Ellie Slee for Medium writes:
At the root of city design is a basic misogyny that affects how we move through them. Take, for example, public transport systems. Public transport is a vital part of navigating a city, particularly for people who don’t drive—many of whom are women. That’s right, driving is a heavily gendered pursuit, and while 80 percent of British men can drive, only 67 percent of British women have their license.
Ever wondered why it’s so difficult to get on the subway with a stroller? It’s because it’s not meant for it! I had this overwhelming realization when I stood, seven months pregnant: This train was not designed for anyone but the men in suits who weren’t giving up their seats for me.
I had it again another time, when I felt that familiar feeling of spiraling dread as a large, unknown hand worked its way across my waist: This train, with its close confines and limited CCTV, was not designed for me.
Lots of things were designed for women, it seems. Like baby changing units. They don’t exist in nearly enough places, but where they do, they are usually located in the women’s public bathrooms. This makes it impossible for male parents to care for their children effectively while in public.
Similarly, women are woefully underprovided for in terms of public restrooms. In Amsterdam, a woman was recently fined for peeing in an alleyway when she couldn’t find a public toilet. It seems more than a little unfair to punish someone for the shortcomings of her city, which coincidentally, has three public toilets for women and 35 public urinals for men.
https://medium.com/s/story/women-are-erased-from-urban-planning-at-most-it-costs-us-our-lives-e8d58d07e46b
Author: fem4admin39
NHS care regulator says sexual incidents 'commonplace' in mental health units
Denis Campbell for The Guardian writes:
Sexual incidents including harassment, assaults and rapes are “commonplace” in mental health units, mainly carried out by patients, the NHS’s care regulator has reported.
A total of 1,120 sexual incidents – 65 a week – occurred on mental health wards in England during April, May and June, according to the Care Quality Commission.
In one incident the CQC recounted a woman on a mixed-sex acute mental health ward was the subject of “relentless” attention from a male fellow patient who had sex with her twice. “The sexual exploitation … has completely scarred me for life,” she said.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: “Sexual abuse of any kind is completely unacceptable anywhere in the NHS and we expect allegations to be taken extremely seriously, informing the police as necessary.
“The CQC is right to identify lack of trained staff as a factor that leads to unsafe environments. Staff and the public know that patients are safer when they have access to sufficient trained mental health nurses who have regular, consistent clinical supervision.”
(ed: are mixed sex wards another risk factor?)
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/11/nhs-care-regulator-says-sexual-incidents-commonplace-in-mental-health-units
Women Move From Samba’s Sidelines to the Center of the Circle
Shannon Simms for The New York Times writes:
With astonishing speed, female musicians in Brazil have begun breaking into the male realm of samba circles, taking a seat at the table both literally and figuratively. Just a few years ago, the musicians playing in a samba circle jam session used to be almost all male.
Another part of the movement is spurred by a newfound sense of revolt among female musicians against the lyrics of some of the traditional samba circle anthems, which make light of serious crimes such as domestic violence and sexual assault.
But as Brazilian women and female musicians in particular have called out the traditional samba circle’s culture of machismo, the blowback has been very real.
But samba circles weren’t always male dominated. In 1930s post-slavery Brazil, Ms. de Oliveira notes, women were the orchestrators of what are now known as samba circles.
Afro-Brazilian religions like Umbanda and Candomblé, which have been historically persecuted for their perceived connection to “black magic,” burnished the cultural role of the powerful female “auntie” — nicknamed a Baiana in reference to the state of Bahia, the geographical center of Afro-Brazilian religions in Brazil. The women inhabiting these leadership roles, which are somewhere between a mother figure and a wise queen, became the de facto hostesses of the very first samba circles.
Mr. Gustavo recently sat in as a guest at one of the new samba circles made up mostly of women. When he started playing one of the more offensive old songs — about beating women (without thinking twice, he claims) — the female musicians one by one stopped playing.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/08/world/americas/women-samba-musicians.html
'Despicable': blogger must do 200 hours community service for defacing memorial to slain comedian
The Guardian reports:
The blogger who defaced the Melbourne memorial to slain comedian Eurydice Dixon must do 200 hours of community service for his crime, but has not been sentenced to jail.
Andrew Nolch, 29, pleaded guilty last Thursday to criminal damage for painting a 25-metre long penis at the Princes Park memorial in June.
Nolch committed the act just days after Dixon was raped and murdered, and the night before a public vigil was held. He said he was making “a statement for men’s rights”.
“I’m an advocate for equal rights for both genders. Not all men are bad,” he told reporters.
“I did the political graffiti because the mainstream media and feminists turned the tragic murder of Eurydice Dixon into one giant political man-hating event.
“This mainstream media propaganda and man-hating upset me so much that I thought I had to make a statement for men’s rights.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/10/despicable-blogger-must-do-200-hours-community-service-for-defacing-memorial-to-slain-comedian?
Professor and solicitor say sexist cops and judges to blame for the rise in women arrested for crime
Paula Ahillon for Daily Mail Online writes:
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics in March reported the number of women imprisoned in New South Wales doubled between 2011 and 2017.
Ms Kerr claimed police and judiciary failed to understand power imbalances between men and women in domestic violence cases.
‘The significant disparities in physical strength and resources between parties are not being taken into account,’ Ms Kerr told The Daily Telegraph.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6151725/Professor-solicitor-say-sexist-cops-judges-blame-rise-women-arrested-crime.html
https://www.whimn.com.au/talk/news/sexism-is-being-blamed-for-the-rapid-rise-in-women-arrests/news-story/0f21da94919efd05d2603f4f5956fc83
The Subtle Sexism of Icons – Member Feature Stories
Christina Ou for Medium writes:
In many instances I can recall, ranging from company presentations to popular apps and websites, the main icons displayed were obviously representative of men. At best, this shows that women were not taken into consideration when the product team designed and developed the product. At worst, it isolates women to feel like they are not the intended audience or priority.
As a designer, you have to pick your battles, but this is one that’s worth fighting. Women don’t deserve to feel inferior to men, even in something as small as an icon. Especially because it is such an easy fix. And to me, if a company isn’t willing to change an icon, then it most likely isn’t taking the steps to prevent unconscious bias on a bigger scale, as in addressing the gender pay gap and increasing the balance of women and minorities (and women that are minorities) in leadership roles.
https://medium.com/s/story/subtle-sexism-of-icons-e646ab1b0211
Maternal mortality rates rise as hospital safety measures go unused
Every year, thousands of women suffer life-altering injuries or die during childbirth because hospitals and medical workers skip safety practices known to head off disaster, a USA TODAY investigation has found.
Doctors and nurses should be weighing bloody pads to track blood loss so they recognize the danger sooner. They should be giving medication within an hour of spotting dangerously high blood pressure to fend off strokes.
These are not complicated procedures requiring expensive technology. They are among basic tasks that experts have recommended for years because they can save mothers’ lives.
Yet hospitals, doctors and nurses across the country continue to ignore them, USA TODAY found.
As a result, women are left to bleed until their organs shut down. Their high blood pressure goes untreated until they suffer strokes. They die of preventable blood clots and untreated infections. Survivors can be left paralyzed or unable to have more children.
The vast majority of women in America give birth without incident. But each year, more than 50,000 are severely injured. About 700 mothers die. The best estimates say that half of these deaths could be prevented and half the injuries reduced or eliminated with better care.
Instead, the U.S. continues to watch other countries improve as it falls behind. Today, this is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth.
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/deadly-deliveries/2018/07/26/maternal-mortality-rates-preeclampsia-postpartum-hemorrhage-safety/546889002/?
Nick Evershed on Twitter: "so I analysed our deaths in custody data by gender and the results are frankly shocking https ://t.co/mQDJzlttxW… "
The bias against women is criminal
Jack Houghton of the Daily Telegraph writes:
Sexist police and judges are to blame for a sharp rise in women being arrested and sentenced for violent crimes.
Sydney University associate professor Dr Rita Shackel and Anna Kerr, principal solicitor at the Feminist Legal Clinic argued in a law journal article “the police and judiciary would appear to be delivering equality with a vengeance”.
The pair said that the number of women being arrested for domestic violence offences was increasing five times faster than male figures, blaming the increase on “pervasive systemic gender bias.”
Equality with a Vengeance
Anna Kerr and Dr Rita Shackel for Precedent magazine write:
The increased incarceration of women for violence-related offences in some Australian and overseas jurisdictions points to pervasive system gender bias and discrimination in the criminal justice process. Emerging anecedotal and recent research and court-related date are disturbing and suggest that women’s fundamental human rights and freedoms are under attack.
Equality with a Vengeance