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Health and safety complaints trigger state investigation at NKY long-term care facility
After a sexual assault allegation & a wrongful death lawsuit, an independent care facility is now under a state investigation.
Lee County science teacher arrested on 10 counts of possession of child sexual abuse material
A science teacher employed by the School District of Lee County was arrested after agents with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement say they found several files of child sexual abuse material on hard drives in his home.
Football federation provided sexual entertainment for foreign referees: gov't audit
The national football federation apparently provided sexual entertainment to foreign referees before and after international matches held in Korea...
Bridging Gaps in Women’s Health: Research driving change in sexual violence prevention
Because its effects extend far beyond the initial trauma, sexual violence is an important, and often overlooked, women's health issue.
KFA accused of providing sexual entertainment to foreign referees before 2011 matches
According to the broadcaster, the Korea Football Association used corporate cards to provide sexual entertainment to referees before multiple international matches in 2011.
Scandal Leaves North Carolina G.O.P. With No Candidate and Little Time
Representative Chuck Edwards’s decision to drop his re-election bid amid sexual harassment charges came as a Democratic farmer, Jamie Ager, was already making inroads.
Katey Sagal says she’s surprised to still be ‘very sexual’ at age 72
Katey Sagal said she imagined that sex ‘would be a distant memory’ when she reached her 70s: ‘I’m at this age of my life and still into it.’
Rep. Chuck Edwards drops reelection bid after censure recommendation for sexual harassment claims
The House Ethics Committee said there is "substantial reason to believe" Rep. Chuck Edwards violated House rules related to sexual harassment and hostile workplaces. Edwards denied any wrongdoing.
567-million-year-old fossils rewrite the dawn of animal life
A spectacular fossil site in Canada contains 567-million-year-old creatures that may represent some of the earliest animals to move, reproduce sexually, and develop recognizable body plans. The discovery pushes key evolutionary milestones back by up to 10 million years and suggests complex animal life may have first flourished in the deep ocean.
Dems rally behind Michigan prosecutor to champion party in crucial House race
In her career as a prosecutor, Christina Hines described her work as helping victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking.
Telegram CEO Says Extortionist Manipulated Apple Into App Store Removal
Telegram was subject to a "takedown extortionist" who planted AI-modified child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to get Apple to remove the app from the App Store, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said today. Apple removed Telegram from the App Store for about 40 minutes on Monday night after discovering CSAM, but reinstated the app after Telegram removed the content.
Telegram says Apple suspension followed content norms violation by one user
Apple said its review found the content had violated guidelines prohibiting child sexual abuse material.
Telegram Briefly Removed From Apple’s App Store Over Alleged Child Sexual Abuse Content
Telegram has been mired in other recent controversies including allegations by Russia of aiding terrorism and criticism by Australia over its handling of violent content.
Apple Briefly Takes Telegram Off App Store Over Abusive Content
Apple Inc. briefly removed the Telegram messaging app from its App Store after finding content on the platform that violated a ban on child sexual abuse material.
House Ethics Panel Finds Rep. Chuck Edwards Likely Violated Sexual Harassment Rules
The Ethics Committee called for the censure of Representative Chuck Edwards, Republican of North Carolina, who showered two female staffers with lavish gifts and affection.
Ethics panel finds GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards violated House sexual harassment rules and recommends censure
The bipartisan House Ethics Committee said Monday it has found “substantial evidence” that GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two of his female staffers and is recommending that the full House vote to punish him on the floor.
I couldn't advertise vibrators on the subway. So I sued.
I founded Dame, a vibrator and sexual wellness company, to improve women's health. But I had to fight to be treated the same as ED pill makers.
How often are married people having sex? What to know about the intimacy standard in America
Research reveals once a week may be the sweet spot for marital satisfaction, with no added happiness boost from more frequent sexual intimacy.
The Guy Who Recruited Graham Platner Has a History of Sexual Misconduct Allegations Too
Is this why Platner made it so far?
Dylan Sprouse’s shady tweet about Jared Leto resurfaces amid sexual assault allegations
Dylan Sprouse’s shady tweet about Jared Leto in 2018 resurfaces amid new sexual assault allegations against the Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman.
‘Project Hail Mary’ and More Science Fiction Movies to Stream Now
From the Ryan Gosling hit “Project Hail Mary” to the psychosexual alien rom-com “Touch Me,” explore this month’s eclectic picks.
YouTube Bans Popular ASMR Artists, Accusing Them of Making 'Sexually Gratifying' Videos
YouTube told ASMR artists including Bunnii, Slight Sounds, Rose, and others that their content broke the platform's sex and nudity policy. Creators say these bans are unfair and potentially life-altering.
Delaware State Trooper accused of taking advantage of woman experiencing mental health crisis
A suspended Delaware State Trooper has been indicted for allegedly taking sexual advantage of a 21-year-old woman who was experiencing a mental health crisis in his patrol car.
Top entertainment headlines on Wednesday, July 29 with Studio 13 Live
Mireya Garcia dives into the top entertainment headlines for Wednesday, July 29 on Studio 13 Live—From a new documentary exposing Jared Leto's sexual harassment allegations to updates on box office performances and celebrity engagements.
Lincoln Crime Stoppers seek tips on trailer theft, groping at massage business
LCS is asking for the public’s help identifying suspects in two separate cases — a trailer theft and a sexual offense at a south Lincoln massage business.
Jared Leto faces sexual misconduct allegations from more women
Jared Leto has been accused of behaving inappropriately with four women when they were in their teens, according to a new BBC report.
‘Jeopardy’ champ pleads guilty to 2 felony charges after planting secret cameras in rental property
Two-time ‘Jeopardy’ champ Philip Joseph DeSena pleaded guilty to two counts of felony secret peeping after planting hidden cameras in a rental property’s bedroom and bathroom for ‘sexual gratification.’
Apple Health Coverage Ends for Some Washington Residents on September 30 – Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault
Beginning October 1, 2026, some Washington residents will lose Apple Health (Medicaid) coverage because of changes in the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1). People who may lose…
Unlikely duo seeks ban on using campaign funds to fight sexual harassment claims
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-California) and Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) have teamed up on new legislation in response to a spate of scandals.
Cardiologist arrested for allegedly sexually abusing patients—officials seek other victims
The cardiologist, 63, was arrested on charges of rape, sexual battery and gross sexual imposition. The Brown County Sheriff's Office believes there are additional victims who have not yet come forward.
Scrutiny of WNBA intensifies as disarray looms over All-Star festivities
Discussions about race, gender and sexuality overshadow Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game, as league lurches into disarray.
Oakland pop-up restaurant owner pauses business after home break-in, sexual assault of 16-year-old son
Oakland police are searching for a suspect following a terrifying Monday morning break-in that ended in the sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy.
Missouri health facility failed to protect kids from sexual abuse, lawsuit says
Two former residents say they were abused by staff, while a third was assaulted under the facility’s care by a nursing home resident, according to the lawsuit.
Onetime Ivy League leader back in custody 20-plus years after fleeing justice for sexual violence charges
A former medical school professor and hospital chair of his specialty has been re-captured after skipping trial to avoid facing rape charges in 2005.
Syphilis infections a rising threat for Alaska newborns, health officials report
As adult cases of the sexually transmitted infection increase, 14 Alaska babies qwew born with syphilis in 2025, the most in recent years.
Hannah Einbinder on Sex, Blood, and Politics
The actress takes on sexual shame in the bloody, lusty slasher comedy Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.
Madison Square Garden Sues Wired Magazine Over L.G.B.T.Q. Tracking Report
The Manhattan venue claims a July article from the technology magazine falsely implied that it tracked information about some celebrities’ sexual orientation for “discriminatory purposes.”
Eversource, Blumenthal, data centers: CT politics news
Plus: Stacey Abrams in CT, a federal investigation into sexual assault handling, and education accountability metrics.
Sex abuse victim family says they’re “tired of being used” for politics amid Talarico attacks
Talarico has been attacking Paxton on the campaign trail over his office’s handling of a case where a Waco man was charged with sexually abusing a young boy.
Ex-MLB star returning to baseball after being found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor
Former Tampa Bay Rays star Wander Franco will play for the Dominican Republic in an upcoming baseball tournament.
Philadelphia health department takes over management of sexual assault response center from Drexel University
Drexel University has operated PSARC since 2011, but the center has struggled with staff shortages and funding gaps.
The ’Gay’ Attacks on Lindsey Graham Are All About Politics
Was Lindsey Graham gay? As the author of a book about the history of gay Washington, D.C., it’s a question I’ve been asked frequently for years, and even more so since his sudden death last weekend. The South Carolina Republican’s lifelong confirmed bachelorhood, vocal intonation, and Southern dandy demeanor (if not sartorial choices) prompted many to conclude that he was, as they say in that part of the country, “light in his loafers.” Graham’s repeated attestations to the contrary had zero effect on those invested in the narrative that he was. Only about the matter of J. Edgar Hoover’s rumored cross-dressing (for which there is much circumstantial but no direct evidence) am I questioned more. Whenever I’ve been asked to speculate upon Graham’s sexuality—and speculate was all that I or anyone else could do—I always answered the question honestly. While my personal sense is that Graham was probably gay, as a journalist and a historian I cannot rely on my intuition to make factual assertions. (Gaydar hasn’t yet been scientifically perfected.) Given the absence of any known female or male romantic interests, Graham may very well have been a heterosexual unlucky in love. He might also have been asexual. Barring the highly unlikely postmortem emergence of a personal diary or some other unassailable evidence attesting to Graham’s innermost yearnings, we will never know the answer. As is depressingly the case these days when a public figure dies, a chorus of voices reveled in Graham’s passing, many of them making light of his presumed homosexuality.
When facing allegations of bad behavior, are there red lines for politicians?
In the post-#MeToo era accusations of sexual misconduct have increased. But while some politicians have ended their campaigns or resigned, others have survived such allegations, raising questions about how voters evaluate charges and the impact of partisanship.
Worker at mental health facility sexually assaulted teen multiple times, warrant says
The mother said she had to report it to police.
Conor McGregor’s return and the uncomfortable questions it poses for sport
The Irishman makes his return to the octagon 18 months after being found liable in a sexual assault case involving a woman in Dublin
What's next in the battle to 'save women's sports' after SCOTUS ruling — and the hidden damage driving it
Women's sports activists warn of sexual abuse risks in the states that let males compete in girls' sports after SCOTUS ruling.
Sexual Assault Allegations Reshape Political Races from Maine to San Francisco
Sexual assault allegations have upended high-profile political campaigns across the country. This week, Democrat Graham Platner, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, suspended his campaign following an accusation of rape. It comes months after former East Bay Congressman Eric Swalwell’s California gubernatorial bid collapsed under similar allegations. Now, a sexual assault allegation has emerged
Platner officially terminates Senate bid after bombshell rape allegation ends campaign
Graham Platner filed paperwork hours before a crucial deadline, allowing Maine Democrats to replace him after sexual misconduct allegations.
15-year-old sexually assaulted by employee at mental health facility, mother says
Police are looking for a man accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old patient.
Who will replace Graham Platner on the Maine ballot?
Democrats in Maine are beginning a sprint to nominate a new candidate for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat, This, after progressive nominee Graham Platner announced he's withdrawing from the race after a sexual assault allegation.
Sony Settles With Fired Marathon Game Director Who Sued PlayStation and Bungie for More Than $200 Million, Adds Name to Credits
Sony has reached a settlement with former developer Christopher Barrett, who it had accused of sexual misconduct. As a result of the settlement, Barrett will be added to the credits of recently released extraction shooter Marathon.
UF Health doctor arrested for transmitting child sexual abuse material
Arrest happened Wednesday.
US Senate nominee Platner halts campaign after assault allegations
A string of high-profile Democrats have withdrawn support for Platner following sexual assault allegation.
Arrest report details child porn allegations against UF Health doctor
An investigation that began with a cyber tip led authorities to arrest UF Health doctor Chintan Shah on felony child sexual abuse material charges.
Patrick Dempsey doesn’t want to replace Graham Platner in Maine U.S. Senate race
In a new op-ed, Patrick Dempsey declared he’s ‘concerned about the direction our country is heading,’ but will not replace Graham Platner in the Maine U.S. Senate race after calls mount for the Democratic nominee to drop out following sexual assault allegations against him.
Succession fight under way as Bernie Sanders calls for Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race
Vermont senator is latest figure to call for Democratic nominee to step down after sexual assault allegations
Bridgeport business owner sentenced after sexually assaulting female customers in store basement
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (WTNH) — A Bridgeport store owner convicted of sexually assaulting and unlawfully restraining female customers was sentenced to 86 months in prison, suspended after 17 months, on …
If Platner stays on ballot ‘the seat is gone’ for Democrats: Political analyst
Pressure mounts on Graham Platner (D) to exit the Maine senate race amid allegations of sexual assault he denies. NBC News reporters Sahil Kapur and Jon Allen discuss the political fallout for Platner and where the race goes from here. Jessica Taylor, Senate and Governors Editor for the Cook Political Report, talks about Democrats’ chances to flip the Senate without Maine.
Who will replace Graham Platner if he drops out? Here's how Democrats could pick a new Maine Senate nominee.
Democrats have a brief window of time to replace Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner on the ballot if he drops out of the race amid a sexual assault allegation.
Sanders says Platner should drop out of Maine's US Senate race
Sen. Bernie Sanders says Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner should step aside after a sexual assault allegation.
Sen. Bernie Sanders says Graham Platner should drop out of the race after sexual assault allegation
Sanders, Platner's longtime backer, joined the chorus Tuesday saying that he spoke with Platner and that "in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”
The Politics of Provocation: The ECtHR’s Ruling in Miladze v Georgia
A recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights concerning a TikTok video published by a Georgian self-defined civil activist adds another layer to the Court’s increasingly messy Article 10 case law. The applicant repeatedly insulted public officials in crude and sexually explicit terms while broadcasting to a large online audience. Domestic courts imposed only a modest administrative fine, later reduced on appeal. The ECtHR did not find a violation of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression – raising several questions about the limits of legitimate political speech online.
Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements after Maine Senate candidate faces sexual assault allegation
Graham Platner denied the allegation on Monday, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign.
Court: Religious schools can’t be exempt from Maine’s nondiscrimination laws
Religious schools accepting public funds are required to follow Maine laws that protect against discrimination based on faith, gender identity and sexual orientation, a federal court has ruled.
Key Democratic figures call on Graham Platner to ‘immediately’ withdraw from Senate race
Maine’s party leadership calls for Platner to withdraw after after sexual assault allegation emerges
Platner Faces Growing Democratic Calls to Drop Out
Even supporters like Representative Ro Khanna of California called on the Democratic nominee to exit the Maine Senate race after a report that he had sexually assaulted a woman.
Top Platner ally turns on him after bombshell rape allegation rocks campaign: 'Red line'
Rep. Ro Khanna withdrew his endorsement and called on Graham Platner to drop out after a sexual assault allegation surfaced against the Maine candidate.
Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements
Politico reports that a woman has accused Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner of sexual assault.
Graham Platner says he's "taking the time to reflect on the best path forward" as sexual assault allegation emerges
A Maine woman told Politico that Graham Platner entered her home in late 2021 and forced himself on her. Platner denies the allegation.
Maine Senate candidate Platner says campaign is deciding 'best path forward' after new sexual assault allegation
A woman who previously dated Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a new Politico report.
Woman accuses Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner of sexual assault
Democratic candidate for Senate, who has faced series of scandals, denies allegation reported by Politico
Woman who dated Graham Platner says he sexually assaulted her
The Maine Democrat denied the allegations and said, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”
Health or Hoax?
Although GLP-1s may cultivate confidence and belonging among gay and bisexual men, they can also reinforce idealized body types that can be unhealthy and socially exclusionary.
Coleman: Walz pardon of child rapist puts politics over public safety
Senate Republican Assistant Leader Julia Coleman (Waconia) denounced the actions of the Minnesota Pardon Board, including Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, for pardoning illegal immigrants convicted of violent crimes to help them avoid deportation. The pardons were made to men convicted of criminal sexual assault of a child, aggravated robbery, and...
Two Women Arrested in Millcreek Township Illicit Massage Business Raid - The Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation
On June 16, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Magic Health Massage Spa in Millcreek Township in an ongoing effort targeting illicit massage businesses in Erie County. Law enforcement arrested two New York women who allegedly lived at the … Read more about Two Women Arrested in Millcreek Township Illicit Massage Business Raid »
E. Jean Carroll calls for Trump to pay her $5.8M after Supreme Court rejects his appeal
Advice columnist E. Jean Carroll asked a judge Tuesday to require President Donald Trump to pay her $5 million from a jury verdict that concluded Trump sexually abused her in the 1990s and defamed her after she publicly described the attack in 2019.
Environmental artist talks science comics, the Gulf of Maine and animal sexuality
In her debut work of nonfiction,‘Poking the Squid,’ Perrin Roosevelt Ireland, artist-in-residence at the New York Aquarium, looks at animal life with a feminist lens.
House backs Massie's push to release taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlement records
Rep. Thomas Massie forced a vote on a resolution requiring public disclosure of taxpayer-funded sexual harassment settlements involving House lawmakers.
Teen pregnancy prevention cuts hit Wisconsin program connecting health providers and teens
Federal officials have cut off more than $2.4 million in federal funds for 2026-27 and 2027-28 targeting teen pregnancy prevention that would have gone to the Wisconsin health department, according to federal records. The funds would have gone to a variety of nonprofits and agencies in counties with the highest rates of pregnancy and sexually […]
Ethics panel clears Gallego as Luna declares, 'Once a creep, always a creep'
The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed sexual misconduct and campaign finance allegations against Sen. Ruben Gallego after finding no evidence.
Supreme Court declines to hear Trump appeal of E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse verdict
The Supreme Court Monday declined to take up an appeal from President Donald Trump over a $5 million verdict and finding that he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll, a decision that means the president will now have to pay the magazine columnist.
Dear 'House of the Dragon': Enough with the threats of sexual violence
"House of the Dragon" Season 3 veers too close to the worst impulses of "Game of Thrones."
Sweden and WHO launch new long-term initiative to transform Ukraine’s health system
WHO and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) have launched a new multi-year cooperation project to support the long-term recovery and transformation of Ukraine’s health system. The new project, “Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative: Strengthening Health Governance, Health Financing and Service Delivery for Long-Term Recovery”, was launched at the Ukraine Recovery Conference 2026 in Gdansk, Poland on 26 June, and will run from June 2026 to 2029. Sweden will contribute approximately US$ 26 million (240 million Swedish krona) to support this project. This contribution forms part of Sweden’s broader support to Ukraine through the Team Europe approach, which brings together the European Union, its Member States, and key partners such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood and Enabel, and WHO as lead health agency, to support Ukraine’s recovery, reform agenda and European integration.“Ukraine’s health recovery cannot be measured only by what is rebuilt, but by whether people can count on the health system when they need it most. The scale of the task is immense, with health reconstruction and modernization needs estimated at US$ 19.4 billion over the next decade. Sweden’s US$ 26 million contribution to Ukraine’s Health System Transformation Initiative is a timely investment in the institutions, financing and services that will support Ukraine’s long-term recovery and European integration. WHO remains a trusted partner of the Government of Ukraine in advancing this process. I am deeply grateful to Sweden for its consistent support and partnership,” said Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. More than 4 years of war have placed unprecedented pressure on Ukraine’s health system, creating 3 interconnected challenges. The first is responding to the immediate consequences of the war and the urgent health needs of the population. The second is recovering and modernizing health services today. The third is continuing reforms and aligning the health system with European standards in the context of Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union. The war has led to large-scale population displacement, an increasing need for trauma care and rehabilitation, and shortages of health workers. High out-of-pocket payments in Ukraine make access to health services more difficult. Around 46% of total health expenditure is paid directly by individuals, placing a significant financial burden on many households and underscoring the need for reforms in health financing. Older people, persons with disabilities, women, children and veterans continue to face the greatest difficulties in accessing health services. “Ukraine is demonstrating that health system transformation can continue even during war. Ukraine is also continuing to align its health system with European norms and standards. WHO is committed to supporting Ukraine on this journey. We provide technical support, help coordinate partners’ efforts and support the institutional changes needed to strengthen the system. We are grateful to Sweden for its support. Through this partnership, we can help Ukraine build a more resilient, accessible and people-centred health system,” said Dr Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine. About the Health System Transformation InitiativeThe new initiative will support Ukraine through 3 interconnected areas: strengthening governance and coordination of health sector reforms through more inclusive coordination platforms and structured policy dialogue; transforming service delivery by reinforcing a primary health care-centred model that integrates family medicine, nursing and midwifery; and improving financial sustainability by supporting reforms that ensure the long-term viability of the national health system and reduce out-of-pocket payments for households. Overall, these reforms are expected to make the health system more coherent and easier to navigate, improve the quality and continuity of care, and ensure more equitable access to services, particularly for those who need them most. They will also support Ukraine’s progress towards a more modern health system aligned with European standards. “We are convinced that long-term recovery is not possible without strong, high-quality, person-centred health services that are accessible to everyone. Our partnership with WHO is designed to support deep and lasting systemic changes. Investments in human capital especially autonomous midwives, whose role for maternal, newborn and adolescent sexual and reproductive health cannot be understated, stronger governance, digital transformation and the financial sustainability of the health system are investments in Ukraine’s future. We are proud to support this process,” said Malin Perhult, the Head of the Ukraine Unit at Sida. Focus throughout implementation will be given to the most vulnerable population groups, including older people, women and children, and persons with disabilities, who have been affected by the war and face greater health-care needs. The initiative will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine, the Public Health Centre of Ukraine, regional authorities and international partners. This project will help Ukraine move towards a system where everyone can access the health care they need. It will strengthen primary care, make the health finance system more stable and predictable, and reduce the out-of-pocket costs that Ukrainians face when using health services. As a result, the Ukrainian health system will become more aligned with European standards and more sustainable in the long run.
Former Kentucky Science Teacher, 29, Charged With Sexual Abuse of Student
A former Henderson County High School teacher has been charged with sexual abuse, police said. Rachel Clement, 29, was taken into custody Tuesday after being arraigned in Henderson County Circuit… The...
Online violence against women in politics: what shapes political party responses to technology-facilitated gender-based violence?
Political parties have a primary role to play in tackling online violence against women and gender diverse politicians. While the prevalence and impact of TFGBV, such as coordinated disinformation campaigns, deepfake image-based sexual abuse or trolling are well documented, many parties are still building their knowledge on how to respond effectively and have not put in place internal practices and policies that respond to the rapidly evolving, poorly regulated digital ecosystem. About the ReportIn order to promote and protect fair and democratic participation in politics, this ALIGN Report explores what political parties are doing in response to TFGBV and what factors shape their action. The findings, based on existing literature and interviews with gender and politics professionals, indicate there are three sets of factors which donors, civil society and practitioners should consider when designing action to support political parties to respond to TFGBV internally. These are: (1) gender norms; (2) socio-political environment; and (3) internal party factors.Key messagesUnequal gender norms are ubiquitous across politics, shaping expectations of leaders to be strong and assertive, and practices of political parties to uphold masculinist values and sustain cultures of silence. These often lead to weak response to TFGBV against women politicians.The socio-political context can incentivise or disincentivise action, depending on the salience of gender issues, which are increasingly weaponised. Electoral competitiveness, domestic laws (i.e. quota requirements), and even the political system or global normative frameworks influence political will to act.Internal party factors that shape responses will vary across countries and contexts, but include: structures to enforce codes of conduct, policies and reporting mechanisms on (TF)GBV, political ideology, extent of centralisation of leadership, and crucially the meaningful participation of women in decision-making positions, not least through internal women’s wings.Party responses can be seen as a spectrum, with actions falling between active discouragement to address TFGBV to commitment to transform unequal norms and practices within the party.About the ToolkitTogether with the report, this ALIGN toolkit offers gender professionals and others working on democratic strengthening a set of guiding questions and reflection prompts to identify which responses could be most effective and suitable in different contexts. These actions can complement other solutions to TFGBV, such as regulations promoting safety by design. The assessment spans a broad range of factors including: (1) different manifestations of gender norms, (2) the socio-political environment and (3) internal party structures.Key messagesPolitical parties are duty-bound to take action internally to respond to the significant threats posed to women members and candidates, including from their own party colleagues, affiliates and political peers.Existing party approaches to TFGBV can be assessed along a spectrum which ranges from active discouragement and passive acceptance to minimal response and transformative change.To generate effective and context-appropriate solutions to TFGBV, it is important to consider how gender norms shape leadership expectations and internal party practices, while also analysing the impact of the socio-political environment. While actions to support women to stay safe online are very common, codes of conduct and measures to strengthen women’s voice and power in the parties are proposed as most transformative solutions.
Uber lawsuit targets CEO, board over driver assault claims
Uber faces a lawsuit alleging CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and the board mishandled sexual assault claims.
Why 'Love Island USA' stars are talking 'French fries'
A new sexual euphemism has hit the villa after "Love Island USA" Season 8 cast members Kenzie and Corbin hooked up.
'The Pitt' star Katherine LaNasa on Dana's emotional breakdown over sexual assault survivor
Katherine LaNasa explains how her own battle with cancer and ex-husband Dennis Hopper's death informs her work on 'The Pitt' — and why her character had an emotional breakdown over a sexual assault survivor.
Earth’s early life was terrible at sex, say scientists
Sexual reproduction only began to improve when early animals began facing more stress and competition, a study suggests.
Bend Police: Restaurant employee arrested for sexually abusing minors at downtown business
BEND, Ore - (KTVZ) -- A 35-year-old Bend resident, Davis Allen Kellar, was arrested on Thursday, June 18, on suspicion of sexually abusing minor co-workers at a local downtown Bend restaurant. The arrest took place at his home in the 400 block of NE Kearney Avenue in Bend. The arrest followed a month-long investigation by
Trump changes pregnancy-prevention program to promote childbearing
A federal poverty-fighting program focused on reducing unintended pregnancies is about to undergo a major overhaul. Reproductive health clinics use Title X federal grant money to provide birth control, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections to people with little or no health insurance. Title X money cannot be used for abortions. The […]
Why Is Sexual Health Still Overlooked in Chronic Pain Care?
Experts urge clinicians to address intimacy and sexual well-being routinely, noting that chronic pain often affects relationships, self-esteem, and quality of life.
She called police in an emotional crisis. She says the responding officer raped her.
A Westchester County woman has filed a lawsuit against a former Harrison Township Police Lieutenant, alleging he sexually assaulted her after she called police headquarters during a mental health crisis in August of 2023.
Overcoming Taboos: Helping Men with Cancer Restore Sexual Health
Nearly half of men treated for cancer – as well as up to 90% of those treated for prostate cancer – experience erectile challenges or other sexual dysfunction, but the issue is often not raised in the doctor’s office.
Seth Rogen said he has no plans to work with James Franco
After James Franco was accused of sexual exploitation by several women in 2018, a once-close friend and fellow actor, Seth Rogen, said he had no plans to work with him again.
Seth Rogen hasn’t spoken to James Franco in 'a long time' and has 'no plans' to work with him again
The actor was accused of sexual misconduct in 2018 and settled the lawsuit three years later.
Adolescent sexual health continues to improve in Minnesota, but stark disparities persist
Teen pregnancy, birth, and STI rates continued to decline in Minnesota in 2024, though significant racial and geographic disparities remain, according to a University of Minnesota report.
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
Scientists stunned by two-headed worms—now they’re multiplying without limits - Futura-Sciences
The Unusual Reproduction of Stenostomum brevipharyngium Meet Stenostomum brevipharyngium, a microscopic flatworm that has no need for romance or even a partner when it comes to making more of its kind. This species reproduces by paratomy, an asexual process in which a new worm forms from the middle section of...