I can't stand group chats. While I acknowledge that they serve a purpose for communicating to multiple people at once, I become impatient with simple chatter, questions that can easily be answered with a search engine and advertisements. Mostly, I am frustrated with the rampant sexism many women face.
While running my business in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, I managed over 3,000 group chats with businesses with which I cooperated. Many times, people would add me directly and I always accepted their request. I never knew whether it would be another business opportunity or someone who needed my assistance.
However, people often added me to ask inappropriate questions or make sexual remarks. I actually took screenshots of these exchanges thinking one day they might make a hilarious, interesting, and educational book about online gendered harassment. I also changed my settings so that no one could add my contact from a group chat.
In 2018, I was invited to the US Consulate in Guangzhou to participate in a panel discussion with women who work in male-dominated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) industries. The three other women on the panel came from huge tech and financial corporations. I was the only entrepreneur. A panel moderator asked if any of us had experienced sexual harassment or sexism due to our positions.
I had a separate social media account for my business and its logo was a blue monkey. On my way to the US consulate, I received a message on that account from a random stranger who messaged, "Hello." I replied, "Can I help you?" He responded, "No." Annoyed, I asked, "What do you want?" His one-word answer: "You." My response: "I will take a screenshot of this conversation and be sure to send it to your mother." Then I blocked him.
So when the moderator asked her question and the three other panelists denied they experienced any sexism or harassment, I joyfully recounted this exchange to the audience's dismay. Whether we're talking about a woman working in a male-dominated industry or not, these types of gender harassment exchanges continue to be prevalent.
Sexism is not exclusive to men. I've received plenty of sexist comments from women as well. At 44, when I was at my fittest, I went on a beach holiday and — gasp! — wore a bikini. Proud of my hard work in the gym, I posted a photo frolicking in the sand in a two-piece swimsuit. I received a few comments asking where I was because the setting was gorgeous. But, sure enough, a woman in her 20s that I met a few times commented, "Aren't you too old to wear a bikini?" This was followed by another woman commenting, "You looked better five years ago."
As an Asian-American who grew up in a Caucasian community (even my family was only made up of one-third of Asians) and being bullied relentlessly for my appearance, I cannot fathom how the young maintain good, let alone level, self-esteem with society so focused on the female body and aging, and strangers feeling free to pick people apart while hiding behind a screen.
Olympic ski champion Eileen Gu can likely relate. After skyrocketing to global stardom since achieving gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, online trolls took it upon themselves to belittle her choice to represent one country over another and criticism about her looks mounted, with several people questioning whether she had the goods to back up female empowerment. In a switch from most celebrities ignoring the online haters, Gu had the gumption to respond to these negative comments, with her most viral response being, "Cry ab it" (cry about it), which made women like me admire her even more.
Living in China, people say to me, "You've gained weight"; "You look older since I saw you last" (this one always gets me because everyone ages); and "You look chubby." I always considered this part of the social culture, a way to start a conversation, nothing to get offended by.
But I am offended. Criticism about female appearances is rude and sexist whether online or face-to-face. With millions suffering from mental and physical health issues, there are too many conflicting messages about looks — "Love your body, accept yourself" versus "Take Ozempic and get Botox". How are we supposed to do the former when social media urges us to do the latter?
Women and girls are disproportionately experiencing violence fuelled by the increasing use of technology, a new report warns, with online abuse often spilling over into physical attacks and intimidation. The situation is especially worrying in the global south, where laws to protect women are often lacking.
Issued on: 06/07/2024
For women worldwide, the internet era is a "blessing and a curse".
That's according to Dutch sexual health organisation Rutgers, which says that technology and online platforms are increasingly used as weapons to "tyrannise" women and other vulnerable groups "as part of an invasive 24/7 culture infiltrating workplaces, schools and homes".
Its research – based on interviews with people in Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda – found widespread links between online violence and the offline world.
Online abuse acts as a springboard for offline violence including sexual harassment, stalking and intimate partner violence, the report says.
In one case described in South Africa, a girl was bullied on and off social media before being beaten. Classmates filmed her and shared the video online, where it was widely viewed, and shortly afterwards the victim killed herself.
Meanwhile in Morocco, a civil society worker recounted that former partners sometimes use intimate pictures or videos for revenge, to get women to give up custody or alimony or to pressure them to hand over assets.
Activists under threat
Activists and women in the public eye are also targeted, in some cases withdrawing from professional life altogether to escape the abuse.
Moroccan activist Ghizlane Mamouni, founder of Kif Mama Kif Baba, an association that campaigns against gender-based violence and discrimination, has experienced the problem firsthand.
"Recently, I myself and other colleagues – fellow women activists or women perceived as activists – have been victims and targeted by online death threats and various attacks on social networks," she told RFI.
Mamouni is among the campaigners pushing for a reform of Morocco's laws, which she argues fail to protect women and girls.
The country is currently experiencing an "historic moment", she said, with reforms promised of both the penal and family codes. Governing marriage, divorce and family life as well as crimes affecting women, they have historically privileged the rights of men.
"We know that these two texts contain enormous legal violence against women and a glaring lack of protection against gender-based violence, particularly that which is facilitated by technology," Mamouni said.Women's right to travel is being tightly controlled in North Africa, Middle East
Victims prosecuted
Uganda is one of the few African countries that actually has a law against such violence.
But victims who report it sometimes find themselves facing investigation and even prosecution if they fall foul of other laws criminalising pornography, premarital sex or sexual orientation, the report found.
"Laws that are seemingly there to protect victims actually do the opposite," said Abishiag Wabwire of Fida Uganda, an association of women lawyers that provides legal aid.
While LGBTQ+ people face a higher threat of online and offline abuse, for instance, Uganda's harsh laws against homosexuality mean survivors who come forward risk criminal charges themselves.
The report also pointed to cases where victims of "revenge porn" have been charged alongside the perpetrator under the Anti-Pornography Act.
"Patriarchal standards and the cyber law that should protect victims are instead being evoked to oppress them and upholding patriarchal standards," Wabwire told Rutgers.LGBTQ+ gains thwarted by enduring discrimination and violence
Overlooked danger
While victims are predominantly women and girls, boys and men can also be affected, the report says – including male friends or relatives of women targeted.
Rutgers also stresses that abuse doesn't just take place via computers and smartphones, but can involve GPS tracking devices, drones or recording devices.
Despite posing a growing threat, gender-based violence facilitated by technology remains largely overlooked and underestimated by police and policymakers, Rutgers warns.
"Successive generations of women, girls, and vulnerable groups suffer new, brutal forms of violence – many of which go under the radar – with little protection from the police or justice systems," it said.
"Such violence has a chilling effect on women and girls' participation in civic and political spaces on and offline, threatening progress towards gender equality and democratic participation."
This story was first published on 6 July 2024 and appears as part of our review of the year.
Rape was the most frequently convicted crime in French courts last year, with 1,800 cases resulting in convictions, a Justice Ministry report reveals.
RFI
Issued on: 28/12/2024 -
Sexual crimes accounted for 62 percent of the 2,900 criminal convictions handed down by French courts in 2023, the report released this week found.
Aggravating circumstances were considered in more than 70 percent of these cases, and 10 percent involved perpetrators who were the victim's spouse or partner.
In total, nearly 550,000 people were convicted in 2023, while some 900,000 offences were recorded in criminal records.
However, serious crimes such as murder, rape, armed robbery and violent crimes, account for only 0.3 percent of these infractions.
Misdemeanors dominated criminal records, representing 95 percent of all cases. These include theft, fraud, violence, discrimination, sexual assault and involuntary homicide.
Traffic-related offences contributed significantly, with “fifth-class” infractions—like driving under the influence or without a licence—making up 4.5 percent of criminal record entries.
Among misdemeanors, road traffic violations represented 36 percent of cases.
Imprisonment
The report highlighted imprisonment as the most commonly used penalty in France’s judicial system. Nearly 46 percent of all punishments handed out last year were prison sentences, and in criminal cases, more than 90 percent of convictions led to incarceration.
The average length of prison sentences in 2023 was 9.7 months.
Fines made up 36 percent of penalties issued, primarily for misdemeanors and infractions. Convictions of minors stood at 29,700 cases, with rape cited as the leading offence among minors convicted of crimes.
Morocco is aiming to grant women more rights over child custody and inheritance, as well as the power of veto over polygamous marriage, in the first review of its Islamic-based family code in 20 years.
RFI
Issued on: 28/12/2024 -
Reforms were proposed on Tuesday to Morocco's family law, as announced by the country's justice and Islamic affairs ministers.
Women's rights campaigners have long been pushing for a revision of regulations governing the rights of women and children within the family in Morocco, where Islam is the state religion.
The reforms will address issues including limits on underage marriage and women's inheritance rights, which activists have said are not guaranteed under the current code, introduced in 2004.
It comes after two years of consultations with civil society, as well as judicial and religious parties, and will require parliamentary and royal approval.
Reform of divorce and child custody
The draft code proposes more than 100 amendments, including one which allows women to stipulate opposition to polygamy in a marriage contract, justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi told reporters.
In the absence of such opposition, a husband can still take a second wife under certain circumstances in Morocco, such as the first wife's infertility. The goal is to put more restrictions on polygamy.
The reform also aims to simplify and shorten divorce procedures, and considers child custody a shared right between spouses.
If passed, it would give either spouse the right to retain the marital home in the event of the other's death.
Parental guardianship, previously granted automatically to fathers, would be shared by both parents if they separate. Divorced women will be allowed to retain child custody upon remarriage.
The code will also restrict exceptions for underage marriage to 17 years, maintaining the legal marriage age of 18.
Unequal inheritance
The revised code does not, however, abolish the Islamic-based inheritance rule which grants a man twice the share of a woman, but it will allow individuals to gift any of their assets to their female heirs, according to the justice minister.
Inheritances between spouses from different religions can only occur through wills or gifts.
Moroccan women's rights defenders have pushed for equal inheritance laws for years.
Moroccan cleric defies taboo on women's inheritance
The amended code has to be submitted to parliament for approval, and the minister set no timeline.
King Mohammed VI, the country's supreme authority, said on Monday that it should be underpinned by "the principles of justice, equality, solidarity and harmony" with Islamic precepts and universal values, to protect the Moroccan family.
The reform was first ordered by the monarch in 2022, and a committee tasked with drafting the amendments was formed in September last year. It submitted its recommendations in March.
Known as "Mudawana", Morocco's current family law was adopted in 2004 and was seen as progressive at the time, although women's rights defenders have deemed it inadequate.
(with newswires)
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