The well-known US security expert, Brian Jenkins, famously declared in 1974, that “terrorism is theatre”. And over the last few weeks, the brutal videotaped beheadings of British and American hostages by Islamic State militants have proved the prescience of his statement with horrifying clarity.

Twenty-five years ago today, Denmark enacted the first same-sex partnership legislation. The law granted legal parity to same-sex couples in "registered partnership" as to opposite sex marriage. In June 2012, Denmark repealed "registered partnership" and replaced it with a gender neutral marriage law.

Registered partnership differed from same-sex marriage in that it was an entirely secular arrangement. The new, gender neutral marriage law requires the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (the State Church) to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Recent public scrutiny following several Title IX complaints and lawsuits at major US universities have forced campus sexual assault into our national dialogue. Title IX is the landmark civil rights law which states that any school receiving federal funding cannot discriminate on the basis of sex or gender. Several universities, including The University of Connecticut, Columbia, and Wesleyan, have been sued for their alleged failure to uphold the standards of Title IX.