.png)
Your daily dose of news stories in the world of intersectional feminism.
**TRIGGER WARNING - The following stories discuss sexual assault and domestic violence. If these stories are triggering please contact 1800 RESPECT**
Monday 4th July 2022
Female Police Officers Detail Sexist Culture Within Queensland Police
An inquiry into the culture of Queensland police has received troubling submissions from current and former female police officers.
According to the anonymous submissions, male officers have been accused of sexual harassment, sexist comments and dismissing victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.
As reported by Guardian Australia, here are some of those submissions:
References by male police officers to an area where female detectives sat as “cunt corner”
A male officer questioning “is this a real rape or is she looking for a free pap smear?”
Officers questioning the validity of a domestic violence complaint involving two police officers because the incident was the second allegation and “you’d think she’d learn the first time”
Male officers claiming a new inclusion and diversity initiative encouraging anonymous complaints had been set up “just because you chicks don’t like getting grabbed on the arse anymore”
Officers deterring women from making complaints by providing “unappealing if not terrifying” versions of court proceedings
Officers convincing domestic and family violence victims their issues were related to mental health
A male officer making comments about a female investigator that she was “a good operator until her arse got fat” and other detectives being judged based on their appearance
Promotion panels ignoring or making derogatory comments about female applications
A male commissioned officer complaining about a female subordinate being on leave suffering post-natal depression, saying “not only do I have to put up with having women in my office I have to manage this crap”
The male officer in charge of a large Brisbane police station repeatedly showing colleagues footage of a drunk young woman urinating in public
Officers giving pregnant women who are subject to domestic and family violence unwanted anti-abortion information
Officers performing “diversionary tasks” to avoid attending domestic violence calls
A serving police sergeant wrote in their submission that despite organisational practices changing within the force, there continues to be a sexist police culture.
"The cultural, gender or socio-economical diversity of persons sometimes factored into how victims and respondents were treated,” they wrote in their submission, "the more times a person became known as a regular, the less support and empathy they received regardless of their reason for interaction with police."
A former senior sergeant says female investigators are often subjected to sexual harassment and discriminatory behaviour, and dismissed when it comes to career opportunities.
"The QPS [Queensland police service] has had and still has a multitude of passionate officers who are trained and qualified DFV [domestic and family violence] investigators,” she wrote in her submission, "however, they are not valued or heard - the work they perform at the coalface is ignored, criticised and devalued daily."
She says female officers are treated this way because of the existing "engrained cultural misogynistic attitudes towards women such as female victim survivors and female advocates."
A QPS spokesperson says they welcome any opportunity to learn and improve their workplace culture.
“We are encouraging and supporting current and former QPS officers in contributing to the commission of inquiry (COI)," a QPS spokesperson told The Guardian, "as the submissions are being made directly to the COI, the QPS is not in a position to comment on specific matters raised at this time.”
10 Year Old Girl Forced To Travel Interstate For Abortion
A young child from Ohio was denied an abortion after being raped.
The 10 year old had to travel over 380km to the state of Indiana to terminate the pregnancy.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the young girl was 6 weeks and three days pregnant.
And thanks to the Supreme Court, that little girl was too far along in her pregnancy by only THREE DAYS.
Thankfully Indiana-based abortion provider Dr. Caitlin Bernard was able to help the 10 year old rape survivor and provide her with the necessary procedure.
She says in the past week she’s seen “an insane amount of requests” from out-of-state abortion patients, particularly from Kentucky and Ohio.
Studies Shows Women Are More Likely To Experience Long Covid
According to new research in the UK, women are 50 per cent more likely to develop symptoms of Long COVID than men.
Symptoms of Long COVID include extreme fatigue, shortness of breath or chest tightness, brain fog, and difficulty with memory and joint pain.
Research shows patients with Long COVID can also develop postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which can lead to sever fatigue, headaches, and difficulty concentrating.
University of Queensland virologist Dr Kirsty Short says the medical community needs to focus more on the impact of long COVID.
"This is something we really need to focus on, in the scientific community, in the medical community, and in public health," Dr Short told the ABC, "there is going to be a burden of disease from long COVID, but how significant and what it means for the workforce and healthcare system, we don't really know yet."
Comments