What’s Current: Trans weightlifter Laurel Hubbard set to become first male to compete in women’s category at Olympics

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  • Trans-identifying weightlifter Laurel Hubbard is set to become the first male to compete in a women’s category at an Olympics event. Hubbard qualifies for the Tokyo Games due to a rule change, though New Zealand’s national women’s weightlifting team has not yet announced its participants.
  • Marilyn Manson is accused of sexual abuse by ex-girlfriend Ashley Morgan Smithline, one of 15 women who have come forward with similar allegations. Smithline claims that in addition to physical and sexual abuse, Manson would lock her in a sound-proof room if she upset him.
  • A survey of over 1,000 teenagers conducted by the City University of London found that the majority of respondents were accessing pornography through social media rather than via pornography websites.
  • In Sweden, six women have been killed by partners in the past five weeks, prompting debate about domestic violence in a country regarded as one of the safest for women. Last year, 16,461 assault cases were reported, a 15.4 per cent rise from 2019.
  • A survey from UK-based group Victim Focus found that 99.7 per cent of women surveyed had been repeatedly subjected to sexual harassment, abuse, and rape.
  • New Zealand is considering an amendment to the Harmful Digital Communications Act to criminalize the publishing of nonconsensual sexual images and videos and establish the act as punishable by up to three years in prison.
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.