- Marshae Jones of Alabama, US, has been indicted for manslaughter following an altercation which resulted in the death of her unborn child. Amanda Reyes, executive director of The Yellowhammer Fund, a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds which helps women access abortion services, said in a statement:
“Today, Marshae Jones is being charged with manslaughter for being pregnant and getting shot while engaging in an altercation with a person who had a gun. Tomorrow, it will be another black woman, maybe for having a drink while pregnant. And after that, another, for not obtaining adequate prenatal care
- Three women have accused Gambia’s former president, Yahya Jammeh, of rape and sexual assault. According to Human Rights Watch, the women were threatened with retaliation if they refused his advances. A former top aide to the president said that Jammeh “handpicked young women to satisfy his sexual fantasies.”
- In Australia, the state Labour government of Victoria introduced a bill to parliament for the second time, which, if passed, would allow applicants to choose their declared sex on birth certificates as either male, female, or non-binary without undergoing surgery. The current law requires that an applicant undergo sex-reassignment surgery in order to alter legal documents.
- Two South African sisters, Yumna Desai and Huda Mohammad, have submitted a formal complaint to the UN against the nation of Saudi Arabia for their wrongful imprisonment. Both were arrested without being told of their alleged crimes. Desai spent a year and a half in solitary confinement before being charged with “unspecified cyber crimes” and Mohammad was detained for a year without charges entered against her.
- Joseph Cambron, a 26-year-old US man who identifies as a woman, pleaded guilty to the 2014 murder of a 12- year-old boy. Cambron’s attorney requested that all documents be edited to refer to him as “she,” and the crime will be recorded as having been committed by a woman.
- Three teenage sisters in Russia who killed their abusive father will stand trial in August, sparking a national conversation about how Russia’s legal system fails victims of domestic violence. Krestina, Angelina and Maria Khachaturyans—aged 17, 18, and 19 at the time—were subjected to physical and sexual violence and were “beaten practically every day.” More than 160,000 people have signed an online petition to free the sisters and campaigners have held protests outside the court where pre-trial hearings have taken place.