- A woman in South Korea committed suicide after being secretly filmed by her doctor in a hospital changing room. In recent years, Korean women have protested the epidemic rise of “molka,” or spy camera pornography, wherein women are filmed and the content is uploaded for profit to pornography sites. Na-Young Lee, a professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University in Seoul, said:
“There are cameras everywhere — from toilets to motels, houses where you are living alone, to school, and these pictures or film footages are distributed on pornography sites while you are not aware of them.”
- Women’s rights activists in Indonesia urge the government to revive a bill that would expand the crime of sexual violence to include harassment, exploitation, and forced abortions, and forced prostitution.
- The trial of an unnamed 19-year-old British woman accused of falsifying rape claims has begun in Cyprus. The woman claims she was forced by the police to sign a confession withdrawing her allegations. Authorities have furthered her trauma by incarcerating her in a prison known for harsh conditions, according to her defense lawyer.
- A woman in Delhi died after hiding her health conditions in order to receive payment by acting as a surrogate. Dr. Sudhir Gupta, professor and head, forensic sciences at AIIMS, told The Times of India:
“This case is reflective of the lack of regulation of commercial surrogacy in the country and its impact on the lives of poor women staking their lives for money.”
- Actresses playing characters who are in positions of power are four times more likely to be nude in films than men, according to a new report analyzing the roles of women in media.
- An FBI report shows that rates of rape in the US continue to rise for the sixth consecutive year even as other violent crimes decline.