MEXICO CITY (AP) — They’ve long been an unmissable part of public events in Mexico, from soccer matches to trade fairs: attractive women hired to be greeters or simply as eye candy, sometimes scantily clad in short skirts and high heels or crop-tops and hot pants emblazoned with corporate logos.
Now Mexico City has prohibited the use of models known in local parlance as “edecanes” at events sponsored by the local government, breaking new ground for a country where deeply entrenched gender stereotypes often continue to relegate women to supporting roles in the workforce.
Indra Rubio, who coordinates the gender justice program for Oxfam in Mexico, called the capital’s model ban a “small but very important step” for a country that’s “still macho.”
“We need to question as a society: Why is a woman’s body seen as an object?” Rubio said. “This places the woman always at a disadvantage, if her participation in the workforce is subject to her physical appearance.”
[A]s recently as last week, the Mexican Health Ministry organized a discussion on breastfeeding that was widely mocked for its all-male panel. And an initiative called “Not Without Women Mx” that urges men to boycott forums that omit female experts from panels was launched without a single woman sitting at the lead table.
https://apnews.com/f72718f5a1c344d8ad48c1659bf208df
Category: Sexual Harassment
France Bans Street Harassment, Approving Hefty Fines For Catcallers
French lawmakers have approved a measure outlawing sexual harassment in the street, rendering catcalling and lewd or degrading comments a crime punishable by on-the-spot fines of up to 750 euros — or more than $870. The country’s Senate passed the legislation late Wednesday as part of a broader package of measures targeting sexual violence, which the lower house of Parliament advanced earlier this year.
Also included in the legislation are provisions to more broadly protect minors under the age of 15, making it easier for alleged underage rape victims to prove a lack of consent and extending the deadline to file their complaints by a decade. Under the terms of the law, massive fines and potential prison time also await anyone found to have taken pictures of people under their clothing without their consent, a practice often known as “upskirting.”
The law, which takes effect next month, has been a centerpiece of a yearlong campaign supported by President Emmanuel Macron’s government — and boosted in recent days by a viral video that drew millions of views and waves of condemnation.
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/02/634866222/france-bans-street-harassment-approving-hefty-fines-for-cat-callers
Want To End Sexual Harassment? Landmark Study Finds Ousting 'Bad Men' Isn't Enough
[A] major study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine outlines a more comprehensive way of looking at sexual harassment within organizations and identifies the strongest predictor of such behavior. Surprisingly, it has little to do with individual perpetrators.
The study finds that the strongest, most potent predictor of sexual harassment is essentially the culture of the company ― what the researchers call “organizational climate.”
If employees believe that their organization takes harassment seriously, then harassment is less likely to happen, according to the 311-page report released Tuesday. That faith in fair treatment acts as a deterrent against bad actors and encourages workers to speak up about harassment ― key to keeping bad behavior at bay.
“It’s not about rooting out the bad apples; we need to focus on the whole barrel,” said Lilia Cortina, a professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University of Michigan and one of 21 experts who authored the report. “When organizations really cultivate a climate that makes clear it will not tolerate sex harassment, employees are much less likely to engage in sexual harassment,” she said.
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/sexual-harassment-ousting-bad-men_us_5b23f8c3e4b0f9178a9cd6f5
Sky News suspends 25-year-old woman for publishing MP's sexist remarks
Undeterred by feedback that his remarks in the chamber on Thursday to Senator Sarah Hanson-Young was disgraceful he persisted on Sunday morning by telling the TV hosts that apparently she has a ‘well-known’ reputation for ‘liking men’.
Leyonhjelm’s insinuation about Hanson-Young – like his original comment in the Senate – was lewd and atrocious, and this time his disrespect was greeted with enough disapproval that there were consequences.
Not for him. He’s free to continue along his merry way as an elected representative and not for the two men who were hosting him.
No, there were consequences for the junior female producer on the show who put Leyonhjlem’s words into a ‘strap’, the text that runs at the bottom of the TV screen, as is a basic requirement of her job, and she has been temporarily suspended.
The part I cannot comprehend is that Sky News itself made this announcement, genuinely believing, it would seem, that the wrong-doer in this scenario really was the junior woman in the studio.
The good news is that it seems the hypocrisy and the inequity of punishing the lowest hanging fruit and making a scapegoat out of a 25 year old has not gone unnoticed.
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/sky-news-suspends-25-year-old-woman-for-publishing-mps-sexist-remarks/
National inquiry to target sexual harassment at work
The Australian Human Rights Commission yesterday launched what it is heralding as a world-first national inquiry into sexual harassment in the workplace, in the wake of the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements.
AHRC is currently conducting the fourth national survey into workplace sexual harassment, with results expected to be released in August.
Early indications from that survey, Ms Jenkins said, show that rates of sexual harassment have significantly increased since the last survey in 2012.
For Australia’s legal profession, the news follows the recent dismissal from Herbert Smith Freehills of partner Peter Paradise, who has since set up shop with a boutique firm, and the lawsuit against global firm Dentons and one of its senior managers.
It also comes after similar research was conducted in the New Zealand legal profession, in which “shocking” rates of sexual harassment were discovered in the nation’s legal workplaces.
https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/politics/23481-national-inquiry-to-target-sexual-harassment-at-work?
‘Shocking’ rates of sexual harassment in NZ law uncovered
NZ Law Society president Kathryn Beck said she was aware of sexual harassment in the profession but was “shocked” at the scale of the problem, as detailed in a survey of its members.
The survey found that 31 per cent of female lawyers have been sexually harassed in law, and 17 per cent of women have suffered such harassment in the past five years.
Almost half of victims (49 per cent) do not speak up for fear of career consequences, and 38 per cent stay silent because they are worried reporting will make the situation worse.
Victorian Women Lawyers executive member Julianna Marshall said the stats from New Zealand were “depressingly unsurprising” and reflect what is understood to be “routine” within the Australian profession.
Women Lawyers Association of NSW deputy president Larissa Andelman supported this, saying it is imperative that we continue to evaluate the work being done to reduce and ultimately eliminate sexual harassment.
“Women in the vast majority of cases will not make complaints because there is a lack of trust in the employer, the law societies and the legal regulatory bodies to protect them and to create an environment where they continue to be productive in their workplaces.”
A “no tolerance culture” must be cultivated, she said.
Further to this, Ms Andelman said there needs to be significant law reform, at federal and state levels, to anti-discrimination laws.
“At the social/cultural level, the system should not rely on a complainant. Policies and procedures need to incorporate ‘by-stander provisions’ where all persons, particularly senior employees, have a responsibility to report sexual harassment conduct.”
https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/biglaw/23407-shocking-rates-of-sexual-harassment-in-nz-law-uncovered?
#MeToo revelations and loud, angry men: the feminism flashpoint of Sydney writers’ festival
Hours before the cornerstone Sydney writers’ festival panel about the #MeToo movement on Saturday night, the Pulitzer-prize winning author Junot Diaz – with events still booked in Sydney and in Melbourne – was on a plane out of Australia.
The day before, another festival guest, writer Zinzi Clemmons, had spoken from the audience during the Q&A of one of Diaz’s panels, questioning the timing of his recent New York Times essay and asking the writer to reckon with his own alleged history of harm.
She then shared her story on Twitter, claiming he had “cornered and forcibly kissed her” when she was 26.
Clemmons was joined on Twitter by other women – including another festival speaker Carmon Maria Machado – who made their own accusations of his alleged misconduct. Diaz withdrew from his remaining appearances, and told the New York Times (without referring to the allegations specifically): “I take responsibility for my past.”
For anyone who thought the #MeToo movement had lost momentum, the last few days proved otherwise.
On Friday, for instance, the Nobel prize for literature was cancelled amid a sexual assault scandal. The day before that, a Washington Post investigation told of 27 more women who had allegations of sexual harassment against talk show host Charlie Rose.
Spicer has spent the past six months connecting the strongest of the stories with news outlets around the country – but her efforts, she revealed, haven’t always been welcome.
“. . . recently, in the last two months, I’ve seen mainstream – what we would call ‘old media’ – organisations starting to pull away from some of these stories … Not only is it costly, not only is it difficult because of defamation, but ‘it’s getting a little bit too close to our executives’. And that is a true story.”
The panel’s penultimate moment was a welcome surprise: notable Australian feminist and writer Eva Cox stood at a microphone with a question for the panellists.
“It’s not ‘How do we stop that man from doing that to us?’, but ‘How do we stop men feeling like they’re entitled to?’,” she said.
As the applause died down in the audience, a lone voice could be heard from the front: a man who had been barred from the microphone during the Q&A was standing in front of the stage and screaming aggressively at the strong, accomplished women who sat in front of him.
“HOW MANY INNOCENT MEN WILL GET TAKEN DOWN?” he yelled, as he was escorted out. “GEOFFREY RUSH IS AN AUSTRALIAN ICON!”
The four panellists had spent the last 60 minutes illustrating why this movement wasn’t going away. It took just one man, in one second, to succinctly prove their point.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/06/metoo-revelations-and-loud-angry-men-the-feminism-flashpoint-of-sydney-writers-festival?CMP=soc_568
New global laws needed to tackle workplace harassment
[F]or every high profile Hollywood harassment incident, there are millions more occurring in everyday workplaces around the world, targeting women who lack the privilege and power to raise their voice about their experience or gain access to any legal recourse.
In fact, in Australia, we know that a disturbingly large proportion of the workforce sees such behaviour as acceptable. Research commissioned by the organisation I lead, CARE Australia, found that 27% of Australian men aged 18-24 think it is ‘Always or sometimes acceptable’ to pinch a colleague’s bottom or wolf-whistle at them*.
What the world’s women need now are stronger laws, and committed implementation of those laws, particularly in developing countries. The international community has the chance to come together and push the International Labour Organization (ILO) – the global body tasked with protecting workers around the world – to formulate a comprehensive set of regulations making it illegal for workplaces to be a place of abuse. CARE urges the Australian Government to push for the creation of a binding convention that bans workplace sexual harassment when the ILO meets later this month.
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/new-global-laws-needed-to-tackle-workplace-harassment/
More than a hashtag: Nike’s exodus of badly-behaved executives
[A] group of women at Nike were fed up with the toxic culture. They took matters into their own hands and conducted a survey of female staff about the incidence of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
They put the results on the CEO’s desk and within weeks up to six men had either left the company or announced they would be leaving.
This type of upheaval is unprecedented in so many ways. Not only were there consequences but they were delivered swiftly and they went beyond the predictable offering of a single sacrificial lamb.
It’s genuine change that was forced by a group of women coming together and saying enough is enough. It’s confirmation that when women unite they have power and are a force to be reckoned with. It is proof that time really is up and change isn’t just possible – but achievable.
Around the world women are uniting in various collective actions and it’s far from futile. In the US it started with the #TimesUp legal fund. In the UK women have joined forces to work behind the scenes together to demand equal pay.
Here, Now Australia has been formed as the nonpartisan not-for-profit organisation that can be a port of call for anyone experiencing sexual harassment, assault or intimidation in the workplace.
Now Australia, led by Tracey Spicer, is also fighting for legislative changes: extending the civil statute of limitations, introducing proper protections for freedom of speech and reassessing defamation laws, which protect the rich and powerful.
As anyone invested in gender equality can attest, the fight is maddening and the temptation to lose hope is very real. But, honestly, reading about what those Nike women have achieved made me believe genuine change is underway. The kind of change that back in 2011 I really didn’t believe would ever occur.
Just do it, hey?
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/eds-blog/why-nikes-exodus-of-badly-behaved-executives-is-so-significant/
Plan International Australia launches bold new campaign to stop women feeling unsafe after dark
In fact, the vast majority of young women aged 18-25 surveyed in research conducted by Plan International Australia, (90%) said they felt unsafe on the streets of Sydney at night, while a further 92% expressed feeling uncomfortable taking public transport alone after dark. Of those, one in three (35%) said they always felt unsafe on public transport at night.
And this campaign isn’t just a local venture. Indeed, Sydney is just one of five cities worldwide where the Free to Be map launches today, including: Delhi, Kampala, Lima, and Madrid. According to Plan International Australia, the campaign is “believed to be the most ambitious crowdsourced data collection project to combat street harassment ever undertaken.”
She hopes the data accrued from this initiative will help to propel government authorities to take the issue more seriously and enact change.
“This data will be provided to city planners, public transport authorities, police and groups responsible for urban safety, so they can make positive changes to make cities safer places for women.”
https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/plan-international-australia-launch-a-bold-new-campaign-to-stop-women-feeling-unsafe-after-dark/
