Category Archives: Gender

Sexual orientation census undercounts older people and those who shun labels

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Information collected in 2021 is first that aims to show UK diversity, yet 7.5% of people did not fill in relevant questions

Census 2021 was the first to collect information on the sexual orientation of residents aged 16 years and over in England and Wales. Of those who completed the survey, 1.54% identified as gay or lesbian, and approximately 1.51% identified as bisexual or pansexual. A further 0.06% identified as asexual, and 0.03% as queer. This is almost certainly an underestimation of the actual national diversity of sexual orientation.

The item on sexuality was introduced for equity monitoring. The Office for National Statistics conducted extensive research, including the 2017 census test, to determine the exact wording and location of the item.

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‘To gain respect, you need success’: the trans tycoon from Thailand who bought up Miss Universe

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Anne Jakrajutatip, boss of JKN Global, recently made headlines by buying the firm behind the contest for $20m

Anne Jakrajutatip, 43, has a story unlike many of the world’s media moguls. Growing up in Bangkok, the child of shop owners, she felt that she was trapped in the wrong body. At school, she faced constant bullying and stigma. She tried to carefully manage her identity, showing what she believed to be her true self in front of friends, and acting as a good son in front of her parents. She experienced sexual harassment while still a child.

It was reading a local newspaper article about Oprah Winfrey, a survivor of child abuse, that led Jakrajutatip to want a career in the media and to become a TV chatshow host. A microphone seemed like a powerful weapon.

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Taliban minister defends closing universities to women as global backlash grows

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Neda Mohammad Nadeem says ban was necessary to prevent mixing of genders as rare protests break out

The minister of higher education in Afghanistan’s Taliban government has defended his decision to ban women from universities – a decree that triggered a global backlash and protests inside the country.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration announced earlier this week it had closed universities to women partly due to female students not adhering to its interpretation of the Islamic dress code and interaction between students of different genders.

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Parents in Wales lose legal fight against ‘woke’ sex eduation in primary schools

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Judge at Cardiff hearing rejects families’ complaint, saying relationships curriculum does not advocate any one gender identity

A group of parents has lost a legal challenge against the teaching of children about gender identity and sex in primary schools across Wales.

Campaigners launched a judicial review in the high court against the Welsh government’s new relationships and sexuality education (RSE) curriculum, which they depicted as “dangerous” and “woke”.

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Scottish parliament vote on gender recognition changes delayed until Thursday

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Vote on law that would remove need for diagnosis of gender dysphoria to obtain gender recognition certificate pushed back after fraught debate

The final vote on the Scottish government’s long-awaited changes to simplify how someone can legally change gender has been delayed until Thursday after two days of fraught, chaotic and sometimes emotional debate among MSPs.

With discussion of more than 150 amendments continuing late into Wednesday night, the decision was taken by Holyrood business managers to re-schedule the crunch vote for Thursday afternoon rather than have the session run on into the early hours.

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Scottish transgender reform looks imminent after marathon Holyrood debate

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Crunch vote looms after debate prolonged by disruptions, attempted delays and uncertainty over possible amendments

Transgender 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland are set to be able to apply to change the sex on their birth certificate for the first time as MSPs debated long into the night the Scottish government’s controversial gender recognition reforms.

The marathon session took place amid chaotic scenes at Holyrood, including disruption from the public galley, uncertainty over whether certain amendments opened the bill to legal challenge, and attempts to delay proceedings into the new year.

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Taliban ban Afghan women from university education

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Higher education ministry issues indefinite order three months after thousands sat entrance exams

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities.

“You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem.

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Tunisia election set to deliver male-dominated parliament and erosion of women’s rights

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As the country goes to the polls, reforms introduced by hardline president Kais Saied have led to the exclusion of female candidates

Tunisians will vote on Saturday in an election that will lead to a weakened parliament “almost exclusively dominated by men”, as activists warn of a stark deterioration of women’s rights under an increasingly authoritarian president.

The controversial elections, boycotted by all the main parties, mark the final piece of the constitutional jigsaw President Kais Saied began assembling in July 2021, when he suspended the legislature in what critics called a power grab.

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Report finds misogyny, racism and bullying at London fire brigade

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Author Nazir Afzal labelled the service ‘institutionally misogynist and racist’ and hoped the review would be a ‘turning point’

Incidents of misogyny, racism and bullying have been exposed by an independent report on the culture at the UK’s largest firefighting and rescue organisation.

Female firefighters have been groped, beaten and had their helmets filled with urine, a review of the London fire brigade has found.

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‘This could be the Cop where we lose 1.5C,’ warns Alok Sharma – as it happened

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As negotiations develop, some countries pushed to weaken the goal of keeping a global temperature increase to 1.5C

This liveblog is now closed

We’ve been reporting a lot on the lack of food at Cop (it’s been on our reporters’ minds for obvious reasons).

But my colleague Damian Carrington has found that vegan campaigners have capitalised on the burger shortage.

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Mapping Iran’s unrest: how Mahsa Amini’s death led to nationwide protests

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Interactive map shows spread of demonstrations over five weeks after woman’s death in custody

Iran has been gripped by protests since the death in custody on 16 September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin who had been arrested three days earlier for allegedly breaching the Islamic dress code for women. This interactive map shows how protests spread between 16 September and 21 October, fuelled by public outrage over a crackdown that has led to the deaths of other young women and girls. Now in their seventh week, the protests show no sign of ending.

Methodology

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SNP suffers biggest ever backbench revolt over transgender bill

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One minister resigned to vote against making it easier for transgender people in Scotland to change their legal sex

The Scottish National party suffered its largest backbench revolt in its 15 years in power over the vote on its bill making it easier for transgender people to change their legal sex, with one minister resigning in order to vote against the plans.

The community safety minister, Ash Regan, quit, prompting Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, to accuse her of failing to raise her concerns with colleagues. Seven SNP members voted against the party whip and two abstained.

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Federal government launches ‘world-leading’ bid to end violence against women and children within a generation

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National plan calls for improved crisis housing and assisting men to develop ‘healthy masculinities’

The federal government is setting an ambitious goal to end violence against women and children within one generation, with the release of a new national plan on family violence calling for better crisis housing and assisting men to develop “healthy masculinities”.

The new plan calls for reforms to how media, schools, justice systems, tech companies, the health sector and perpetrators themselves act, with the new National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children giving dozens of suggestions to improve violence prevention and response.

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Mother says police beat daughter to death in Iranian protests

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Tehran authorities ‘shaken to core’ as demonstrations grow and death toll mounts

The mother of a 16-year-old Iranian girl, Nika Shakarami, who died during protests that continue to sweep the country, has rejected official claims that her death was caused by falling from a building and insisted she was beaten to death by regime forces.

Nasreen Shakarami said authorities refused to notify the family about her daughter’s death for 10 days and then removed Nika from the morgue, burying her in a remote village without the family’s consent. Her mother says records of Nika’s death show her skull was severely damaged and her injuries were consistent with being struck repeatedly on her head.

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High-profile China #MeToo case settled in US out of court

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Liu Jingyao launched civil proceedings in 2019 against retail billionaire Liu Qiangdong

One of China’s biggest and most divisive #MeToo cases, which had been set to play out with extraordinary transparency because of its US location and was closely watched by millions inside China, has been settled out of court.

Liu Qiangdong, a 49-year-old online retail billionaire who also goes by Richard Liu and is known as China’s Jeff Bezos, had been accused of sexually assaulting a then 21-year-old Chinese graduate when she was studying at the University of Minnesota and he was visiting on a business trip. Liu has always denied the assault accusations, saying it was consensual.

In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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‘Women are in charge. They are leading’: Iran protests continue despite crackdowns

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People, determined to defy violence by security forces and online blackout, are resorting to old-fashioned methods to organise unrest

The messages, printed on scraps of paper, were thrown on doorsteps across Iran overnight by protesters determined that an online crackdown would not stop their movement.

“The Islamic Republic is falling. Join the people,” said one handed out in northern Rasht city. In southern Ahvaz organisers gave an address and time for protest, and a broader call to action. “If you cannot come, spread the message so other people come,” it urged readers.

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Iran launches airstrike against Kurdish group in northern Iraq

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Deadly attack comes in response to KDPI support for ongoing protests over Mahsa Amini death in custody

Iran has launched a deadly cross-border airstrike into northern Iraq to punish Kurds for their role in supporting demonstrations over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman in Iranian police custody that are still rattling the Tehran regime.

As many as 13 people were killed and 58 injured in the Iranian drone strikes on military bases in northern Iraq that belong to the exiled Kurdish Democratic party of Iran.

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China sentences man who attacked women at restaurant to 24 years

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Assault by Chen Jizhi and his friends on 10 June has sparked a national debate over gender-based violence

The main perpetrator of an assault against a group of women at a barbecue restaurant in China has been sentenced to 24 years in prison, after the case sparked a national debate over gender-based violence.

Chen Jizhi started hitting the women after they rejected his “harassment” in the early hours of 10 June in the city of Tangshan in Hebei province, east of Beijing, the court said in a statement.

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‘Lie of gender identity’ spurred founding of LGB Alliance, court told

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Co-founder says group offended by ‘redefinition’ of homosexuality as she defends charity against accusation of anti-trans agenda

The organisation LGB Alliance was founded to “prevent the dissemination of the lie of gender identity”, a court was told on Wednesday, during a hearing over whether the Charity Commission was right to grant the body charitable status.

Co-founder Kate Harris told a hearing that a surge in anti-lesbian discrimination was another motivation for the creation of the organisation.

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Japanese trans woman denied status as parent of own child – reports

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Tokyo high court rules that child born after woman’s legal gender change should not be recognised as her daughter

A Japanese court has ruled that a child born after a transgender woman went through her surgical and legal transition should not be recognised legally as her child, according to local media.

Japan requires that anyone who wants to legally change their gender have surgery to remove the sexual organs they were born with, a practice sharply criticised by human rights groups.

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