Twitter allows online abuse against women, punishing those who attempt to hold men and the company to account.
Oddly, considering that women are so commonly the targets of “abusive tweets,” the category of “sex” is not included among Twitter’s protected categories.
Amnesty reports that Twitter “is failing in its responsibility to respect women’s rights online by failing to adequately investigate and respond to reports of violence and abuse in a transparent manner which leads many women to silence or censor themselves on the platform.”
Twitter is a boys club. A boys club that protects its friends above its users, even if those friends present a potential threat to women. Indeed, the company’s Terms of Service seem to exist to protect their own, and as a means to censor and silence those who speak the truth in ways they don’t like. Women who are working to hold men accountable and companies like Twitter accountable are swiftly punished, whereas men’s violent or misogynist behaviour is ignored.
Category: Sexual Harassment
Hundreds of sexual harassment claims against male police officers
Hundreds of people have claimed they were sexually harassed by male police officers in the past six years, prompting calls from senior officers for outdated and unacceptable behaviour to be “rooted out”.
Yet a fraction of the cases led to dismissal, with a number of cases simply resulting in an officer resigning or retiring.
The true number of harassment grievances was likely to be even higher as only 28 out of 43 police forces provided data, with many – including the Metropolitan police – claiming they were unable to supply information or had failed to respond within the time limit.
One female police officer, speaking anonymously, said: “Most female police officers have had an experience of sexual harassment. We are talking about a whole spectrum of issues, from inappropriate comments or sexism. It’s a problem that won’t go away from this field of work and I am not sure why that is.”
Prof Jennifer Brown, from the Mannheim centre for criminology at the London School of Economics, who led Unison’s research in this area, described it as a “hidden problem” in the police force.
Brown said research suggested sexual harassment tended to be more of an issue in uniformed services, such as the police. “It’s partly because of the gender ratio, more men in the working environment and sexual politics, so the idea that women are encroaching into areas that men have a monopoly over.”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/25/revealed-hundreds-of-sexual-harassment-claims-against-male-police-officers-england-scotland-wales
[category global, sexual harassment]
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New Study Shows Scale of Abuse Against Women on Twitter
Amnesty International has released a study detailing the scale of threats made against women on Twitter, calling the social media platform “a toxic place” in what it claims is the “world’s biggest dataset of online abuse targeting women.”
The findings also show that black women were disproportionately targeted by online abuse, being 84% more likely than white women to be mentioned in abusive or problematic tweets. Women of color were also more likely to be mentioned in such tweets than white women.
Amnesty’s study also showed that abuse against women did not discriminate against political leanings; the female journalists and politicians featured spanned the ideological spectrum and represented a variety of political views, and were all targeted by abuse.
time.com/5482390/twitter-online-abuse-women-amnesty-international-study/ [category global, sexual harassment]
The Nationals have had more scandals this year than they have women
Between Andrew Broad, Barnaby Joyce and Barry O’Sullivan’s staffer who has been put on indefinite leave, the Nationals have had more scandals than women.
Source: The Nationals have had more scandals this year than they have women
Canadian Libel Law: How It Silences Victims of Gender-Based Violence
#MeToo encourages women to share experiences of abuse and harassment, but what many don’t know is that doing so in Canada can put them at risk of a lawsuit—and all of the financial, professional and emotional burdens that come with it.
Source: Canadian Libel Law: How It Silences Victims of Gender-Based Violence
Calls to ban”Baby its cold out there” Xmas song from 1940s in age of #Me Too
Radio stations in the US and UK have started pulling the song from their playlists in response to public campaigns deriding it as inappropriate in the age of #MeToo, fuelling a similar push in Australia.
[ed: Fake news whipped up to marginalise feminists as we are unaware of any actual campaign in Australia.]
https://myaccount.news.com.au/sites/dailytelegraph/subscribe.html?
[category Aust, sexual harassment, sexual violence]
Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost – Bloomberg
No more dinners with female colleagues. Don’t sit next to them on flights. Book hotel rooms on different floors. Avoid one-on-one meetings.
Now, more than a year into the #MeToo movement — with its devastating revelations of harassment and abuse in Hollywood, Silicon Valley and beyond — Wall Street risks becoming more of a boy’s club, rather than less of one.
The changes can be subtle but insidious, with a woman, say, excluded from casual after-work drinks, leaving male colleagues to bond, or having what should be a private meeting with a boss with the door left wide open.
Source: Wall Street Rule for the #MeToo Era: Avoid Women at All Cost – Bloomberg
More than a third of Australian lawyers sexually harassed at work, survey finds
The International Bar Association surveyed 7,000 lawyers around the world and found that 25% had been sexually harassed at work. In Australia, out of 1,000 lawyers, 37% had experienced harassment.
Harassment was not reported by 77% of those who experienced it – 80% of those said this was because perpetrators were never punished, and 31% said it was because they thought their employer’s response would be insufficient.
In September, a survey by the Human Rights Commission found 39% of Australians had been sexually harassed in the workplace across all professions, in the past five years.
We can’t wait any longer for men to speak up for women’s safety
42% of Australians believe that women make up false reports of sexual assault in order to punish men. 32% believe that “a female victim who does not leave an abusive relationship is responsible for the abuse continuing”.
Nine out of 10 women who have been sexually assaulted knew their assailant. But, according to the findings from the NCAS, only one third of Australians actually know this.
The root cause of this horrifying statistic is linked to two key findings of the 2017 NCAS: that denying gender inequality exists remains a huge problem, and promoting rigid gender roles has a significant impact on attitudes towards violence against women.
Luke Foley quits after journalist’s sexual harassment claim
Tom McIlroy for the Financial Review writes:
Facing growing pressure from colleagues after former ABC state political reporter Ashleigh Raper confirmed on Thursday she was the journalist at the centre of claims about sleazy conduct, Mr Foley announced he would stand down immediately.
She alleged the Auburn MP stood next to her and touched her inappropriately as he prepared to leave the event.
“He put his hand through a gap in the back of my dress and inside my underpants,” she said in the statement.
“He rested his hand on my buttocks.
Ms Raper said a former Fairfax Mediajournalist witnessed the incident but she chose not to make a complaint for fear she would lose her job covering NSW state politics.
