feel bad.† Tommy looked down at his insulted member as Simon breezed past him up the stairs, followed by the rest of the Animals. Glint and Lash stopped and helped Tommy to his feet. â€Å"I was sleeping,† Tommy said pathetically. â€Å"It's my day off.† Lash patted Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"I'm cutting class today. We thought you needed moral support.† â€Å"For what? I'm fine.† â€Å"Cops came by the store last night looking for you. We wouldn't give them your address or anything.† â€Å"Cops?† Tommy was waking up now. He could hear beers being popped open in the loft. â€Å"What did the cops want with me?† â€Å"They wanted to see your time cards. They wanted to see if you were working on a bunch of nights. They wouldn't say why. Simon tried to distract them by accusing me of leading a black terrorist group.† â€Å"That was nice of him.† â€Å"Yeah, he's a sweetheart. He told that new cashier, Mara, that you were in love with her but were too shy to tell her.† â€Å"Forgive him,† Clint said piously. â€Å"He knows not what he does.† Simon popped out onto the landing. â€Å"Flood, did you drug this bitch? She won't wake up.† â€Å"Stay out of the bedroom!† Tommy shook off Lash and Clint and ran up the stairs. Cavuto chewed an unlit cigar. â€Å"I say we go to the kid's house and lean on him.† Rivera looked up from a stack of green-striped computer printout. â€Å"Why? He was working when all the murders happened.† â€Å"Because he's all we've got. What about the prints on the book; any thing?† â€Å"There were half a dozen good prints on the cover. Nothing the computer could match. Interesting thing is, none of the prints were the victim's. He never touched it.† â€Å"What about the kid; a match?† â€Å"No way to tell, he's never been printed. Let it go, Nick. That kid didn't kill these people.† Cavuto ran his hand over his bald head as if looking for a bump that would hold an answer. â€Å"Let's arrest him and print him.† â€Å"On what charges?† â€Å"We'll ask him. You know what the Chinese say, ‘Beat a kid every day; if you don't know why, the kid will.  » â€Å"You ever think about adopting, Nick?† Rivera flipped the last page of the printout and threw it into the wastebasket by his desk. â€Å"Justice doesn't have shit. All the unsolved murders with massive blood loss involve mutilation. No vampires here.† For two months they had avoided using the word. Now, here it was. Cavuto took out a wooden match, scraped it against the bottom of his shoe, and moved it around the tip of his cigar. â€Å"Rivera, we will not refer to this perp by the V-word again. You don't remember the Night Stalker. This fucking Whiplash Killer thing the press has picked up is bad enough.† â€Å"You shouldn't smoke in here,† said Rivera. â€Å"The sprout eaters will file a grievance.† â€Å"Fuck 'em. I can't think without smoking. Let's run sex offenders. Look for priors of rapes and assaults with blood draining. This guy might have just graduated to killing. Then let's run it with cross-dressers.† â€Å"Cross-dressers?† â€Å"Yeah, I want to put this thing with the redhead to bed. Having a lead is ruining our perfect record.† She woke to a miasma of smells that hit her like a sockful of sand: burned eggs, bacon grease, beer, maple syrup, stale pot smoke, whiskey, vomit and male sweat. The smells carried memories from before the change – memories of high school keggers and drunken surfers face-down in puddles of puke. Hangover memories. Coming as they did, right after a visit from her mother, they carried shame and loathing and the urge to fall back into bed and hide under the covers. She thought, I guess there's a few things about being human that I don't miss. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and one of Tommy's shirts and opened the bedroom door. It looked as if the good ship International Pancakes had run aground in the kitchen. Every horizontal surface was covered with breakfast jetsam. She stepped through the debris, careful not to kick any of the plates, frying pans, coffee cups, or beer cans that littered the floor. Beyond the freezer and the counter she spotted the shipwreck survivor. Tommy lay on the futon, limbs akimbo, an empty Bushmill's bottle by his head, snoring. She stood there for a moment running her options over in her head. On one hand, she wanted to fly into a rage; wake Tommy up and scream at him for violating the sanctity of their home. A justifiable tantrum was strongly tempting. On the other hand, until now Tommy had always been considerate. And he would clean everything up. Plus, the hangover he was about to experience would be more punishment than she could dole out in a week. Besides, she wasn't really that angry. It didn't seem to matter. It was just a mess. It was a tough decision. She thought, Oh heck, no harm, no foul. I'll just make him coffee and give him that â€Å"I'm-so-disappointed-in-you† look. â€Å"Tommy,† she said. She sat down on the edge of the futon and jostled him gently. â€Å"Sweetheart, wake up; you've destroyed the house and I need you to suffer for it.† Tommy opened one bloodshot eye and groaned. â€Å"Sick,† he said. Jody heard a convulsive sloshing in Tommy's stomach and before she could think about it she had caught him under the armpits and was dragging him across the room to the kitchen sink. â€Å"Oh my God!† Tommy cried, and if he was going to say anything else it was drowned out by the sound of his stomach emptying into the sink. Jody held him up, smiling to herself with the satisfaction of the self-righteously sober. After a few seconds of retching, he gasped and looked up at her. Tears streamed down his face. His nose dripped threads of slime. Cheerfully, Jody said, â€Å"Can I fix you a drink?† â€Å"Oh my God!† His head went back into the sink and the body-wrenching heaves began anew. Jody patted his back and said â€Å"Poor baby† until he came up for air again. â€Å"How about some breakfast?† she asked. He dived into the sink once again. After five minutes the heaves subsided and Tommy hung on the edge of the sink. Jody turned on the faucet and used the dish sprayer to hose off his face. â€Å"I guess you and the guys had a little party this morning, huh?† Tommy nodded, not looking up. â€Å"I tried to keep them out. I'm sorry. I'm scum.† â€Å"Yes, you are, sweetheart.† She ruffed his hair. â€Å"I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Yes, you will,† she said. â€Å"I'm really sorry.† â€Å"Yes, you are. Do we want to go back to the futon and sit down?† â€Å"Water,† Tommy said. She ran him a glass of water and steadied him while he drank, then aimed him into the sink when the water came back up. â€Å"Are you finished now?† she asked. He nodded. She dragged him into the bathroom and washed his face, rubbing a little too hard, like an angry mother administering an abrasive spit-bath to a chocolate-covered toddler. â€Å"Now you go sit down and I'll make you some coffee.† Tommy staggered back to the living room and fell onto the futon. Jody found the coffee filters in the cupboard and began to make the coffee. She opened the cupboard to look for a cup but the Animals had used them all. They were strewn around the loft, tipped over or half full of whisky diluted by melted ice. Ice? â€Å"Tommy!† He groaned and grabbed his head. â€Å"Don't yell.† â€Å"Tommy, did you guys use the ice from the freezer?† â€Å"I don't know. Simon was bartending.† Jody brushed the dishes and pans from the lid of the chest freezer and threw it open. The ice trays, the ones Tommy had bought for the drowning experiment, were empty and scattered around the inside of the freezer. Peary's frosty face stared up at her. She slammed the lid shut and stormed across the room to Tommy. â€Å"Dammit, Tommy, how could you be so careless?† â€Å"Don't yell. Please don't yell. I'll clean it up.† â€Å"Clean it up my ass. Someone was in the freezer. Someone saw the body.† â€Å"I think I'm going to be sick.† â€Å"Did they come into the bedroom while I was sleeping? Did they see me?† Tommy cradled his head as if it would crack at any moment and spill his brains onto the floor. â€Å"They had to get to the bathroom. It's okay; I covered you up so the light wouldn't get to you.† â€Å"You idiot!† She snatched up a coffee cup and prepared to throw it at him, then caught herself. She had to get out of here before she hurt him. She shook as she set the cup on the counter. â€Å"I'm going out, Tommy. Clean up this mess.† She turned and went to the bedroom to change. When she emerged, still shaking with anger, Tommy was standing in the kitchen looking repentant. â€Å"Will you be home before I leave for work?† She glared at him. â€Å"I don't know. I don't know when I'll be back. Why didn't you just put a sign on the door, ‘See the Vampire'? This is my life you're playing with, Tommy.† He didn't answer. She turned and walked out, slamming the door. â€Å"I'll feed your turtles for you,† he called after her.

Legal Considerations in the Business Environment Essay

While there are many legal factors to consider as XYZ Construction (XYZ) transforms from a private to a publicly owned company and expands operations globally, this paper will focus on the employment and labor laws, along with legal considerations that influence company operations. It is important to keep in mind that XYZ uses a mix of manning methodologies throughout the company; a full time staff as the core of the company, while maximizing the use of contracted labor in the execution of projects. Employment Law Employment law is a broad category of law that encompasses all areas regarding employee/employer relationships except for the negotiation process and collective bargaining, which is covered by the narrower focused category of labor law. Employment laws consist of thousands of federal and state statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions that are designed to govern the rights and duties of employers and workers. The US Department of Labor (USDOL) reports that there are 180 federal laws alone managed by 28 different agencies within the department. (United States Department of Labor [USDOL], 2014) Employment laws are focused on providing a safe and fair work place for employees and employers, alike, and have their origins in the constitution. They were founded based on public outcry against oppressive practices during the industrial revolution. The first laws founded in the 1920s were focused on fair wages, compensation for injuries, a standard work week, and on eliminating child labor. In the 1960s and 70s, statutes focused on anti-discrimination and unsafe work environments. Current issues involve employee health care, equal pay for men and women and the current debate on raising the federal minimum wage. There were also several issues addressed by the US Supreme Court of great importance to employment law including workplace discrimination and retaliation (Brill et al, 2013). The predominance of employment law disputes fall into two categories: wage and hour violations and discrimination in the workplace. Federal law provides for baseline rules regarding wage and hour standards, to include a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and 40 hours as the standard work week. Many states have passed laws that establish a higher minimum wage, which is within their constitutional right. In these situations, XYZ is compelled to pay the higher minimum wage of that state. There is an emerging effort across the United States to raise the federal minimum wage to $9.50 per hour. In some  cases, this will place the federal wage higher than some states, meaning XYZ would have to pay the federal wage as it would trump the state legislation. It is prudent for XYZ to negotiate appropriate compensation on multiyear contracts as this new legislation works through the process. The standard work week, on the other hand, is prevalent across the United States and any worker that exceeds this threshold is entitled to overtime pay compensation. These rules exist to control the work environment for employees and mandates that time and a half be paid on every hour exceeding 40 within a given work week. The law also stipulates that XYZ will maintain basic payroll records and post notices to the workers regarding changes in the work environment. As XYZ experiences delays within projects, the pressure to push the work crews to make up these delays grows. While working overtime to meet customer requirements and project timelines are acceptable, supervisors must ensure adherence to the various employment laws; not doing so could lead to unfair labor practice disputes and costly legal battles (Brill et al, 2013). Another area that is a basis of employment law disputes is discrimination in the workplace. Prohibiting discrimination based on ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, age, or disability was established with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and refined with subsequent legislation throughout the years. The Supreme Court handed down two significant decisions in 2013 that clarify evidentiary standards for discrimination claims, both are viewed as beneficial to the employer. First, the courts ruled that retaliation with discrimination as a motivating factor was not sufficient. The plaintiff must prove that discrimination was the basis for the retaliation, making the burden of proof much greater (Brill et al, 2013). Second, the courts clarified the definition of a supervisor under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. They ruled that the title of â€Å"supervisor† is limited to those who have authority to take a tangible employment action, meaning â€Å"a significant change in employment status, such as hiring, firing, failing to promote, reassignment with significantly different responsibilities, or a decision causing a significant change in benefits.† (Brill et al, 2013, p.4). Having the authority to direct daily work was not sufficient to link the supervisor to the company in regard to damages or actions tied to a law suit or dispute. However, the company is still liable for discriminatory actions of non-supervisory employees,  especially if it was notified and failed to take action to stop the behavior. This is significant considering that the majority of XYZ’s work force is contracted labor. As such it is imperative that XYZ maintain viable and proactive policies focused on preventing workplace discrimination and include a review of these policies prior to initiating any employment agreement. Labor Law Conducting business in a union environment provides for another layer of complexity to company operations. XYZ’s leadership must be aware of and understand the basics of labor law and the collective agreements negotiated with the unions representing the workforce. Failure to operate within the parameters of the agreement will result in an unfair labor practice dispute, which affects the profit margins of the shareholders. Labor law, also governed by federal law, state law and judicial decisions, provides statutes that mediate the relationship between workers, employers, unions, and the government with the goal of equalizing the bargaining power between employers and employee (Legal Information Institute [LII], 2014). Collective labor laws focus on the rights of employees to unionize, collectively bargain, arbitrate, and strike, while individual labor law focuses on employment contracts between employers and employees (Caraway, 2009). Collective bargaining consists of negotiations between an employer and a group of employees, typically represented by a union, to determine the conditions of employment and results in a collective agreement. The main body of law governing collective bargaining is the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which was passed in 1935 (â€Å"Executive Concepts†, 2011). It explicitly grants employees the right to collectively bargain and join trade unions. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is the entity that hears disputes between employers and employees that falls under the purview of the NLRA. The General Council, established by the NLRA, independently investigates and prosecutes cases against violators of the act before the NLRB (LII, 2014). Another aspect of labor law is the act of arbitration, a method of dispute resolution, which is commonly used as an alternative to litigation. A third party arbiter is designated and has binding decision authority for the dispute. While the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) is not applicable to employment contracts, the Uniform Arbitration Act of 1956 was  adopted by 49 states making arbitration enforceable under state and federal law (LII, 2014). There were two key decisions rendered by the Supreme Court that impact labor law, specifically arbitration clauses and class action waivers in contracts (Brill et al, 2013). The Court held that the FAA directive to arbitrate and the arbitration clauses written into employment contracts take precedence over federal requirements to prosecute disputes through the courts. Additionally, this decision strengthens the ability to enforce class waivers written into contracts. While this appears detrimental to employers, the Court balanced this decision with language further defining the rules surrounding class waivers. The court ruled that a class dispute (one brought by more than one plaintiff) can be settled if the primary plaintiff reaches settlement (Brill et al, 2013). In essence, if an XYZ employee files a dispute that is then applied to a class of employees, but a settlement is reached with the initial plaintiff, then the class action is terminated. Effectively, the Supreme Court ruling strengthens the company’s position in regard to employment contracts and protects the company from overzealous claims. As such, arbitration agreements written into XYZ employment contracts should be carefully worded in order to take full advantage of the Court’s decision. Laws specific to the construction industry Several Department of Labor agencies administer programs that are specifically related to the construction industry. Specifically, the Occupational Safety and Health Agency (OSHA), the Wage and Hour Division, and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance all have specified areas of emphasis that regulate XYZ’s primary line of business. OSHA administers all the occupational safety and health standards for the industry. Given the risk to employees across XYZ’s work sites, OSHA regulations are critical to maintain and pose a significant element of cost to the company. While it is prudent to conduct cost-benefit analysis on enacting safety and health policies, sacrificing employee welfare for the bottom line is a dangerous endeavor and can result in unfair labor practices or criminal charges in the extreme. As XYZ competes and wins government construction contracts, there are several statutes that dictate certain conditions for doing business with the federal government that are administered by the USDOL Wage and Hour  Division and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance. The Davis-Bacon Act requires that companies pay the prevailing wages and benefits of the region. Wage rates and other labor standards for employees are set by the McNamara-O-Hara Service Contract Act. The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act requires materials and supply contractors to pay minimum wages and meet other labor standards. Executive Order 11246 requires equal employment opportunity by all construction contractor firms. Lastly, the Copeland Act’s anti-kickback section precludes any persuasion of an employee to sacrifice any part of their required compensation (USDOL, 2014). These dictated standards all affect the cost of projects and, if not accounted for in the bid and estimation process, will detrimentally impact the profit margins of the company as federal construction contracts are executed. Legal Considerations As XYZ begins the global expansion, it is important to realize that US labor laws are not binding in other countries in regard to foreign workers; the host country laws are in play (â€Å"Executive Concepts†, 2011, p.938). However, Congress expressly extended three US labor laws to expatriates working abroad for US firms. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and Title VII all extend extraterritorially (Nie, 2012). While XYZ’s staff is well versed in US employment and labor law, foreign labor law is country dependent and it is prudent to conduct targeted research on the specific country’s legal environment considered for expansion. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has drafted 182 conventions and 190 recommendations in their effort to standardize labor practices globally. Enforcement of these efforts is a country responsibility, and as such, there are still large gaps in adoption and application of the various standards (â€Å"Executive Concepts†, 2011). While it is enticing to reduce expenses by sacrificing some of the more costly US labor law practices while abroad, this practice could damage the company’s sterling reputation negatively affecting all future business ventures. As countries in Asia make the transition to democratic states, the door has been opened for improvements in collective and individual labor law, resulting in the creation of unions and the strengthening of workers’ rights. However, unions in developing counties depend upon government  support and, as such, are politically focused keeping the gap between internationally acceptable collective labor practices and reality relatively large (Caraway, 2009). Across Asia, individual labor rights are in a better position. There is a direct correlation between the wealth of a country and the enforced rights of its workers (Caraway, 2009). The most notable impact of this situation is the prevailing wage in each country and the impact on XYZ’s financial position on projects. Using the field support offices at the forward locations to gather this information is crucial to accurate project estimation and contract bidding. As the company transitions from privately owned to publicly held, there are considerations to keep in mind. First, corporate governance will adjust to account for a larger base of stockholders. There is risk that the focus of the company will also shift to a more stockholder centric view, discounting the requirements of the stakeholders (the employees) (Ecchia et al, 2012). This has the potential to lead to the creation of unfair labor practices as priority shifts from maintaining collective agreements to maintaining larger profit margins for the stockholders. Second, shareholders with large equities could pressure the company to offload portions of the workforce or reduce the employee’s benefits in order to improve profitability (Ecchia et al, 2012). As the union leadership monitors corporate business practices, this could lead to a revolt in the workforce and create an environment ripe for a strike thereby shutting down operations until resolved. Any financial gains made by the reduction would be lost to stagnated operations, and as such should be managed carefully. Conclusion Conducting business in the 21st Century is comparable to traversing the proverbial minefield. Legal missteps can cause insurmountable fines and legal fees as a company struggles to maintain good business practices. Understanding employment and labor law is paramount to maintaining a strong and viable company through transformation and expansion that produces profits for its shareholders. References Banks, K. (2011). Trade, Labor and International Governance: An Inquiry into the Potential Effectiveness of the New International Labor Law. Berkeley Journal Of Employment & Labor Law, 32(1), 45-142. Business Source Complete, Accession Number: 67233021 Barnum, Darold T. (1971) From Private to Public Relations in Urban Transit. Industrial & Labor Relations Review. 25(1), 95-115. Business Source Complete, Accession Number: 4459252. Brill, Edward A., Fant, Laura M., and Baddish, Noa M. (2013) U.S. Supreme Court Wrap-Up: Hot Topics in Labor and Employment Law. Employee Relations Law Journal. 39(3), 3-8. Business Source Complete, Accession Numbe:r 91640070 Caraway, Tara L. (2009). Labor Rights in East Asia: Progress or Regress?. Journal of East Asian Studies, 9(2), 153-186. ProQuest Research Library, Accession Number: 43381256 Ecchia, Giulio, Gelter, Martin, and Pasotti, Piero. (2012) Corporate Governance, Corporate and Employment Law, and the Costs of Expropriation. Review of Law & Economics. 8(2), 457-486. DOI: 10.1515/1555-5879.1357 Katten, Betsy. (2013) U.S. Supreme Court to Address Labor and Employment Matters in 2013-2014 Term. Employee Relations Law Journal. 39(3), 48-51. Business Source Complete, Accession Number: 91640075 Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School. Retrieved from: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/employment Nie, Carrie. (2012). Extraterritorial Application of U.S. Employment Laws: Clearing the Murky Conflicting Foreign Laws Defense. International Lawyer, 46(4), 1027-1043, OmniFile, Accession Number: 90233860 Northcentral University (2011). SKS 7000-Executive Concepts in Business Strategy. Custom edition. Retrieved from: http://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/ United States Department of Labor. (2014) Retrieved from: http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/lawsprog.htm

Discrimination In Employment Essay

Two separate statutes specifically pertain to discrimination in employment. The first is the Equal Pay Act, which was passed in 1963 (effective date was June 10, 1964). The second is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While the Equal Pay Act deals solely with wages paid to women and men within the same company, Title VII focuses on discriminatory hiring/firing practices and advancement policies within companies (Crouch, 2001, p.37-38). Neither is specific to the issue of sex discrimination; however, they both encompass discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin. Both of these statutes have been applied to interscholastic and intercollegiate athletics, primarily in suits brought by female coaches claiming sex discrimination.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Title VII was enacted as a comprehensive prohibition on private acts of employment discrimination. It forbids discriminatory employment practices based on the race, color, religion, sex, or national origin of the applicant. These categories may, however, be used to differentiate between applicants when sex, religion, or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ). A BFOQ is very narrowly defined as an actual job requirement, not merely a customer or employer preference. For example, race is never considered a BFOQ (Crouch, 2001, 38-40).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Title VII also contains a â€Å"nonretaliation† provision which prohibits all employers defined in the act from discriminating against any employee or job applicant who has invoked his or her rights under Title VII or who has assisted with or participated in any proceeding brought by someone else (Gregory, 2003, p. 28).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the analysis of the courts, the alleged sex discrimination action need not only be based upon a consideration of an unalterable characteristic (like gender) possessed by the discriminatee but which is not possessed by the discriminator (Minchin, 2001, p. 50). Thus, not only are acts such as terminating female employees when they marry or refusing to accept employment applications from any female actionable, but also acts taken by a member of one sex against a member of the same sex can be actionable. A demand for sexual favors directed by one male to another as a condition of employment can be just as discriminatory as a similar demand directed by a male to a female.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Title VII is applicable to all employers of more than fifteen persons, and it specifically covers almost all state and local government employees as well as employees of most educational institutions. It is enforced by the EEOC, which has the authority to process and investigate any complaints. The EEOC may also bring suits in federal court if necessary. A charge brought by the EEOC is based on what the EEOC perceives to be a pattern or practice of unlawful discrimination which adversely affects an entire class of individuals. The EEOC may also conduct industrywide compliance reviews. If the discrimination found by the EEOC in state or local government cannot be corrected informally, the EEOC may refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney General. In all other cases, the EEOC may go to federal court to enforce the law (Gregory, 2003, p.28-29). Enforcement of Title VII is not limited to EEOC actions, however, because the legislation also has individual and class causes of action. This type of charge originates from an individual or group of individuals who allege that they were adversely affected by some act of unlawful discrimination (Gregory, 2003, p. 29).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Organizations can bring discrimination claims on behalf of their members if the alleged discriminatory action injured its members, if the claim can proceed without the participation of those injured members, and if the claim is relevant to the organization’s purposes. The requirements for filing a charge include the following: The person filing the charge must be or represent an aggrieved person (must have a personal stake in the outcome of the controversy and must have suffered a personal injury), except in cases in which the charge is filed by the EEOC itself. The charge must be directed against an â€Å"employer† as defined by Title VII. The charge must be filed within the specified time limits. The form of the charge must comply with certain procedural requirements (Saguy, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Once these requirements are met, the EEOC will proceed with the charge. The remedies of both injunctive and affirmative relief are available to the winning party in an employment discrimination suit. The prevailing party may be awarded back pay and attorney’s fees as well as an injunction prohibiting the employer’s unlawful action. In addition, the court may order the employer to cease its discriminatory practices, to reinstate employees, and to implement an appropriate affirmative action plan to eliminate existing discrimination and prevent its recurrence. These remedies are guided by the two goals of the act: (1) to achieve equality of employment opportunity by removing barriers based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and (2) to make the victim of unlawful discrimination whole–to put the victim in the position he or she would have been in had the discrimination not occurred.Both of these approaches have limitations. Even taken together, they are not sufficient to enforce a prohibition against sex discrimination(Saguy, 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Although the Equal Pay Act applies to all employers, Title VII has been limited to employers of more than fifteen people. Thus, many smaller businesses are not subject to the mandates of Title VII. The Equal Pay Act is limited in other ways. For example, it is directed only to discrepancies in pay levels once on a job. It does not address the problem of discriminatory hiring or advancement policies. The basic weakness of these acts is that neither is all-encompassing. They fail to address the overall problems of sex discrimination that exist outside of the workplace (Saguy, 2003). Thus, very few of the problems of discrimination encountered in athletics are addressed by either act. This legislation provides potential relief only in athletic employment.Another major problem in pursuing litigation under these statutes is the cost.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Neither statute provides any guaranteed basis for the eventual recovery of attorney’s fees and/or double or triple damages. Thus, litigation is not an option for many of those who might wish to file claims. Cases are seldom pursued, and the effectiveness of the legislation diminishes as the chance that an employer will be punished lessens. One last problem is that courts have been reluctant to interpret the statutes broadly. This reluctance stems from the fact that hiring and salary decisions are well within the area of management prerogatives allotted to employers. The court is reluctant to interfere in any discretionary decision unless there has been a clear abuse of that discretion. Thus, it is very difficult to establish a case based on a complaint regarding practices in either of these areas. Usually, the evidence is open to a variety of interpretations. Such circumstances can make it difficult or even impossible for a plaintiff to prevail in a sex discrimination case under application of the aforementioned statutes. References Crouch, Margaret A. (2001).   Thinking about Sexual Harassment: A Guide for the   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perplexed. Oxford University Press. Gregory, Raymond F. (2003). Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Barriers to Gender Equality. Rutgers University Press. Minchin, Timothy J. (2001). The Color of Work: The Struggle for Civil Rights in the   Ã‚  Ã‚   Southern Paper Industry, 1945-1980. University of North Carolina Press. Saguy, Abigail C. (2003). What Is Sexual Harassment? From Capitol Hill to the Sorbonne.University of California Press   

Contemporary issues in marketing-Apple Inc Essay

Contemporary issues in marketing-Apple Inc - Essay Example The intention of this study is Apple Inc, previously known as Apple Computer, Inc., as a multinational corporation based in United States of America. It designs, manufactures as well as markets wide range of electronics and computer products or hardware as well as various computer software. It was established in 1976 in Cupertino, California, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, although Wayne got dissociated from the company the next year itself. The first product they sold was Apple I personal computer kit, which was actually a motherboard of a computer, and included a CPU, RAM and some video related chips. It was hand-built by Steve Wozniak, and included only the basic components of the today’s computer. After functioning for 30 years as Apple Computer, Inc. it became Apple Inc in 2007, as the company focused on the consumer electronics sectors like Cellphones, in addition to its traditional area of computers. As mentioned above, Apple Inc. started off with compu ters particularly its Macintosh line of computers. From that start, Apple Inc. is now offering wide range of products and that includes Computers, the iPod (both audio and video features), the iPhone and iPad. Other than these hardware products, Apple Inc. also offers software applications like Mac OS X, an operating system for its line of computers, iOS, a operating system for the mobiles, iTunes online store as well as media browser; the iLife a multimedia tool, wide range of apps or applications for iPhones and iPads. Market segmentation The market segments of Apple Inc. does get restricted to particular territories, it sells its products through the world, thus catering to various geographical market categories. However, with the prices of its products mainly in the upper ranges, it does not sell its products maximally in low-cost markets. Although, it sells its products in low Cost markets like least developed and developing countries in Asia, Africa and South America, it does not cover all markets, and sells only minimally. When one views market demographically, as mentioned above, people from different age-groups, different sex, etc. buy its products. The customers of Apple Inc. include people from various sections of the population or various market segments, who want to buy electronics hardware as well as software for their day-to day living, entertainment and also for their professional work as well. As Apple Inc. offers range of day-to-day used products, particularly mobile phones, it is being used by customers of all ages, who want a Smart phone to fulfill their professional commitments as well as entertainment quotient. On the same lines, iPad is being bought by customers who want portable computing for the above mentioned purposes. iPod on the other hand are bought by the customers, particularly in the age segment of 15-35, mainly for entertainment. Along with these, Apple’s other products and softwares are also used by â€Å"professional content creators like authors, musicians, artists, filmmakers who want tools that free them to focus on their art, not the technology† (Chazin 2007). As Apple Inc. offers products constituting different product market categories, its competitors include various companies and products. When one focuses worldwide, the competitors of Apple Inc. in the Personal computer segment are Dell, HP, etc, in Operating systems, it is Microsoft Windows, in mobile phones, it

Human Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Human Resource - Essay Example Social needs are the next level of need in the hierarchy. After the satisfaction of the physiological needs and the safety needs the next need is the need for meaningful relationships and to be accepted in the society. An organization’s internal work environment decides the importance of this need. When an organization has a participatory leadership style, the workers start to feel part of the organization and this helps to increase their motivation by satisfying their social needs. An organization can be used this need to increase the motivation of its workers. The management can form teams/ clubs within the organization to recognize good performers. Achievements on the job can be rewarded to increase the commitment of the employees towards their jobs. Esteem needs which follow the social needs are concerned with self-respect, feeling of personal worth, feeling of being unique and recognizable. This need can be used positively by recognition and appreciation of the workers. T he ultimate need in the hierarchy is the self-actualization needs which helps to achieve one’s full potential. This is related to the development of intrinsic capabilities which lead people to seek situations that can utilize their potential. These set of needs can be satisfied by creating opportunities for the workers who can steer ahead themselves. The levels of hierarchy in an organization should be minimized and the personnel can be empowered to plan and execute their tasks which can motivate them to achieve their full potential.

RSPCA Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals Essay

RSPCA Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals - Essay Example Marketing is all about understanding the customers and of finding ways and means to for providing product or service as per his requirements (Sandhusen 2000). Marketing is a highly misunderstood word. It is not tactics or methods of getting customers to buy a company’s product or services. That is advertisement or promotions. It is a conscious effort to analyze and understand what is needed and trying to fulfill this need. Marketing is about understanding the stakeholders. It is highly relevant to investigate what each stakeholder contributes in terms of the product, quality, service deliveries and pricing. Marketing is also about knowledge of your own company and its capability of delivering a product or service and managing its resources and competencies in that direction. But above all, Marketing is all about customers. Their behavior and attitude towards buying a product is of paramount importance. Their needs and wants and their likes and dislikes are decisive factors and purchase decisions depend on these issues. It is the understanding of these factors that will develop a marketing strategy. Therefore Marketing is all about understanding the customers and of finding ways and means to for providing product or service as per his requirements. Marketers have adopted a variety of means to persuade customers, foremost among them being advertisement, promotion, publicity and public relations. However unless a proper commutation channel is established the efforts will go in vain. Advertising and promotions both need effective communication to produce successful results. Kotler et al (1996) have pointed out persuasive communication is designed to stimulate a pre-defined response from consumers and advertisers use this ploy to gain advantage over susceptible consumers. This can be done using various methods like â€Å"mass media advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, direct mail and point-of-sale merchandising† (Kitchen

Community nursing practicum on heroin in the county of Philadelphia pa Research Paper

Community nursing practicum on heroin in the county of Philadelphia pa - Research Paper Example Philadelphia consolidated city-county covers an area of about 141.6 Square Miles or 367 km2, with elevation above sea level ranging from 5 feet to 431 feet or 120 meters. Philadelphia is a great commercial and industrial center which makes it the largest city in Pennsylvania. This is possible due to accessibility to raw materials, close proximity to the large North eastern market, and excellent transport facilities. According to World Population Review (2014), the population of Philadelphia as at 2013 was about 1,556,600 and a density of 11, 379.6 people per square mile contributed by the county’s fast-growing population over the last few years. The World Population Review (2014) defines Philadelphia as having a mixed racial composition comprising of whites, African Americans, Native Americans, Asians, other race, Hispanic, and native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders. The African Americans form about 43.4% of the area population followed by White ate 41.0% and Hispanics at 12.3% . All other races constitute of a percentage less than 10%. For the county’s age population, less than 18 years comprised of 22.5%, 18-25 years were 13.3%, 25-44 years at 28.5%, 45-64 years at 23.5%, and 65 years and over were 12.2% as of 2010 population census. The physical environment at Philadelphia is characterized by far-reaching parks, outdoor activities for all ages, and community centers for recreation and relaxation. The most outstanding park is Fairmount Park that is about 9,200 acres characterized by golf courses, picnic sites, outdoor courts, and athletic fields all of which work towards sustaining an active, sporty, and relaxed population. The population of Philadelphia is aging and increasingly getting diverse in terms of race, income, ethnicity, health status, educational background, and original nationality. Although substantive progress in lowering substance abuse has been achieved, mid- and behavior-changing substances are still in use tolling the health of individuals,

Why did good people do bad things (commit white-collar crimes) Essay - 1

Why did good people do bad things (commit white-collar crimes) - Essay Example Jeffrey Skilling was a former Enron Chief Executive officer who was convicted of several counts of conspiracy and actual fraud. Russell Wasendorf was the CEO of the bankrupt Peregrine Financial group. Jeffrey Skilling was convicted of making false financial statements, wire fraud and securities fraud and sentenced to 24 years in prison. He was accused of committing a series of frauds that were geared at misleading investors and business analysts (Friedrichs 325). On his part, Russell Wasendorf admitted to stealing millions from about 13,000 investors who had entrusted him with their investment through his Peregrine Financial group. The judge sentenced him to 50 years jail imprisonment depending on the huge financial loss and sophistication of the fraud. Jeffrey Skilling and Russell Wasendorf were both not born criminals. Jeffrey Smilling was born in Pennsylvani and graduated from West Aurora High school. He attained a Bachelor of Science degree at Southern Methodist University in 1975 and after an MBA from Harvard Business School. Jeffrey was smart in class and in his early career since he was the youngest partner at Mckinsey consulting. There is no evidence that shows that Jeffrey Smilling had negative behaviours in his early childhood. On the other hand, Russell Wasendorf was born in 1948 and never displayed any signs of criminal behaviour in his early childhood. In the case of Jeffery Skilling, it was a case of a good person doing the bad things. According to his previous employment records, he displayed financial discipline and intense management qualities that helped McKinsey attain higher profitability and customer satisfaction. Russell Wasendorf is also a case of a good person doing the wrong thing. This is evidenced by his ability to stand the best direct online trading system that could connect the traders with the CME’s Globex in 1998 (Friedrichs 325). The two fraudulent crimes can be explained by the fraud triangle theory that asserts that

Health Law and Ehtics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Health Law and Ehtics - Assignment Example To facilitate and examine ethics in nursing and the health industry at large, this paper will concisely will discuss the deep origins of healthcare ethical healthy behavior. It also seeks to analyze some of the ethical issues in healthcare among them, refusal to care, beneficence, autonomy, non-male-ficence and justice (Lo, 2013). Ethical decision-making is crucial in the healthcare industry when it comes to addressing issues, conflicts and uncertainties concerning opposing values such as individual, organizational, professional and communal values. The ability to influence decisions on patient-care largely depends on the ethical guidelines provided. To avoid ethical dilemmas, there should be clearly spelt procedures and guidelines aimed at supporting ethical decision-making (Krueger & Stein, 2010). There are a number of significant challenges facing health care organizations among them rising public expectations, growing financial pressures, safety of patients, issues of quality improvement, mergers and consolidations, health care reform among others. These factors have placed healthcare firms under much stress and pressure. They have also intensified ethical concerns and conflicts. These challenges call for ethical decision-making by the parties involved (Curtin, 2011). Ethics is a very significant field to an organization’s mission as well as towards achieving the main goal. Health care executives and managers should demonstrate the significance of ethical standards in their own actions as well as looking for ways of integrating ethical practices within an organizational culture. A healthcare organization should create an ethical environment by (Krueger & Stein, 2010): The capability of an organization to realize its full potential within the market place will largely depend on knowledge, motivation, skills as well as ethical values and

Competitor Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competitor Analysis - Research Paper Example The company has further sought to streamline the electronic payment process as a way of boosting consumer confidence on the purchasing processes offered by the company. eBay has further introduced an application that allows consumers to order goods from vendors online and have these goods delivered to them in about 1 hour. This application promises to increase online sales as it intends to make shopping an entertaining affair. Indeed, the main idea behind the introduction of this application was to make shopping a form of entertainment thereby attracting more potential customers (Jeff, 2013). One of the key features of eBay’s future is the digital wallet. Digital wallet refers to a form of payment where a consumer gets to pay through their phone. Amazon, on the other hand, relies mostly on ‘showrooming’ as a way of interacting with its consumers. Showrooming allows consumers to check products in a store with a view to purchasing them online from a different vendor. This approach to online shopping has made Amazon the default online shopping destination for most consumers. One of the benefits that come with this approach is that it allows consumers to make a guided decision before they can purchase goods. Amazon, just like eBay, can be blamed for trying to drive retailers out of business. The two companies use drones to deliver purchases and in the process eliminates retailers from the chain of distribution. Over the last few years, physical retailers have lived under threat from these two companies. Unlike eBay, Amazon provides a bar-code scanner in most of its mobile applications that enable consumers to compare prices while doing shopping online (Bob, 2013). Upon choosing the goods they would like to buy, consumers have the privilege of having these goods shipped to them. The shipping process used by Amazon is similar to the one

Alcoholic Anonymous Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic Anonymous Essay Recently, I attended an A.A. meeting, which stands for, alcoholic anonymous. The meeting I went to was located in Penfield, NY at 1601 Jackson Road, area code 14526. It was called the Yellow House. When I walked in, everyone was very welcoming and nice. Many people stared at me intensely as I entered the Yellow House. I think they thought I was a recovering alcoholic, until I explained to them later that I was there to listen and observe for a school project for my drugs and behavior class. The place was very cozy inside, had a number of chairs lined up for everyone to sit down and coffee ready to drink. I sat down in one of the chairs. A lady came up to me and handed me a coin that said â€Å"24 hours recovery†; this was before I had the chance to tell her that I was there to observe for a school project. I guess when you go to an alcoholic anonymous meeting for the first time you get awarded a 24 hour recovery coin to make you feel good and know you’re doing something good to help you recover from your alcoholic addiction. The meeting started promptly at 5:30 P.M. like it said it would. The leaders read out announcements and let everybody know if someone new has showed up. If you’re new joining alcoholics anonymous, you introduce yourself by saying your name and stating you are an alcoholic, and then everyone else in the room say â€Å"hi†¦Ã¢â‚¬  whatever your name is to make you feel welcome. Then the person can either talk more about why they came or stop talking and then another person will randomly say their name and why they are attending and so on. There was a vast majority of adults and older people in their 50s or 60s. There were a couple grandfathers, grandmothers and one or two kids my age. I sat next to a kid who was around the same age as me and I felt shocked that he would be attending this type of meeting at such a young age. As the stories from the crowd of people kept going on, I recognized everyone clapping very deliberately and diligent at everyone’s accomplishments for the most little to no importance scenarios, for instance, a man got up and said he had been sober for 90 days and everyone clapped for a really long time. I also realized everyone laughed at everything that was the least bit funny to make it feel like a warm, comfortable, atmosphere. There are meetings every night at this place in Penfield at 5:30 P.M. Each meeting has a different name every night. The meeting I went to was called a â€Å"First Step† meeting. It was for people attending the yellow house or an alcoholic anonymous meeting somewhere for the first time and admitting they are an alcoholic and that they want to get sober. When you start the program, you commit yourself to following a â€Å"12 step program† and attending 90 days of alcoholics anonymous. The first step states â€Å"We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable.† And when you finish the program, you end with the last step, step number twelve, which states: â€Å"Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.† Attending the alcoholics anonymous groups around the world has changed many recovering alcoholics lives and brought stability to their mind body and soul.

Academic performance and technology Essay Example for Free

Academic performance and technology Essay Space exploration is the discovery and exploration of outer space by means of space technology. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft. While the observation of objects in space, known as astronomy, predates reliable recorded history, it was the development of large and relatively efficient rockets during the early 20th century that allowed physical space exploration to become a reality. Common rationales for exploring space include advancing scientific research, uniting different nations, ensuring the future survival of humanity and developing military and strategic advantages against other countries. Space exploration has often been used as a proxy competition for geopolitical rivalries such as the Cold War. The early era of space exploration was driven by a Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States, the launch of the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, the USSRs Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957, and the first Moon landing by the American Apollo 11 craft on 20 July 1969 are often taken as the boundaries for this initial period. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay The Soviet space program achieved many of the first milestones, including the first living being in orbit in 1957, the first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1) in 1961, the first spacewalk (by Aleksei Leonov) on 18 March 1965, the first automatic landing on another celestial body in 1966, and the launch of the first space station (Salyut 1) in 1971. After the first 20 years of exploration, focus shifted from one-off flights to renewable hardware, such as the Space Shuttle program, and from competition to cooperation as with the International Space Station (ISS). With the substantial completion of the ISS following STS-133 in March 2011, plans for space exploration by the USA remain in flux. Constellation, a Bush Administration program for a return to the Moon by 2020 was judged inadequately funded and unrealistic by an expert review panel reporting in 2009. The Obama Administration proposed a revision of Constellation in 2010 to focus on the development of the capability for crewed missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO), envisioning extending the operation of the ISS beyond 2020, transferring the development of launch vehicles for human crews from NASA to the private sector, and developing technology to enable missions to beyond LEO, such as Earth/Moon L1, the Moon, Earth/Sun L2, near-earth asteroids, and Phobos or Mars orbit.[5] As of March 2011, the US Senate and House of Representatives are still working towards a compromise NASA funding bill, which will probably terminate Constellation and fund development of a heavy lift launch vehicle (HLLV).[6] In the 2000s, the Peoples Republic of China initiated a successful manned spaceflight program, while the European Union, Japan, and India have also planned future manned space missions. China, Russia, Japan, and India have advocated manned missions to the Moon during the 21st century, while the European Union has advocated manned missions to both the Moon and Mars during the 21st century. From the 1990s onwards, private interests began promoting space tourism and then private space exploration of the Moon (see Google Lunar X Prize). Benefits of this to Mankind There are critics who disagree with the expenditure on space exploration, which they claim can better be used to solve earthly problems. However, they seem to forget that this is one of the fields which tests a mans intellect. But, how does a common man draw benefits of space exploration? The advances made in field of space exploration can be well used in other fields such as medicine, agriculture, etc. The following is the list of benefits of space exploration to mankind: Global Positioning System: The mankind depends on the sea trade for transportation of food grains, fossil fuels, metal ores, etc. Global navigation system, GPS helps in timely delivery of these essential goods by providing the ships with essential navigation information. The GNS services are made available using networks of satellites which also enables satellite Internet and satellite phones. Weather Forecast and Agriculture: Gone are the days, when we used to take an umbrella with us while going out if there were black clouds in the sky. Now we can rely on the weather reports updated on an hourly basis. The accurate weather forecast is possible only because of the satellites in the space. The satellites also help us in predicting the crop yields, pest infestation and the area under cultivation. Natural Calamities: It is easy to predict natural calamities such as floods, storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and to locate wildfires and their extent with the help of satellites. Minerals and Mining: Minerals buried deep under the Earths surface can be located using satellites. Precious fossil fuels can be found with the help of satellites. Electronics: The field of electronics and computers have also benefited from the space exploration. The astronauts have manufactured miniature electronic parts that could only be produced in the space during their experiments in the space stations and space shuttles. Asteroids: It is believed that an asteroid strike eliminated the dinosaurs on the Earth. One of the benefits of space exploration is that we know about the thousands of asteroids and we can also be vigilant about their drifts. May be we could prevent dinosaurian death of mankind, if and when an asteroid is positioned to repeat history. If it happens, it would be because of the knowledge which is the direct benefit of space exploration. Energy Source: The scientists and researchers all over the world are attempting to harness the power of nuclear fusion. The process which enables the Sun to produce energy in abundance. It is believed that quantity of electricity generated using 1kg of hydrogen would be equivalent to that of 11,000 metric tons of coal. Medicine: Another field to glean the benefits of the satellite exploration is that of medicine. Metal alloys that are manufactured to be used in spacecraft and space shuttles are also used in the health care industry. Nitinol, an alloy is used to make braces. The miniature electronic components which were developed for the space program can be used in electronic pain-control device that some patients need to use. The implantable insulin pump is based on the mechanical robot arm developed for the Mars Voyager probe. The space exploration benefits also encompasses the field of communication which needs no explanation. The applications of knowledge and the technologies, that are the outcome of the mans efforts to explore space, are making his life easier indeed!

Gender Victimization in Contemporary World The Cauldron of Crime

Gender Victimization in Contemporary World The Cauldron of Crime The article presents a victimological analysis of crime victims on the basis of their gender victimization process of the teenage girls, working women, other females and also of gays, lesbians and transgender. The article progresses by tracing and analysing the female experience as being women: as child bearers, sexual objects for men, and nurturers. This paper tends to highlight various forms of victimization perpetrated on women like domestic violence, genital mutilation, rape, sexual assault, stalking, trafficking for sexual exploitation, honour killings and female infanticides, and showing that the situation of legal and social protection of abused females is critical. Further moving on to lesbians, gays, bisexuals or transgender a whole array of forms of victimization have been explained which include verbal abuse, degradation in their social status, abandonment by family members and relatives, physical/violent attacks some of which might lead them to commit suicides. Thus all these forms of victimization inflicted upon the weak and vulnerable sex would be analysed elaborately in this paper and various reasons that lead to their victimization have also been explored. The paper would also highlight the impact of victimization on these people by looking at its various consequences over financial, personal, mental, psychological and social aspects of the victims life and also assessing the nexus of the position of victim with the crime which affect the extent of their vulnerability to crime. The paper tends to emanate possible solutions from within the ambit of criminology and victimology that would help understand the position of a victim and the offender in a better way which in turn would help implement various recommendations made in this paper for eradicating all kind of gender victimization. Introduction The path of development of law from ancient period till the 21st century has always been complex and challenging with ever changing perspectives of the society. Throughout this period, crime and criminology has shaped up the overall facet of law as what it stands today. There has been a profound effect of crime on the society and its law in each era. However, the perspective of society towards crime has generally been narrow and one-sided, as the only concentration of criminology stands on the crime perpetrators, their behaviour, their characteristics and the penalties and punishments imposed on them. Criminology has failed to recognise the other side of the crime i.e. the victims and their role in crime which has now gained prominence owing to the serious repercussions of crime on society as a whole. This contemporary concept of studying the behaviour of victims before and after crime has become an important part of the study of crime falling under victimology. Thus victimology has helped us segregate various types of crime perpetrated on victims, the reason why particular victims fall prey to the offenders, the effect of crime on victims and many more. In this detailed analysis we also see that at many occasions crimes perpetrated are gender based and are concentrated against vulnerable section of females like teenage girls, married women, divorced women, girl child, mothers and the trans-genders or gays or lesbians become an easy target for this. There are a plethora of reasons which make them vulnerable to crime namely, physical attributes, social status, ideologies, orientation and the impact of criminal victimization is affected by factors like: sex of the victim, age, a victims prior history of victimization or that of persons known to the victim, overall perceptions of crime, the type and severity of crime experienced, and the relationship between the victim and the offender.  [1]  The discussion about gender based victimization also encompasses var ious types of crimes perpetrated on females and trans-genders which include sexual victimization, physical victimization, emotional victimization and sexual orientation victimization in case of gays and lesbians. Thus this paper aptly traces the trajectory of gender based victimization from various dimensions focussing on the aftermath of victimization from the victims as well as societys perspective. The cruel forms of gender victimization Gender based victimization is something which has always been there, but was hardly condemned owing to the patriarchal society dominated by men. However, with various social reforms according the equal status to women, there has been a significant shift in the ideology of society which has started paying attention to the issues related to women. Thus in this scenario the moot-able point that demands a lot of discussion and debate is that why is there so much of gender based victimization? And how the females, trans-genders, gays or lesbians are victimized in the open daylight, within four walls of their homes, offices etc.? To find an answer to these questions we will now look into various forms of crime perpetrated against women and other vulnerable groups of the society. New terms to describe forms of violence concentrated on women include domestic terrorism, marital rape, date rape, acquaintanceship rape, degrees of sexual assault, wife abuse, wife battering, intimate-partner viol ence, emotional abuse, stalking, sexual harassment, and gender harassment. Stalking The degree and intensity of stalking vary from situation to situation. Usually, stalking implies harassing or threatening behaviour often reiterated by an individual, like continuously following a person, secretly appearing at a persons home or place of work, making blank phone calls to harass, putting written messages or objects, or damaging the objects or property of a person. Thus any unknown or known but unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly create a threat or put the victim in fear can be regarded as stalking. Anyone can be a stalker, just as anyone can be a stalking victim. Stalking is a crime that can have serious after-effects on anyone, unaffected by gender, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, geographic location, or personal associations. However, if we follow the general pattern of stalking its the female sex that generally falls prey to the stalking. According to the statistics of stalking in United States of America every year 1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked. These figures show that stalking incidents are magnanimously higher when it comes to female sex. Most stalkers of these females are young to middle-aged men with above- average intelligence and many a times from very respectable families and background. Most of the stalking cases crop up from some previous personal or romantic relationship between the stalker and the victim. In such situations, stalkers try to dominate over every aspect of the victims life. Gradually, the victim becomes the stalkers source of self-esteem, and the loss of this contact takes up the shap e of greatest fear for stalker. This dynamic makes a stalker dangerous where he can go to any extent to keep contact with. Unfortunately, the stalking of a female leaves her depressed and puts her in the situation of paranoia where she finds it difficult to come to the social terms out of continuous fear in her mind. To aggrandize the situation some stalkers feel obsessed for another person with whom they have no personal relationship and when the victim does not reciprocate this, the stalker tries to abuse and threaten the victim and some stalkers may even turn to violence. Thus stalking today has become a very common form of victimization of college girls, working women, teenage girls and it pose a great risk to their mental as well as physical health . Domestic violence Moving on to other forms of victimization, domestic violence is also one of the most common forms in which the victim bears the brunt not of strangers but of their own family members. Domestic violence is one of the crimes against women which are linked to their disadvantageous position in the society. Domestic violence refers to violence against women especially in matrimonial homes. Domestic Violence can be described as when one adult in a relationship misuses power to control another. It is the establishment of control and fear in a relationship through violence and other forms of abuse. The violence may involve physical abuse, sexual assault and threats. Sometimes its more subtle, like making someone feel worthless, not letting them have any money, or not allowing them to leave the home. Social isolation and emotional abuse can have long-lasting effects as well as physical violence. Therefore domestic violence is recognized as the significant barriers of the empowerment of women, with consequences of womens health, their health health-seeking behaviour and their adoption of small family norm. Many studies are of the view that violence by intimate partner most likely undermines the sexual and reproductive health of the women. This extensive violence has significant harmful effects like unwanted pregnancy, gynaecological disorders and physical injuries to private parts besides large-scale mental health impacts. Again, many of the commonly associated disorders/problems are found to be inadequately addressed. Violence by husbands against wife should not be seen as a break down in the social order rather than an affirmation to patriarchal social order. Similarly, is of the view that not only wife beating is deeply entrenched, but also people justify it. Thus, domestic violence is simply not a personal abnormality but rather it roots in the cultural norms of the family and the society. Rape/ sexual assault Rape is an assertion of power and not an act of lust. Violence on women is an extension of patriarchy, which means male rule. The two main features of patriarchy are sexual power and supremacy. By rape it is asserted that dominance is the male temperament and subordination the womens. Rape is a conscious process of intimidation by which man keeps woman in a state of fear in the confidence that the victim will not reveal the event to others. It is not like murder to him, though in actuality he murders the life of a woman. Rape can occur when the offender and victim have a pre-existing relationship (sometimes called date rape), or even when the offender is the victims spouse (called marital rape). However, the scene just doesnt end here as rape victims face serious after-effects of rape which include psychological trauma, depression, physical injuries. The plight of rape victims is also aggravated by various myths attached to rape which further victimizes the victim. These include statements like Rape is rarely a casual encounter; women ask for it and they get it by their own acquaintances. If women stay at home, where they belong, they would not get raped. The victims behaviour contributes towards her own victimisation. Most rapes are false accusations filed by women who are trying to get even with some men. Women who get raped are somehow morally corrupt, they are considered to be of loose character and even their tradition is like that. People try to find fault with the victim rather than the culprit. These are a few myths which significantly contribute in the agony of a rape victim. In any case, a traumatized rape victim finds it tough to stand up to the courts scrutiny. W hen such a vulnerable person is further exposed to a battery of embarrassing personal questions, she would naturally feel psychologically disadvantaged. Thats the reason why we have such few convictions in rape cases in India. Most victims either end up withdrawing their cases or reaching an out-of-court settlement. It does not only victimise her, but it also leaves a lifelong stigma on the character and dignity of a woman, causing her and her relatives, pain and agony. The mental torture is so deep that it hardly heals and if it heals at all, it takes a very long time to heal. The woman generally suffers in silence and endures in shame. Gender inequality: Abandonment/ abortion of girl child Around the world, a number of different practices result in physical and emotional harms to girls. In several countries, girl children are viewed as a drain on family resources, and having one or more sons and few or no daughters is valued. Thus, in China and India, girls are abandoned in public places or may be neglected as infants and therefore die; women in South Korea often abort a foetus that is known to be female. Usually, an unbalanced sex ratio of boys to girls is used to indicate selective abortion of girls or neglect that result in their death. An unexpectedly low ratio of girls to boys is referred to as the problem of missing girls. Female-selective abortion is primarily but not exclusively practiced in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Pakistan, and India; it also is not uncommon for Asian immigrant populations, including those in the United States and Canada. Abortion, life-threatening neglect, and abandonment to ensure that a daughter is not added to the family is related to cultural beliefs and to gender inequality. Countries with the greatest number of missing girls are those having the most patriarchal gender arrangements, according to which males control property, have the only inheritance rights, and have better employment options. Complementary cultural beliefs about sons support sex-related abortion in countries with resources to detect sex during pregnancy and for people who can pay for detection and abortions, as well as neglect or abandonment of newborn girls in countries with less advanced economies and technologies. Thus these practices of gender inequality affect not only one single female child but the whole female community. This leads to further degradation in the status of women in society which victimizes the whole community in terms of equal opportunities or equal treatment at home and at workplaces. Female Genital mutilation Girls who are born and who survive can be reminded of their inferior status through the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Specific beliefs and norms that promote the practice of FGM vary between countries, but in general the notion that women must be submissive to their husbands provides the rationale for continuing the practice. Women in regions of Africa where the practice is common believe that without the procedure, girls will be wanton and will not remain a virgin before marriage or faithful afterward, and that FGM will protect them because they will not seek sexual relations for pleasure, so their bodies belong totally to the men who marry them. Women support their male family members requirement of FGM both out of concerns that their daughters will be married, which in some places is the only way that a female can survive economically or socially, and also to avoid their own ostracism by being shamed, thrown out of the house, or divorced. Thus this is another form o f gender based victimization which cripples many societies Trafficking for sexual exploitation Human Trafficking, which involves the secret transport of people across local or national borders for the sole motive of sexually exploiting them, is a heinous crime that in most circumstances victimizes girls and women. Women, teenage girls, and sometimes boys are duped or forced into relocating to another area of their country, generally from rural to urban areas, or to other nations, where they are entrapped and swindled to engage in prostitution. In worse situations some poor families living below poverty line sell their female children to traffickers. According to the international data available on trafficking around 1 million people are trafficked for sexual exploitation throughout the world each year. International trafficking of women gained full pace after the collapse of the economic system of erstwhile Soviet Union and other African and Asian nations, as the situation was perfect for prohibited illegal opportunities and the demand for prostitutes and the hefty profits tha t could be made from them, along with minimum risk compared to drug and arms trafficking, accentuated the steep rise in trafficking. Although gender-related poverty is an element that makes trafficking possible, it is an influence only when it is coupled with two other things: motivated traffickers, usually operating in organized criminal groups, and countries or cities that are large sex industry centres where prostitution is tolerated or is legal. The recruiters (sometimes women allowed to escape their work as prostitutes), the pimps, and the traffickers, plus the international inequalities in chances for survival and a good future, are the essential influences on the movement of large numbers of women to settings where they are subjected to abuse and forced to prostitute themselves. For example, in India moneylenders or their agents will visit areas that are affected by desperate poverty. Moneylenders may own brothels, where they place the girls and women to work. In other cases, they may supply the women and girls to brothel keepers for a fee, and then require them to work until the fee is paid off. Once invol ved in prostitution, women are forced, in various ways, to continue. Asian-Indian women have reported to researchers that despite desires to stop, they continued prostitution because of illiteracy, beatings, starvation, rape by family members, and sexual exploitation in alternative jobs that paid less than prostitution, and that therefore created the reality that prostitution provided a higher rate of pay for sexual acts that they would have been forced into regardless of not working as a prostitute. Thus in this way forced prostitution is the face of horrendous monster haunting women who are in desperate need of financial help and renders them victimized both sexually and psychologically. Sexual orientation-motivated crime The victimization of lesbian and gay men, through either verbal harassment or varying degrees of physical assault, is the most common kind of bias related violence. More than half of the lesbian and gay male adult population have been estimated to have encountered some form of verbal harassment or violence in their lives. The victimization of gays, lesbians and trans-genders may be in varied forms which might include hate crimes directed against their whole community or in some countries like India abandonment by own relatives and family members. The ideology of various societies is intolerable towards this concept of differently sexually oriented people and thus people punish gays, lesbians and trans-genders for not being the same as they are. This is very ironic that people fail to appreciate ones own preferences about life and try to impose upon them such conditions which are considered as ideal in a society. This in itself is that facet of victimization of such people who feel ne glected, unwanted at the hands of stereotypes in society. Victimization of lesbians, gays and bisexual youth compromises with their mental health as an impact of assault on youth. Thus those youths who are open about their sexual orientation must not only cope with difficult personal matters but must also deal with negative reactions of family and friends. As a result of these cumulative stresses lesbians, gays and bisexual youths may be particularly at high risk for suicide. Thus this depicts that extreme cases of victimization of bisexuals and homosexuals might even lead them into the dark lanes where they end their lives out of depression. Impact of victimization Gender-related and sexual orientation-related victimization can be particularly traumatic because potential victims are at risk by virtue of gender, which for women and girls is readily apparent, and because it can be motivated by misogyny, dislike of gay and lesbian individuals, and other forms of hate directed at the very identity of a person. For women and girls, because victimization is so often within the family or circle of acquaintances, there is the additional disquietude introduced by violation of trust and the potential for continued contact with the victimizer. Psychological trauma Various researches across the globe have demonstrated severe and complex effects of gender-related victimization. In addition to physical injury and in some cases disability, battering can result in depression, anxiety, and PTSD. A report sponsored by the World Bank concluded that throughout the world, wife abuse is a serious threat to health and quality of life, results in injury or death, and has negative spill-over effects on children, the workplace, and the broader community. As a result of this larger percentage of victims become subject to ongoing emotional and psychological abuse, a form of violence that many battered women consider worse than physical abuse. Domestic violence also has psychological effects that include fear, anxiety, fatigue, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Some victims of incest and other forms of child sexual abuse, wife battering, and stalking are traumatized over a lengthy period. Compared to women who are infrequently stalked, those who are relentlessly stalked over a period of time not only are at greater risk for physical, sexual, and emotional abuse but also suffered more depression and PTSD. Repeated victimization can produce long-term changes in how survivors regulate their emotions, self-perceptions, and relationships with other people, and the meanings they attach to actions and events. The term complex posttraumatic syndrome refers to these sorts of long-term changes. Coming to homosexuals and bisexuals, gay and lesbian survivors of hate crimes are more depressed, angry, anxious, and stressed; they also have more crime-related fears and more often describe personal setbacks that resulted from attacks. Victimized gay and lesbian youths from both rural and urban areas reported high rates of suicide attempts. Many victims of sexual orientation-motivated hate crimes are afraid to report their victimization, and some turn their feelings inward and feel shame or guilt about their identities. Financial loss The economic effects of gender-related victimization could be profound. Many people who are battered in intimate relationships, stalked, raped, and exploited by people who benefit financially from their prostitution are economically marginalized by their victimization. If they are physically or psychologically traumatized, they may be unable to work in legitimate settings. Whether or not individuals simultaneously hold the statuses of victim and offender, the economic impact of gender-related victimization can result in immediate loss of financial resources and long-term declines in quality of life if it is necessary to live in less desirable neighbourhoods. System Abuse The suffering endured by crime victims does not end when their attacker leaves the scene of the crime. They may suffer more victimization by the justice system. While the crime is still fresh in their minds, victims may find that the police interview following the crime is handled callously, with innuendos or insinuations that they were somehow at fault. They have difficulty learning what is going on in the case; property is often kept for a long time as evidence and may never be returned. Some sexual assault victims report that the treatment they receive from legal, medical, and mental health services is so destructive that they cant help feeling re-victimized. Victims may also suffer economic hardship because of wages lost while they testify in court and find that authorities are indifferent to their fear of retaliation if they cooperate in the offenders prosecution. Long-Term Stress Victims may suffer stress and anxiety long after the incident is over and the justice process has been forgotten. For example, girls who were psychologically, sexually, or physically abused as children are more likely to have lower self-esteem and be more suicidal as adults than those who were not abused. Children who are victimized in the home are more likely to run away to escape their environment, which puts them at risk for juvenile arrest and involvement with the justice system. Stress does not end in childhood. Spousal abuse victims suffer an extremely high prevalence of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (an emotional disturbance following exposure to stresses outside the range of normal human experience), anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (an extreme preoccupation with certain thoughts and compulsive performance of certain behaviours). One reason may be that abusive spouses are as likely to abuse their victims psychologically with threats and intimidation as they are to use physical force; psychological abuse can lead to depression and other long term disabilities. Some victims are physically disabled as a result of serious wounds sustained during episodes of random violence, including a growing number that suffer paralyzing spinal cord injuries. And if victims do not have adequate insurance coverage, the long-term effects of the crime may have devastating financial as well as emotional and physical consequences. Fear People who have suffered crime victimization remain fearful long after their wounds have healed. Even if they have escaped attack themselves, hearing about anothers victimization may make people timid and cautious. For example, women who are being abused by their partner may be fearful of reporting the abuse to authorities, especially when they read media reports about women who have been stalked and murdered by their partners following disclosure of the abuse to police. Victims of violent crime are the most deeply affected, fearing a repeat of their attack. There may be a spillover effect in which victims become fearful of other forms of crime they have not yet experienced; people who have been assaulted develop fears that their house will be burglarized. Many go through a fundamental life change, viewing the world more suspiciously and less as a safe, controllable, and meaningful place. These people are more likely to suffer psychological stress for extended periods of time. Antisocial Behaviour There is growing evidence that crime victims are more likely to commit crime themselves. Being abused or neglected as a child increases the odds of being arrested, both as a juvenile and as an adult. Young people, especially those who were physically or sexually abused, are much more likely to smoke, drink, take drugs, and become involved in criminal activities than are non abused youth. Incarcerated offenders report significant amounts of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of prior victimization, which may in part explain their violent and criminal behaviours. Some Progressive developments in India In the recent past there has been an upsurge in rape cases Apart from above solutions, there has been a remarkable improvement in the Indian scenario where many progressive developments have been made by judiciary to protect the interests of victims affected by sexual assault, rape, domestic violence and other manifestations of male dominated society. Thus in the wake of current discussion it becomes important to put some light on one of the most remarkable judgement delivered by Supreme Court of India in the case of Delhi Domestic Working Womens Forum Vs. Union of India, which laid down various guidelines for protecting the dignity and integrity of rape victims and sexual assault victims. The complainants of sexual assault cases should be provided with legal representatives who are well acquainted with the criminal justice system. The victims advocate must also provide her guidance to go for mind counselling or medical assistance whenever needed. Legal assistance will have to be provided at the police station since the victim of sexual assault might very well be in a distressed state upon arrival at the police station. The police should be under a duty to inform the victim of her right to representation before any questions were asked of her. In pursuance of the directive principles contained under A. 38(1) of the constitution of India to set up Criminal Injuries Compensation Board whether or not a conviction has taken place. The court also held that in cases where fines and compensation orders were given together, the payment of compensation should take priority over the fine. These developments signified a major shift in penology thinking, reflecting the growing importance attached to restitution and reparation over the more narrowly retributive aims of conventional punishment. The Supreme Court in recent times has thus advocated the need for a scheme which would help all the victims of gender victimization and thus the social organisations, government authorities have set out to look for such programmes and policies. In order to give concrete base to these ideas the next section of the paper highlights some measures that can be taken in this regard to reduce the agony of victims. Solutions for diminishing the aftermath of victimization on victims THE ROLE OF THE VICTIM ITSELF: Depending on other correlates of social location-for example, poverty and race-girls and women, to varying degrees, have a sense that they need to alter their lives to manage violence that is disproportionately directed against females. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals also emotionally respond to and manage potential gender-related violence through routines and choices in everyday life. Fear of crime influences quality of life and reproduces social inequalities, creating and reinforcing exclusion from particular places and from some social interactions and restricting a persons actions. Individuals beliefs that they need to adjust their lives to avoid gender-related victimization are a manifestation of their oppression. Everyday violence results in measures to guarantee our safety-such as staying alert on the street, resisting arguments with our intimates because their bad tempers might lead to a beating, or avoiding certain public places that make us feel uneasy. Consistent with the notion of everyday violence, fear of crime is most accurately indicated by the wide range of emotional and practical responses to crime and disorder made by individuals and communities or, more generally, the impact of peoples concerns about crime on everyday social life. THE ROLE OF SOCIAL AGENCIES: Helping the victim to cope is the responsibility of all of society. Law enforcement agencies, courts, and correctional and human service systems have come to realize that due process and human rights exist not only for the criminal defendant but also for the victim of criminal behaviour. VICTIM COMPENSATION One of the goals of victim advocates has been to lobby for legislation creating crime victim compensation programs. As a result of such legislation, victims may apply to regional level agencies to receive financial compensation for expenses incurred as a consequence of injuries or death resulting from a criminal offence. Compensation may be provided for medical bills, loss of wages, loss of future earnings, and counselling. In the case of death, the victims survivors may receive burial expenses and aid for loss of support. Personal and household property losses are not normally compensated. COURT SERVICES Among the victim services that need to be provided through the court system, victim witness assistance programs (VWAP) might play a key role in providing information, assistance, and support to victims and witnesses of crime. VWAP programs provide a range of services, including crisis intervention/counselling, referrals to community agencies, emotional support, information about the progress of the case, he