What’s Current: JK Rowling’s publisher issues statement defending freedom of speech amid staff threats to strike

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  • JK Rowling’s publisher, Hachette UK, issued a statement defending freedom of speech following staff threats to strike in response to her recent statements expressing concern over the gender identity movement. According to the publisher:

“Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing. We fundamentally believe that everyone has the right to express their own thoughts and beliefs. That’s why we never comment on our authors’ personal views and we respect our employees’ right to hold a different view. We will never make our employees work on a book whose content they find upsetting for personal reasons, but we draw a distinction between that and refusing to work on a book because they disagree with an author’s views outside their writing, which runs contrary to our belief in free speech.”

  • A lawmaker in Thailand’s House committee proposed legalizing prostitution in an attempt to combat rising levels of sexual violence against women. Thailand is one of the most popular nations for sex trafficking, as both a tourist destination and a transit hub.
  • Police in England and Wales are systematically dropping rape charges if the victims refuse to hand in their phones. According to an investigation by The Guardian, one in five complainants declined the request to what they called a “digital strip search,” and in every such instance, their case was closed.
  • Actor Danny Masterson from That 70s Show is charged with raping three women in separate incidents occurring from 2001-2003.
Genevieve Gluck

Genevieve Gluck is a writer and advocate for women's sex-based rights and creator of Women's Voices, an audio library dedicated to bringing awareness to feminist texts and speeches.