The World Health Organization (WHO) has reinstated two senior managers who were accused of mishandling the organisation's biggest-ever sexual misconduct scandal. Both were put on paid leave after being named in an independent commission's investigation of rape and exploitation by WHO staff during an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The WHO has insisted that "misconduct was not established" and has recently overhauled its systems and sought to promote accountability in order to tackle sexual misconduct. No senior officials at the organisation have lost their jobs in connection with the DRC scandal.
Community organizations in Labrador, a region with unique challenges and high rates of sexual assault, are holding meetings to ease the emotional strain of working alone in far-flung communities. Following their regular meetings, the region is now planning to create a counselling centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, to support those affected by gender-based violence. This comes as organizations across Canada that work with victims of gender-based violence are burning out, with COVID-19 adding to their stress, according to the final stages of a study conducted by Women’s Shelters Canada.
Battling burnout and isolation, Labrador groups unite to tackle sexual violence
The Toronto Star
23-05-17 19:08
Community organizations in Labrador, Canada, are holding regular meetings to offer support to groups dealing with gender-based violence in an effort to counteract widespread burnout and high staff turnover rates. Labarador is a region with high levels of sexual assault, challenges from a lack of resources, and housing shortages and overcrowding, making it difficult to help women in abusive situations. The pandemic has only increased the emotional strain of working alone in remote communities, leading service providers to come together to create a supportive environment to voice their struggles and concerns, and discuss plans for help.
Sri Lankan cricketer Danushka Gunathilaka had three of four charges relating to the alleged sexual assault of a woman in Sydney withdrawn. Gunathilaka, 31, was arrested and charged with four counts of sexual intercourse without consent last year after participating in the Sri Lanka T20 World Cup team. Police said he and the woman charged had met on Tinder. Sri Lanka Cricket has suspended the player from all forms of the game.
Two sex videos, one with a 17-year-old and another of an ex-partner, filmed without her consent has landed a Singaporean with a two-month jail sentence. Nicholas Koh Wei Xuan had made 69 other obscene films. Koh had shared the video that he had made with his ex-girlfriend with her as part of an attempt to restart their relationship; however, she refused, and Koh insisted he would not destroy the video unless she had sex with him again. He also threatened to send the video to her then-boyfriend.
Two men have been charged with sexual offences after women reported a series of frightening incidents along the Merri Creek trail in Melbourne’s north over several months. A police spokeswoman confirmed a 40-year-old Brunswick man was charged over two alleged incidents of sexual exposure in a public place on March 20 and April 4. Separately, police from the sexual offences unit charged a 30-year-old Preston man on February 5 with nine offences, including directing sexual activity at a person, stalking and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
A badminton coach has been arrested, facing charges of sexual exploitation and sexual assault. The suspect, from Markham in Canada, was taken into police custody on 12 May 2021 following an investigation, which was launched after a young person was allegedly sexually abused in early May. While no additional victims have been identified at present, authorities are encouraging anyone with further information to come forward.
A Florida judge has ruled in favour of Tiger Woods after his former girlfriend Erica Herman attempted to have a non-disclosure agreement that she signed nullified. Herman had claimed Woods had no right to enforce the agreement as he was not facing harassment or assault allegations. Judge Elizabeth Metzger rejected the claims, saying they were "implausibly pled". Herman began dating the golfer in 2017 when she worked as a manager of his Jupiter, Florida restaurant.
Andrew Miller, a transgender butcher known locally as Amy, has admitted to abducting a primary schoolgirl, dressed as a woman, and subjecting her to sexual assaults at his house. The case is expected to cause unease over the gender self-ID proposals, a legislation that poses to allow Scots to change their legal sex merely by signing a declaration. Some of the opponents debate that this action will make it easier for male predators, similarly to Miller, to access women-only spaces. The suspect presented as a woman while luring the girl into his vehicle.
An IT worker's claims of sexual harassment have been rejected by an employment tribunal in London, which found that her perception of events was "skewed". Karina Gasparova had sued her former boss, Alexander Goulandris, alleging that his use of 'xx', 'yy', and '????' in an email asking for more information was a coded way of seeking sexual relations, and that the initials 'ajg', which he used to rename a work file, stood for 'A Jumbo Genital'. Gasparova also claimed that Goulandris stared at her and tried to chat her up during work calls. The claims were dismissed and Gasparova was ordered to pay the respondent firm's costs.
Campaigners seeking greater protection for British servicemen and women have called on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to move rape cases out of internal military courts, following the publication of new evidence of continued sexual abuse within the armed forces. The evidence was provided to the Defence Sub-Committee on Women in the Armed Forces and detailed whistleblower reports that included failures by senior military figures to act on sexual assault allegations and condemned servicemen continue to serve openly.
A woman's sexual harassment case against her boss has been dismissed by an employment tribunal. Karina Gasparova, who worked as a project manager for paperless document firm essDOCS, brought the action against Aleksander Goulandris, who she characterised as a "rich and powerful" man she believed wanted a sexual relationship with her. Gasparova argued that she had misinterpreted certain letters and words in emails sent by her boss, who she believed was interested in a romantic or sexual relationship with her. However, the tribunal found that Gasparova's direction of everyday events was "skewed".
MPs in the UK have reiterated calls for rape cases to be moved out of military courts after it emerged that sexual abuse is continuing to be a problem within the armed forces. One servicewoman’s complaint of rape was dismissed by her superior, who said her attacker would remain with his unit, while another was told to accept that “things get a little out of hand” after she reported being groped and forcibly kissed by a male colleague. The Ministry of Defence introduced new measures following a 2021 review which revealed widespread problems, but MPs argue that significant issues still exist.
A parliamentary committee report has identified ongoing rape and sexual abuse within the British military and a “wider culture of institutional misogyny”. The report features accounts collected by a forces medical team including one from a servicewoman who claimed she was raped. She said she was moved to another location against her will to separate her from her attacker, and advised by a military doctor to “choose her partners more carefully”. Other accounts include instances of indecent exposure and groping at a work Christmas party and inappropriate behaviour by a male training staff member towards a female servicewoman.
A judge in Florida has ruled that Erica Herman, restaurant manager and former girlfriend of Tiger Woods, must follow a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) she was trying to get voided. Herman claimed the NDA was invalid due to a 2022 US law that lowers the enforceability of NDAs in harassment or abuse situations. The judge stated that Herman presented no evidence of sexual misconduct. Herman is attempting to sue Woods and the home trust he ownsfor $30m, claiming that she was locked out of her shared home in Hobe Sound, Florida, after being tricked into packing for a vacation. Woods denied any tenancy agreement was reached. Wednesday’s decision means the case will be heard privately in arbitration. Lawyers for Herman failed to provide any proof of misconduct that would have led to the NDA being made invalid.
The US Department of Education, under the Biden administration, is investigating how Virginia's Loudoun County Public Schools responded to two 2021 sexual assaults against girls by a boy who claimed to be "transgender." The investigations will force the department to address inconsistencies in its own legally suspect expansion of Title IX, which mandates that biological males claiming to be female are considered the same as biological females under the law. Changes to Title IX brought by the Biden administration have put schools across the country at greater risk of sexual assault, but have also created a bureaucratic nightmare for teachers and administrators. Complicating matters is the proposed rule change that would eliminate due process protections for those accused of sexual assault and harassment. Removing these protections created by the prior Title IX rules would mean no live hearings, no introduction of evidence, and no opportunity to be represented by counsel, among others. DOE’s proposed rule brings back the single-investigator model, putting all power in one unelected bureaucrat who has the power to change the trajectory of a student's life with one stroke of a pen.
Ten men from Rochdale have been charged with the sexual abuse of two teenage girls between 2003 and 2008 as part of Greater Manchester Police's Operation Lytton, an investigation into historical sex crimes against children. The accused are due to appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Friday.
Timothy Schofield, the paedophile brother of television presenter Phillip Schofield, has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of multiple child sex offences. Schofield was convicted of 11 offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child. The victim of the abuse said he felt “emotionally blackmailed” by Schofield and “forced” to participate in sexual activity. The judge said Schofield had exploited the victim’s innocence for his “own sexual gratification” and that what he did was “wrong on every level”.
Timothy Schofield, brother of the TV presenter Phillip Schofield, has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of a number of child sex offences, including engaging in sexual activity with a child. Schofield, who worked as a civilian police worker in Bristol, was suspended from his job following his arrest. During his trial, jurors were told that he had told Phillip Schofield that he had watched pornography with the complainant, but this had not been reported to the police. Schofield was convicted of all 11 charges by a majority of 10-2.
Calls grow for Quebec law to fight sexual violence in high schools after new allegations
CBC
23-05-19 19:49
Several parents and students from Quebec have joined forces to call for legislation that could be used to prevent and fight sexual violence within secondary schools. At a recent press conference in Montreal, the group argued that their schools did not handle allegations of rape and sexual violence properly, and implored Education Minister Bernard Drainville to clamp down on the problem. The Quebec Solidaire Party tabled a bill in April, requiring schools to take specific action. It gained support from other opposition parties, but not the Coalition Avenir Québec. Students and parents are now demanding better protection for teenagers within educational institutions.
