Category: Workforce Discrimination

‘How to find a husband’ letter to barrister a reminder of ongoing issues – Lawyers Weekly

On Monday, 1 May, Alexandra Wilson, a junior barrister based in the United Kingdom, posted on Twitter a three-page personalised letter that she received on LinkedIn from another lawyer, which purported to offer advice on how to find a husband.

Ms Wilson is an Oxford graduate who was called to the bar in 2018 and has won multiple scholarships, along with being a vocal campaigner for ethnic minorities.

In a tweet that — as of the time of filing this story — has been viewed almost 90,000 times on Twitter, Ms Wilson shared a letter from another lawyer telling her “How to Find a Husband”.

The unnamed lawyer also commented on how to go about intimacy: “If the relationship is to go anywhere good (and someone who loves you will not be in a hurry to get too intimate, they will be willing to wait for the right time) and no long courtship either, that leads to manipulation, relationship abuse and, in the end, heartbreak.”

He also added: “Develop some cooking skills too! … that skill will serve you well.”

Source: ‘How to find a husband’ letter to barrister a reminder of ongoing issues – Lawyers Weekly

Friday essay: ‘I trained to be an engineer … now I am a pickle seller’. What does migration do to a wife?

Migrant women come to Australia with high hopes but their husbands’ careers often take precedence. Farjana Mahbuba spoke to Bangladeshi Muslim women, finding stories of isolation and under employment.

According to 2021 census data, 51,491 people in Australia were born in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi Muslim women here have significantly higher educational attainment than the wider Australian female population. The data shows 19.71% of Bangladeshi Muslim women in Australia have a postgraduate degree, compared with 5.41% of women in general. Overall, 22.75% of Bangladeshi Muslim women have a bachelor’s degree, compared with 15.87% of women across the board.

The same census data shows the unemployment rate to be 5.31% amongst Bangladeshi Muslim women compared to 2.21% in the wider female population. Salma Bint Shafiq, in her research into Bangladeshi migrants in Australia, has found non-participation in the labour market is much more common for these women (30%) than it is for men (2%).

I see a pattern emerging. A pattern where a migrant woman’s financial misery starts at day one of her journey to Australia; the day she steps into an unknown world, where her only bridge to this world is her husband. A husband who himself is often extremely busy earning enough money to support his two families; the new family in Australia, and his own parents and siblings back home in Bangladesh.

Intentionally or not, the wife is left alone, isolated and uninformed. She gets lost. And the impact lasts for many years to come. Financially and otherwise, she gradually becomes totally dependent on her husband.

For some couples, it does not take long for the husband to turn his wife’s financial dependency into a tool to control her mobility. Spousal financial abuse thrives when one partner starts manipulating, deceiving or coercing to create or maintain the other partner’s dependency.

Source: Friday essay: ‘I trained to be an engineer … now I am a pickle seller’. What does migration do to a wife?

NORWAY: Woman Fired for Criticizing Medical Transitioning of Youth Takes Her Former Employers To Court

A woman in Norway has taken her employer to court after she was dismissed in apparent retaliation for statements she made on social media criticizing the practice of medically “transitioning” young women. Rianne Vogels is suing her employer, Papillon, for unfair dismissal over her views on gender ideology after the organization’s management received a single, anonymous email complaint.

Source: (28) NORWAY: Woman Fired for Criticizing Medical Transitioning of Youth Takes Her Former Employers To Court

The world’s top three happiest countries are led by women

The top three countries with the happiest population were led by women, the latest World Happiness Report has revealed.

Finland, led by Prime Mininster Sanna Marin, was crowned as the happiest population in the world.

Coming in second place was Denmark, whose Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has served as leader since June 2019. Third place went to yet another Scandinavian country — Iceland, whose Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has been in the role since 2017.

Other top-ranking countries led by women include Sweden (ranked sixth) with Magdalena Andersson serving as Prime Minister from November 2021 to October 2022, New Zealand (ranked 10th) with Jacinda Ardern, who stepped down from the role earlier this year, and Lithuania (ranked 20th) with Ingrida Šimonytė, Prime Minister of Lithuania since December 2020.

That means five out of the top 20 happiest countries were led by women — at ratio that far exceeds the proportion of women taking on such roles worldwide.

Source: The world’s top three happiest countries are led by women

Melbourne judge tells breastfeeding woman to leave courtroom

A judge has kicked out a breastfeeding mother and her child from a Melbourne court, raising concerns about the mother feeding her baby being a ‘distraction’ to jurors.

On Thursday, the mother was feeding her child and observing a matter in the Victorian County Court when judge Mark Gamble addressed her directly saying, “Madam you will not be permitted to breastfeed a baby in court.”

“It will be a distraction and I’ll have to ask you to leave,” the judge said, according to The Age.

While the woman did what the judge asked and left the courtroom, doctors and advocates have spoken out against the incident, calling it unacceptable.

The Herald Sun reported that the woman did not wish to be identified, but was deeply upset by being told to leave and said she felt “humiliated”. She had been in the courtroom to support the alleged victims during the case being heard.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women are protected by anti-discrimination laws in public areas including work, schools, universities, shops or rental properties.

However, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s website isn’t clear on whether the anti-discrimination laws apply to courts.

Judges are immune from civil liability on the basis of promoting independence and the County Court declined to comment.

Source: Melbourne judge tells breastfeeding woman to leave courtroom

Racism and sexism ‘rampant’ in the workplace | Australasian Lawyer

Catalyst found that more than half (51 per cent) of women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups have experienced racism while on the job. While this might not be surprising on its surface, the report, written by Samantha Erskine, Sheila Brassel, and Kathrina Robotham, also shows that women with darker skin are more likely to experience racism versus those with light skin.

The report heard from of 2,734 women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups in Canada, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

[F]or women in construction, just being accepted as a contributing employee can often be insurmountable and they are more likely to experience safety challenges on the job.

A recent survey of 3,000 women working in heavy industry conducted by the CSA Group found 40 percent of respondents reported being injured on the job because they didn’t have proper fitting personal protective equipment.

And in the tech industry, organizations are often heavily weighted toward male employees. . .

Source: Racism and sexism ‘rampant’ in the workplace | Australasian Lawyer

Australia’s first female journalists reported on wars and human rights around the world – but many died in obscurity

A new book illuminates the bold lives of Australian women journalists between 1860 and the end of Word War II – a time when female reporters were ‘almost unheard of’.

Some of the women who feature in Bold Types wrote for the women’s pages, often in addition to more satisfying work. But others eagerly took on roles that were usually only assigned to men. These include Anna Blackwell, Australia’s first female correspondent, who reported from Paris for the Sydney Morning Herald from 1860, and Jessie Couvreur, who worked for the London Times as Brussels correspondent in the 1890s after growing up in Hobart.

Others demonstrated remarkable bravery and resilience in jobs that were physically demanding and dangerous. Flora Shaw, a British journalist, travelled throughout regional Australia in 1892. Travelling by buggy and steamer, Shaw reported on the sugar, mineral and pastoral industries of Queensland.

A few years later, another female journalist, Edith Dickenson, also travelled great distances under difficult circumstances to fulfil her reporting role. She was Australia’s first female war correspondent, sent to Durban in 1900 to cover the Second Boer War.

Almost all who worked in mainstream media faced opposition and condescension from male colleagues who felt threatened by their presence.

Some, like Texas-born Jennie Scott Griffiths, worked as journalists while overseeing large families (Scott Griffiths had ten children). Others, such as feminist and social activist Alice Henry, defied convention and never married or had children. In many cases, they brought attention to the discrimination and exploitation experienced by women. Speaking out against the establishment rarely led to success. A sad and recurring theme throughout the book is that these women often died in obscurity.

Source: Australia’s first female journalists reported on wars and human rights around the world – but many died in obscurity

97% of early educators are women. 100% need a pay rise.

This International Women’s Day will you show up for early childhood educators? In less than two minutes you can click here and send a letter to your local member telling them that Early childhood educators need a pay rise! And they need it now.

Source: 97% of early educators are women. 100% need a pay rise.

Betty Holberton

Frances Elizabeth Holberton (March 7, 1917 – December 8, 2001) was an American computer scientist who was one of the six original programmers of the first general-purpose electronic digital computer, ENIAC. The other five ENIAC programmers were Jean Bartik, Ruth Teitelbaum, Kathleen Antonelli, Marlyn Meltzer, and Frances Spence.

Holberton invented breakpoints in computer debugging.

On her first day of classes at the University of Pennsylvania, her math professor asked her if she wouldn’t be better off at home raising children.

Source: Betty Holberton – Wikipedia

Brit Awards 2023: Harry Styles wins artist of the year, Beyoncé takes home international awards – ABC News

An all-male Artist of the Year nominee list irks the music industry in the second year of the Brit Awards having two gender-neutral categories, as Harry Styles wins big.

Styles took home the coveted album of the year for Harry’s House, song of the year for his synth-pop hit As It Was, best pop/R&B act and artist of the year, one of two gender-neutral categories introduced last year after BRIT awards organisers got rid of female and male distinctions.

The contenders for that prize were all men, which had irked many in the industry and on social media.

Source: Brit Awards 2023: Harry Styles wins artist of the year, Beyoncé takes home international awards – ABC News