Among the hard lessons reaffirmed was just how pervasive harassment is. A recent survey of undergraduate and graduate students attending the University of Texas system, for instance, found that 20 percent of female science students, more than 25 percent of female engineering students, and 40 percent of female medical students had recently encountered harassment. Another study cited by the report estimated that 58 percent of women faculty and staff across all fields of academia have experienced harassment, a percentage second only to the United States military.

via Damning New Report Lays Out Science’s Sexual Harassment Problem

It will soon be a criminal offense in the UK to point a camera up a woman’s skirt and take a photo (an act called “upskirting”), with offenders facing up to two years in jail. It’s hard to believe, but there’s no specific law on the books, so police have had trouble prosecuting the creeps that do it. The new legislation will be largely through the efforts of victim Gina Martin. She was upskirted at a music festival in London, and despite having photographic evidence, police said they were unable to act because the photos weren’t considered graphic.

Afterwards, Martin started a petition that gained 104,000 signatures, including nearly 50,000 in the UK. That eventually caught the attention of Justice Secretary David Lidington, who got the ball rolling on the new legislation. The law will receive a second reading in the House of Commons today, after which it will specifically be illegal to “take a picture under a person’s clothing without them knowing, with the intention of viewing their genitals or buttocks,” according to the government.

via ‘Upskirting’ will become a criminal offense in the UK (updated)

The Department of Education has launched an investigation into the University of Southern California’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a longtime staff gynecologist. The investigation is guided by Title IX, the federal civil rights law against sex discrimination.

For years, George Tyndall, who worked in the university’s student health clinic, was accused of photographing students’ genitals and making sexual comments during exams, but he was allowed to continue practicing. Tyndall resigned last year—with a payout—after a university investigation found that his behavior during pelvic exams ran counter to accepted medical practice. But USC failed to notify his former patients of the findings or report him to the Medical Board of California—until, that is, the Los Angeles Times began reporting on the case.

via Department of Education to Investigate USC’s Handling of Misconduct Allegations Against Gynecologist

Kathryn Novak, a student in Arizona, is the woman who filed the lawsuit on Wednesday. The lawsuit states she was in a long-distance relationship with Brandon Simpson, a member of UCF Delta Sigma Phi, from October 2017 through February 2018. Simpson allegedly recorded one of their sexual encounters around October of last year and shared it with five of his frat brothers. According to the complaint, the video was then distributed to other members to watch during their house meeting and ultimately posted on the “Dog Pound” Facebook page. In the end, more than 200 Delta Sigma Phi members and UCF students allegedly received the video.

via Florida Frat Brothers Allegedly Had a Secret Revenge Porn Facebook Group Called ‘Dog Pound’

Dykstra’s allegations of Hardwick’s cruel and controlling behavior — she says he isolated her, dictated her schedule, coerced her into unwanted sex, yelled at her constantly, triggered her anorexia and had her blacklisted after she left him — has many of us wondering, again, if the misogynist streak in nerdom will ever go away. On the primary level, of course, her story echoes every other recent testimony of a man using his status and connections to secure the obedience of a vulnerable younger woman. Each allegation is evidence that Hollywood’s specific power hierarchies and cult of personality are ideal preconditions for this exact abuse.
But there is no getting around the geek problem. From the dark days of Gamergate, to the dudes throwing tantrums about lady Ghostbusters and feminist Star Wars, to 4chan-inspired incel terrorism, nerds are itching for gender war.

via Chris Hardwick And Why Geek Culture Can’t Shake Its Misogyny