FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, October 6, 2006 Contact: Kerry McLean - 917 334 9331 Mel Campagna – 415-336-7578 NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD URGES MEDIA AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES TO ADDRESS GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE Calls on Bush Administration to Develop Meaningful Federal Response New York. The National Lawyers Guild urges the media and authorities to recognize as hate crimes the violent attacks on girls that have taken place in Colorado and Pennsylvania schools over the past few weeks. The Guild also urges the Bush Administration’s proposed conference on school violence to development a meaningful federal response both to preventing and dealing with consequences of this problem. In both the Colorado and Pennsylvania attacks the perpetrators specifically targeted female students. In Colorado, the gunman sexually assaulted several schoolgirls before murdering one. In Pennsylvania, the gunman told his wife of his desire to molest girls, and eventually killed five schoolgirls. Strangely, few media outlets have acknowledged the gender dynamics of the crimes. “It’s the elephant in the room,” remarked Kerry McLean, co-chairperson of the Anti-Sexism Committee of the Guild. “The fact that these girls were targeted because of their gender is staring us in the face, but the majority of the mass media have failed to discuss that dimension.” Mel Campagna, Vice President of the Legal Workers in the Guild, concurs. “The absence of an analysis that takes sexism into account prevents us from comprehending both why these situations occurred and what can be done to prevent such attacks in the future.” Founded in 1937 as the first racially integrated national bar association, the National Lawyers Guild is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state. -30-