What’s Current: Harvey Weinstein accused of decades of sexual harassment & misconduct

  • A New York Times investigation into Harvey Weinstein, a man who “presents himself as a liberal lion, a champion of women,” has revealed decades of allegations of sexual harassment and unwanted physical contact. In an apology statement, Weinstein says, “I plan to take a leave of absence from my company and to deal with this issue head on.”
  • Brendt A. Christensen has been indicted for the murder of Yingying Zhang. Zhang went missing in June and her body has not yet been found. In July, police found evidence that Christensen had visited the “Abduction 101” forum of a fetish website. The new indictment:

“Accuses Christensen of first planning to, and then deliberately killing Zhang in the course of kidnapping her, and doing so “in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner” that involved ‘torture or serious physical abuse.'”

  • San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “Nasty” to a press conference. Donald Trump recently used this word — evidently one of his favourites for women he disagrees with — to describe Cruz. Cruz continued her criticism of Trump’s response to the recent hurricane that has devastated the US territory, saying: “What is truly nasty is that anyone would turn their back on the Puerto Rican people.”
  • Charities that have historically distributed menstrual products and tampons in Kenya are being dispatched to respond to “period poverty” in the UK. The Guardian reports:

“Period poverty is in many ways the hidden side of British inequality: women and girls in one of the richest societies in history stuffing socks inside their underwear and being trapped in their homes each month.”

Lisa Steacy

Lisa Steacy is an Assistant Editor at Feminist Current. She has a B.A. in Women & Gender Studies from the University of Toronto. However, the women she met in her five years as a frontline worker and collective member with Vancouver Rape Relief & Women’s Shelter deserve almost all of the credit for her feminist education. She lives in Vancouver with her partner and their cats.