In June 2007, a 14-year-old girl told Pinellas County, Florida police that Jesus David Torres, known as Dahvie Vanity in the scene band Blood on the Dance Floor, had forced her to perform oral sex. Police let the then-22-year-old Torres off with a warning. In the years since, dozens more women have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse.
According to HuffPost, Dianna Farrell was a shy kid who had trouble making friends when Torres allegedly began messaging her on Myspace. Torres hadn’t formed his band yet but was a popular hairdresser with a fairly large following on the platform. He drove across the state to do Farrell’s hair, and afterwards, she says he forced her to perform oral sex. Unable to process the assault, Farrell later called in to a Christian talk radio show where teens discussed their problems. The show’s host alerted police, and from there, Florida police did nothing:
Category: Equality of Opportunity
Microsoft employees confront CEO over company’s treatment of women | Technology | The Guardian
A group of Microsoft employees dressed in all white challenged the company’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, and top human resources executive, Kathleen Hogan, over the company’s treatment of women at a Q&A session on Thursday, according to Wired. The all-white outfits were a reference to the US congresswomen who wore white during Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this February.
via Microsoft employees confront CEO over company’s treatment of women | Technology | The Guardian
Microsoft employees confront CEO over company’s treatment of women | Technology | The Guardian
A group of Microsoft employees dressed in all white challenged the company’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, and top human resources executive, Kathleen Hogan, over the company’s treatment of women at a Q&A session on Thursday, according to Wired. The all-white outfits were a reference to the US congresswomen who wore white during Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this February.
via Microsoft employees confront CEO over company’s treatment of women | Technology | The Guardian
Former Netflix Employee Says She Was Fired Over Pregnancy
A former Netflix executive says that the company fired her after she announced she was pregnant.
Variety reports that Tania Zarak, who worked as a manager in Netflix’s international originals division and filed a lawsuit against the company on Tuesday, says she was left out of meetings after announcing her pregnancy in early November 2018. She says that her boss Francisco Ramos began to ignore her in the office, make rude comments about her appearance, and even had her removed from a show she was working on.
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00:00After Zarak complained to HR, Ramos called her in to his office to ask when she would be taking maternity leave. Variety reports:
via Former Netflix Employee Says She Was Fired Over Pregnancy
Falling through the pay gap – BBC News
More than 10,000 British firms have revealed the difference between what they pay men and women. This is the second year that all companies with 250 or more employees have been required to disclose their pay gaps, revealing that more than three in four companies pay men more than they pay women. This is how the UK’s pay gap sizes up.
Stonewall at 50: stories from a gay rights revolution | Books | The Guardian
he Stonewall riots started in the early hours of 28 June 1969 during a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, Greenwich Village, a favourite haunt of gay and lesbian New Yorkers. As customers were hauled out in handcuffs, the crowd outside erupted into fury. That night’s rioting was followed by days of further violent demonstrations in the neighbourhood. It would change LGBT activism for ever. The riots switched protest up a gear and pushed for an unapologetic, inclusive, enlightened culture in which gay pride would see off shame for good.
via Stonewall at 50: stories from a gay rights revolution | Books | The Guardian
Gender pay gap figures: debunking the myths | World news | The Guardian
Thousands of companies have filed their gender pay gap figures, revealing men are paid, on average, more than women in the majority of British businesses.
Despite the results, myths and misconceptions about the gender pay gap persist. We’ve pulled together some of the most common myths to help you navigate the pay gap deniers.
via Gender pay gap figures: debunking the myths | World news | The Guardian
Use of isolation booths in schools criticised as ‘barbaric’ punishment | Education | The Guardian
Parents have criticised the use of isolation booths at secondary schools across the country, after concerns were raised about the “zero-tolerance” behaviour policies run by some academy trusts.
Guardian analysis found this week that 45 schools in England excluded at least 20% of their pupils in the last academic year. The Outwood Grange Academies Trust – which runs 30 schools across Yorkshire, the Humber and the east Midlands – ran nine out of the 45.
Outwood Academy Ormesby in Middlesbrough topped the list, with 41% of its pupils receiving at least one suspension in the last academic year.
Parents with children at schools in the trust raised concerns that, as well as the high levels of exclusions, many schools were also using “consequences rooms” – small booths in which a child sits alone and in silence for hours on end as punishment for breaking school rules.
via Use of isolation booths in schools criticised as ‘barbaric’ punishment | Education | The Guardian
Mother sues over daughter’s suicide attempt in school isolation booth | Education | The Guardian
A woman whose daughter tried to kill herself while in an isolation booth at an academy school is to take legal action against the government.
The child, who cannot be named, has autistic spectrum disorder and mental health problems, but was put in an isolation booth by her school in Kent for more than a month.
Prior to the intervention of lawyers in mid-March, she had spent every day since mid-January in isolation, meaning she had to remain silent throughout the day and had no directed teaching.
via Mother sues over daughter’s suicide attempt in school isolation booth | Education | The Guardian
Judge Overturns Dress Code Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts
First #LeggingsGate, now this: a judge in North Carolina has ruled against a charter school’s sexist dress code requiring girls to wear skirts, deeming it unconstitutional.The New York Times reports that the ruling was part of a multi-year effort spearheaded by three girls attending Charter Day School in Leland, North Carolina. The students, ages 5, 10, and 14, launched a petition calling for an end to the school’s uniform policy prohibiting girls from wearing pants, arguing (correctly) that it was unfair for their movement to be restricted when the boys were free to move as they pleased.
via Judge Overturns Dress Code Requiring Girls to Wear Skirts