#WhyLoiter reclaims public — and inner — space for Indian women

Domestic abuse of the staff in the households of the 1% is often overlooked or ignored. But foreign missions in the US that abuse their domestic staff are finally being held accountable.

Portugal has gone perhaps the farthest in decriminalizing drug use. It hasn't stopped drug usage, but it has reduced deaths, the spread of H.I.V., drug crime, and imprisonment.

One-third to half of those killed by police are disabled, a recent report says. “Our problem isn’t with police,” one mental health advocate says, but both sides say officers need more training.

Juveniles who were placed on sex offender registries, some for crimes they committed before they were even teens, face a slew of life changing consequences that follows them for the rest of their life: “depression, addiction, suicidal thoughts, and other signs of post-traumatic stress.” Many will struggle to find a job, others will get targeted and harassed, some, overwhelmed by the pressure, have ended their life. Parents, legal scholars, and activists are pushing back against the notion that children, under the law, should be tried as mini adults.

The first Human Library emerged in 2000 in Copenhagen, and has since exploded in popularity to the point of operating chapters in more than 70 different countries. The concept is that readers should not judge a book by its cover, so in this library, actual people are the books available to read with titles like "Polyamorous", "Soldier (PTSD)", and "Refugee". The 30-minute "reading sessions" (face-to-face conversations) allow people to learn in a judgement-free zone and put a real person behind the story they are hearing.

A community organization in Indiana called Cultivate "rescues" food from local caterers, hospitals, casinos, and businesses to then be packaged into take-home meals for students at Woodland Elementary School that come from food-insecure homes. Cultivate is in its second year of existence, has three staff and 400 volunteers, and hopes to expand beyond their pilot program to reach all 21 schools in the district.

Clarke County School District in Georgia has 21 public schools that all offer free meals to students, regardless of their financial needs. This is facilitated through a federally-funded program, so even though poverty rates are high in the area, local residents are not footing the bill. While there are still some challenges implementing the program, in general it is received well and allows students to focus on their work and well-being instead of being distracted by hunger.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association Canada and Humanity First Canada teamed up to transform a bus into a mobile shelter for the homeless, complete with 20 beds, a kitchenette, a bathroom, internet, and more. The program is called Shelter Bus and, since launching in December 2019, has served over 1,000 people and reaches up to 50 people a day. The bus has been described as "heaven" by some guests, and they are now planning to have 3 buses by the next year.

Okupas Motorizadas en Pamplona, España, busca proteger espacios de estacionamiento para personas con discapacidades. Sus voluntarios toman fotos o dejan mensajes con carros estacionados en zonas designadas así. Trabajando con policía, oficiales y compañías de reparto locales, Okupas muestra a motoristas la importancia de proteger esos espacios. Después de tener éxito en cambiar reglas locales, Okupas busca uniformizar las reglas por toda España.

La “memoria histórica” o “memoria liberadora” es una herramienta que está ayudando a sobrevivientes de violencia infligida por el Estado a recuperarse del trauma. Tanto en Colombia —donde han creado un concepto para el uso de la memoria como un instrumento de sanación a nivel nacional— como en Chicago, Estados Unidos —donde la “memoria liberadora” rompe el ciclo de la violencia para prevenir la recurrencia de injusticias—, esta herramienta está ofreciendo una especie de justicia de transición, para sanar y salir adelante.