Last year, shortly after MeToo took off in Hollywood, attention quickly turned toward Capitol Hill’s own issues, including allegations against Roy Moore and Al Franken. Rep. Jackie Speier revealed that she had experienced unwanted sexual advances as a young congressional staffer and launched the #MeTooCongress hashtag. Then, a group of former Hill aides penned a letter calling for reform of “inadequate” sexual harassment policies in Congress.
Reporters dug in, revealing the arduous, bureaucratic process for reporting sexual harassment on the Hill, and unearthing $199,000 in tax-payer-funded settlements for those claims. Kasie Hunt, a correspondent at NBC News, was one of those reporters—and Tuesday night, a year after she launched an investigation into the issue, she and her team received an award from the Radio Television Correspondents Association for their reporting on the issue.
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LGBT Asylum Seekers from the Migrant Caravan Have Made To The Border
The first asylum-seekers from the migrant caravan have arrived in Tijuana after several weeks of traveling from Central America; they are part of a small group of LGBTQ migrants who split off from the larger caravan while in Mexico City. Their decision to travel separately stemmed in large part from discrimination they experienced en route to the United States, according to several asylum-seekers interviewed by the Washington Post and NPR.
via LGBT Asylum Seekers from the Migrant Caravan Have Made To The Border
Advocates Say the NYPD Has ‘Pressured’ Rape Victims Into Ending Investigations
Victim advocates are concerned that the New York Police Department may be forcing rape victims to sign “withdrawal” forms that close their cases without ever investigating them, the Appeal reports.
In 2012, the Special Victims Division asked 19-year-old Katherine Murrell to sign a “C-3 Uncooperative Complainant” form, which authorized the NYPD to close Murrell’s case on her account of lack of cooperation. But Murrell signed the form thinking she had no other option, and that by signing it, she was cooperating with officers
via Advocates Say the NYPD Has ‘Pressured’ Rape Victims Into Ending Investigations
Opinion | The Abortion Wars Have Become a Fight Over Science – The New York Times
It was perhaps, at first glance, an unusual feature of the 2019 March for Life that it downplayed what many have come to think of as the central claim of the anti-abortion movement: that the unborn have a constitutional right to life.
Instead, march organizers focused on proclaiming that science was on their side. They circulated material on “when human life begins,” whether abortions are ever medically necessary and when fetal life becomes viable. They praised legal restrictions based on what science supposedly says about fetal pain.
via Opinion | The Abortion Wars Have Become a Fight Over Science – The New York Times
Denial of abortion leads to economic hardship for low-income women | Reuters
Women who want an abortion but are denied one are more likely to spend years living in poverty than women who have abortions, a new study suggests.
Carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term quadrupled the odds that a new mother and her child would live below the federal poverty line, researchers reported in the American Journal of Public Health on Thursday, a few days before the 45th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.
“It’s very powerful to see that women’s decision-making is exactly right on,” said lead author Diana Greene Foster, a professor at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, a research group at the University of California, San Francisco.
via Denial of abortion leads to economic hardship for low-income women | Reuters
Steve King Isn’t the Only Elected Official Pursuing a White Supremacist Vision for America | American Civil Liberties Union
Last week, U.S. Rep. Steve King, Republican from Iowa, posed a question to a New York Times reporter that laid bare his racist ideology: “White nationalist, white supremacist, western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” He didn’t stop there. In the same interview, he expressed resentment toward the record-breaking gender and racial diversity of the 116th Congress: “You could look over there and think the Democratic Party is no country for white men.”
His words were not taken out of context, as he now argues. Nor is such racism new for him. During the Republican National Convention in 2016, King responded to a critique about older white men dominating the Republican Party by questioning the contributions that people of color have made to civilization. “I’d ask you to go back through history, and figure out where are these contributions that have been made by these other categories of people that you are talking about – where did any other sub group of people contribute more to civilization?” he said on an MSNBC panel.
New Law Makes Upskirting Illegal in Wales and England
After fighting to make upskirting a crime after having her crotch photographed randomly at a music festival, a woman has successfully campaigned to make the act illegal in England and Wales.
The BBC reports that the new legislation, which was approved in the House of Lords and needs to be approved by the Royal Assent, could sentence creeps who upskirt women up to two years in jail.
Gay teen beaten on Bristol bus in hate crime – BBC News
An 18-year-old gay man was viciously beaten up on the bus going home “for being different”, a court heard.
Kydis Zellinger was repeatedly punched in the face by a man shouting homophobic abuse in the hate crime.
Mr Zellinger said he was “scared for his life” in the prolonged attack in south Bristol on 15 October.
Paul Austin, 27, of Inns Court, Bristol, pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced, at Bristol Magistrates Court earlier, to 18 weeks in jail.
Virginia School Excludes Trans Girl From Active-Shooter Drill
In addition to being subjected to the trauma of preparing for a mass shooting at school, one trans student in Virginia was further humiliated when teachers failed to guide her to safety, instead making her wait alone in the hallway during the scenario on account of her identity.
Media outlets reported on the incident after LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Stafford wrote about it in a Facebook post, alleging that at the beginning of the drill, teachers in one Stafford County Public School directed children to bathrooms or locker rooms closest to them, but couldn’t decide where to send the girl, who is trans. “The student was forced to watch the adults charged with her care, debate the safest place (for the other students) to have her shelter,” the post stated.
via Virginia School Excludes Trans Girl From Active-Shooter Drill
What is it like for a woman who is harassed? – BBC News
What to do if you are harassed
Hollaback! – an international movement tackling harassment – says there is no right or wrong way to respond.
It says the most important thing is to get yourself out of the situation if you feel unsafe.
But if you choose to speak directly to the assailant, it offers the following advice:
Be firm: Look them in the eye and denounce their behaviour with a strong, clear voice
Say what feels natural: The important thing is that you are not apologetic in your response
Don’t engage: Harassers may try to argue with you or dismiss you through further conversation or by making fun of you. As tempting as it may be get into a verbal war with them, it is not recommended. The attention may feed their abusive behaviour
Keep moving: Once you’ve said your piece, keep moving. Harassers do not deserve the pleasure of your company