daily feminist news 23.10.13
Breastfeeding mother charged with contempt of court.
A Missouri mother has been charged with contempt of court when she appeared for jury duty with her breastfeeding seven-month-old son. Laura Trickle received a court order that said she ‘wilfully and contemptuously appeared for jury service with her child and no one to care to the child.’ Trickle, a stay-at-home mum, had no child-care provider and only breastfeeds her baby, who does not drink from bottles. Trickle is not the only woman who has met such penalties when trying to care for a newborn and attend jury duty, indicating a significant flaw in what is clearly a patriarchal, androcentric system.
Rise in HIV cases among Indigenous Australians.
A recent report has found that new cases of HIV among Indigenous Australians and young men have risen at their most rapid rate in the last 20 years. The Kirby Institute annual report of HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections found that not only is the rate of infection increasing, but sufferers are also contracting the virus at a younger age. The major factor precipitating this increase in the virus is rising rates of unprotected sex among young people, particularly homosexual men under the age of 25.
Cadets involved in ‘Skype sex scandal’ escape prison sentence.
Two defence force cadets who secretly filmed consensual sex with a female cadet and streamed it by Skype to fellow cadets in 2011 have avoided imprisonment, being let off on good behaviour. The female victim told the court that she was bullied and ostracised from the ADF once the incident went public, forcing her to leave her ‘dream job.’ However, the high court judge let the perpetrators off on account of their age, their ‘good prospects for rehabilitation’ and their otherwise unblemished criminal record.
African-American woman fired from Hooters for having blonde highlights.
Baltimore Hooters waitress, Farryn Johnson, was fired for having blonde highlights in her dark brown/black hair. Johnson was apparently fired from her job because she was allegedly portraying an ‘improper image,’ as she was specifically told that ‘black women don’t have blonde hair.’ She clearly has a case for racial discrimination as, according to Johnson, many waitresses of different races at her workplace have colours in their hair that are not necessarily ‘natural.’ Tellingly, the employers were not firing Caucasian workers for having black hair…
Women in El Salvador can be jailed for miscarrying.
Because of their notoriously tough anti-abortion laws, women in El Salvador risk imprisonment for suffering miscarriages or stillbirths, as they are sometimes suspected of inducing an abortion. In these cases women are even charged with aggravated murder by a system that has an inbuilt ‘presumption of guilt,’ which makes it difficult for women to prove their innocence in such situations.
What’s been on your news radar today? Anything interesting we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments!
