- The Ministry of Health in Tokyo has removed all references labeling gender identity disorder as an “illness” from its website following intense internet backlash. In May 2019, the World Health Organization revised its International Classification of Diseases, deciding to remove gender identity disorder from its list of mental illnesses. The new guideline, which will go into effect from 2022, promotes the idea that gender diversity is not a mental illness but a matter of personal choice.
- A campaign launched to promote constructive dialogue surrounding the gender identity debate in mainstream media calls for letters to be sent en mass to mainstream news sources in time for JK Rowling’s birthday on July 31st. The letter states:
“We hope these letters that you are receiving will signal to you that there are many from across the political spectrum who wish to have a good-faith discussion about gender ideology and its impact on women, children, adolescents, and also on lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.
It is our hope that together we can help to usher in a new beginning where we can have important conversations that until now have been substantially ignored by the liberal mainstream media. Given our mutual desire to support gender non-conforming individuals, we believe that it is vitally important for leading media to cover these crucial and under-reported stories.”
- A 24-year-old California man has been charged with the rape and murder of 13-year-old Patricia Alatorre. A police affidavit alleges the man groomed Alatorre on social media over the course of a week before kidnapping her.
- The Guardian reports that thousands of Nigerian women forced into prostitution were left to starve by sex traffickers during Italy’s COVID-19 pandemic.
- A task force at the Ministry of Justice in Finland has unveiled its proposal for updating the legislation on sex crimes. One of the most anticipated amendments in the proposal is removing the use of violence as the essential element of rape and replacing it with lack of consent.