Author: fem4admin39

Vaginal mesh: Government apology for 'agony' falls short

Alana Mitchelson of The New Daily writes:

Australian women will continue to be exposed to severe chronic pain from mesh implants that remain on the market despite the government admitting they cause “horrific” pain.
Health Minister Greg Hunt issued a national apology on Wednesday to women who are suffering debilitating pain from mesh implants as he released the government’s response to the inquiry report, promising “sweeping action”.
Mr Hunt said a national register will be introduced to maintain records of implant devices used in urogynaecological procedures and any adverse events.
But the “sweeping action” Mr Hunt has promised remains unclear to those affected.
Minister Hunt’s office did not respond to The New Daily‘s repeated requests for comment on why only one type of mesh has been banned and whether financial support would be provided to those affected.
While the Therapeutic Goods Administration announced in November that certain mesh products would be banned, it is understood these products were only used in a minority of cases.
Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson only withdrew its pelvic mesh device from the Australian market shortly after becoming the centre of a class action lawsuit.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/consumer/2018/10/10/vaginal-mesh-government-apology/?
[category: Aust, reproductive rights]

'Third of girls' harassed in school uniform

BBC News reports:
The figures come from a report by children’s charity Plan International UK, which said many girls feel street harassment is “all part of growing up”.
It found:

  • 66% of girls in the UK said they had experienced unwanted sexual attention or sexual or physical contact in a public place
  • 35% of girls reported receiving unwanted sexual contact such as being touched, groped or grabbed
  • Girls as young as eight years old described witnessing or experiencing harassment
  • More than one in three girls received unwanted sexual attention such as being groped, stared at, catcalled and wolf-whistled while wearing school uniform
  • One-quarter of girls said they had been filmed or photographed by a stranger without permission

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-45777787

Transgender man upset by blood agency's screening policy which considers him female

Travis McEwan for CBC News reports:

A transgender man is calling for Canadian Blood Services to change its screening policy when dealing with trans donors.
Jack Biamonte donated blood five times over the past year. Two weeks ago he had an embarrassing experience after he revealed his recent hysterectomy surgery to staff.
Staff, unaware Biamonte was a female-to-male transgender individual, asked him if he had genital-reconstruction surgery. When he said no, staff told him he would have to answer questions based on his sex assigned at birth.
Donors who have not had genital-reconstruction surgery are screened by their gender assigned at birth.
That means trans men born female are screened as women and questioned about pregnancies, as donors who have had a pregnancy are more likely to have antibodies in their blood that may cause a rare but potentially fatal complication in a recipient.
“I feel like if it’s better explained people will be more accepting of it,” Biamonte said.
But he disagrees that the policy is based on science.
[ed: sounds like they will need to ask all donors about
pregnancies now regardless of how they present.]
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/trans-canadian-blood-services-1.4851296

Doctor fired from gender identity clinic says he feels ‘vindicated’ after CAMH apology, settlement

Molly Hayes in The Globe and Mail writes:
A controversial Toronto psychologist said he feels “vindicated” and “liberated” after receiving an apology from the country’s largest mental-health centre for erroneously representing his behaviour and work in a public review three years ago.
Kenneth Zucker headed up CAMH’s Family Gender Identity Clinic for more than 30 years before he was ousted in December, 2015. Sparked by criticisms that the clinic had been practising conversion therapy on young people who identify as transgender, CAMH had launched an external review earlier that year.
Although the report also looked specifically at Dr. Zucker’s interactions with patients – including a reference to him insulting a patient – he was not consulted. He was fired the same day it came out. The clinic for children and youth was ultimately shut down as well.
But while his removal was celebrated by many activists in the transgender community, many of his colleagues were outraged – and more than 500 clinicians and researchers signed a petition in his defence.
In Dr. Zucker’s view, it sparked a fear that the field of gender dysphoria – where he says there remains many urgent and unanswered clinical and theoretical questions – has been “poisoned by politics.”
“I think that conflation with politics has made it very difficult for many people in the field to say what they really think,” he said. “And I think that’s really sad, that in a field where there are so many important issues to discuss and work on, that really bright people feel intimidated.”
He disputes the idea that he was practising conversion therapy by not immediately pushing for transition for a child expressing gender dysphoria.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/amp/canada/toronto/article-doctor-fired-from-gender-identity-clinic-says-he-feels-vindicated/

Violence against women in Australia: Six women killed in a week

Sophie Aubrey from Mamamia writes:
These six deaths are part of our shameful epidemic of gendered violence, and yet we are seeing no national outrage, no pledges to act from our leaders, no fiercely-worded statements.
According to data collated by Destroy The Joint, 52 women have died violent deaths in Australia so far in 2018. That’s more than one every week.
And last week’s numbers are a particularly large stain on an already pitiful record, accounting for about 11 per cent of the year’s deaths.
This is without a doubt a national emergency. And yet we aren’t hearing a peep from our country’s leaders.
We need to demand action from our state and federal governments to curb the violence, from pouring much-needed funds to front-line services through to supporting respectful relationships programs in schools so our children have better hope of avoiding jail or an early grave.
https://www.mamamia.com.au/violence-against-women-australia/?

Saudi Women Who Fought for the Right to Drive Are Disappearing and Going Into Exile

Sarah Aziza for the Intercept writes:

Beginning on May 15, 2018, just weeks before the end of the ban on female drivers, the government began a series of arrests targeting prominent activists. . . Simultaneously, photographs of the women began to circulate on local media and online, accompanied by state accusations of treason and collusion with foreign governments.
[T]he Saudi state’s efforts to suppress dissent appear to extend far beyond the nation’s borders. . . (Since 2015, three Saudi princes who had criticized the royal family also disappeared while abroad, and are believed to have been forcibly returned to the kingdom).
Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch reported a rapid increase in arbitrary detentions, with over 2,000 new cases between 2014 to 2018.
[S]aid one activist, now living abroad. “It’s very disheartening.” She continued, “The cost has become too high for most of us — there’s a sense that anything could happen if the government decides to target you. We see human rights groups pointing the finger at Saudi after each arrest, but nothing happens. Saudi Arabia is even on the Human Rights Council!” — a reference to the kingdom’s seat on the U.N. body. “With no outside pressure, why would the government change?”
https://theintercept.com/2018/10/06/saudi-arabia-women-driving-activists-exile/




	


	





	

		
		
Nobel Peace Prize for anti-rape activists Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege
	


	
	
	

		
BBC News reports:

The 2018 Nobel Peace Prize has gone to campaigners against rape in warfare, Nadia Murad and Denis Mukwege.

Ms Murad is an Iraqi Yazidi who was tortured and raped by Islamic State militants and later became the face of a campaign to free the Yazidi people.

Dr Mukwege is a Congolese gynaecologist who, along with his colleagues, has treated tens of thousands of victims.

Earlier this week the Nobel prize for physics was awarded to Donna Strickland, only the third woman winner of the award and the first in 55 years. The Canadian was honoured along with Arthur Ashkin, from the US, and Gerard Mourou, from France.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45759221



	


	





	

		
		
Britain's top LGBT+ rights group under fire over 'transphobia'
	


	
	
	

		
Hugo Greenhalgh for Reuters reports:

Britain’s leading LGBT+ rights group was attacked on Thursday for stifling debate as opinion split over whether the rights of trans women were compatible with those of other women.

The debate has raged in recent months and was rekindled when a group of high-powered campaigners wrote to the Times newspaper to lambast Stonewall’s dismissal of opposing views to its stance that “trans women are women”.

At the heart of the matter is whether trans rights are compatible with those of other(sic) women.

A petition was set up this week asking Stonewall “to reconsider its transgender policies and approach”.

Ruth Hunt, the group’s chief executive, said the petition had asked for an acknowledgement that there was a conflict between trans rights and “sex-based women’s rights”.

“We do not and will not acknowledge this,” Hunt said in a statement. “Doing so would imply that we do not believe that trans people deserve the same rights as others. Our motto is ‘acceptance without exception’.”

Britain is currently reviewing its 2004 Gender Recognition Act (GRA), which governs services offered to trans people. The consultation period ends on October 19.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/britain-lgbt-women/britains-top-lgbt-rights-group-under-fire-over-transphobia-idUKL8N1WK48J

	


	





	

		
		
The Gaslighting of American Women
	


	
	
	

		
Jessica Valenti for Medium writes:



What we are witnessing right now through the response to Kavanaugh — and the slow-roll comeback of various men held to account by #MeToo — is a large-scale dismissal of women’s reality. It’s a national gaslighting by politicians and pundits saying Yes, I’m sure something happened to Dr. Blasey Ford, but the poor thing must be mistaken. It’s a mass trauma perpetrated by leaders who would tell women in their most painful of moments that it’s men who are the real victims.

https://medium.com/s/jessica-valenti/the-gaslighting-of-american-women-456821bbb09d

The truth, though, is not that most men abuse women — it’s that the small number who do are able to get away with it multiple times. For example, according to a 2002 study, six percent of men attempt or commit rape, but more than half of them will attack more than once, averaging about six rapes each.

Why is this minority of bad men able to get away with abusing women over and over? Because “good” men make it easier for them.

Knee-jerk sympathy for men accused of wrongdoing — something feminist philosopher Kate Manne dubs “himpathy” — isn’t new.

As feminist writer Thomas Millar put it nearly a decade ago, “It takes one rapist to commit a rape, but it takes a village to create an environment where it happens over and over.”

https://medium.com/s/jessica-valenti/how-very-bad-men-get-away-with-rape-317e1db7a919