Throughout 2010, we worked hard to bring you news, analysis, and commentary on a range of sexual and reproductive justice issues, including health reform, the “personhood” movement, access to contraception and abortion, clinic violence, teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. To fulfill our vision of what this site stands for, we expanded (to the best of our capacity with a small staff) our coverage of efforts to address violence as a justice issue, discrimination against sex workers, efforts to promote or undermine the rights of LGBT persons, campaigns to undermine the rights and health of women of color, and environmental justice issues. We’ve expanded our coverage of state and federal policy and have begun to expand our coverage of international issues. 

All in all, it’s been a very busy and eventful year.  Here we have included a list of the ten most read stories on Rewire in 2010.  We will also be publishing an analysis of our issues, as we look back on this year and forward to the next.

10. D.C.’s Punitive Sex Work Laws Endanger Women

(Thursday, January 7) Washington, DC created a spectrum of punitive laws that lead to and exacerbate unsafe work environments for sex workers and contribute to the skyrocketing rates of HIV infection among vulnerable populations in the District.

9. Playing With Teen Sex Statistics: A Lesson in Lies

(Wednesday, July 28) Only 43 percent of teens have had sex, so they don’t really need sex ed and access to contraceptives, right?  Well, according to that logic, I’ve got a few other things we no longer need.

8. Christine O’Donnell’s Crusade Against Masturbation

(Monday, September 6) Christine O’Donnell’s campaign against masturbation was only the beginning of her political assault on human well-being.

7. No Longer Sexiled: Universities Grapple with Sex in Dorms

(Wednesday, January 6) Tufts University’s new policy banning students from having sex in residence hall rooms when a roommate is present met with two especially strong reactions. Colleges across the country are watching to see how it plays out.

6. Does Refusing a C-Section = Child Abuse?

(Friday, August 13) A woman comes into a hospital, in labor, and refuses to sign a consent form for a c-section. Result? Her baby whisked away under charges of child neglect.

5. Based on a False Story: Lifetime’s “The Pregnancy Pact”

(Wednesday, January 27) The Pregnancy Pact provides a stereotypical and shallow view of teens and a false view of teen sexuality. It’s another supposedly educational film made more to shock and titillate and make us feel superior to those stupid girls in Gloucester.

4. Reproductive Rights, Parental Rights, and Family Violence: A Dangerous Intersection

(Wednesday, March 17) We are actually witnessing an erosion of protections of women and children in abusive relationships. Policies that reflect social biases paint women as “vindictive” liars, combine with the efforts of both alleged abusers to fight to regain control of their wives and children and fathers’ rights proponents are harming women and children trying to escape abuse.

3. Pregnant? Don’t Fall Down the Stairs

(Monday, February 15) When anti-choicers conceptualize, dream up and manage to pass bills in the name of being “pro-life”, there is no question they know these laws have the potential to ruin lives.

2. It’s Time to End the Epidemic of Prisoner Rape

(Wednesday, May 5) At least 60,500 federal and state prison inmates were sexually abused at their current facility in the preceding year alone, according to a 2007 nationwide study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). A similar study revealed that nearly 25,000 county jail detainees were sexually abused in the prior six months. This violence is not limited to adult prisoners – in January, another BJS report found that almost one in eight youth in juvenile detention reported being sexually abused in the preceding year; at the worst facilities, one in three kids were victimized.

1. Utah Bill Criminalizes Miscarriage

(Saturday, February 20) A bill passed this week by the Utah State Legislature and awaiting the governor’s signature, will criminalize miscarriages and abortions under certain circumstances and send women to jail.