Self-care note: This wrap-up includes discussion of miscarriage, women’s health, anti-LGBTQIA+ policies and behaviours, gender based violence, and more. If you find this distressing or triggering, remember to take it at your own pace. You may prefer to read small sections, wait until you feel ready to read it all, or choose not to read it at all.
1. Scotland elects first transgender MSPs 🏳️⚧️
The country has elected its first two transgender MSPs to Holyrood, with Dr Q Manivannan and Iris Duane both securing regional list seats for the Scottish Greens.
Dr Manivannan was elected in Edinburgh and Lothians East, while Duane won a seat in the Glasgow region. Speaking after the result, Dr Manivannan said: “They say politics is the art of the possible, a politics of care I would say expands what is possible for everyone left behind, pushed out or never invited in.”
They added: “This is what diversity looks like in power.”
Source: STV News
2. Earlier miscarriage support could prevent losses, study finds 🩺
The current standard of waiting until after three or more miscarriages before the NHS provides support is not working, a new study has found.
The research, conducted by Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, found that offering follow-up care, tests and support immediately after the first miscarriage could prevent more than 10,000 pregnancy losses every year in the UK.
Providing advice and early intervention after a first miscarriage could help identify and reduce risk factors, and support future pregnancies.
Kath Abrahams, chief executive of Tommy’s, said: “Our pilot study indicates that providing support after a first miscarriage, with escalating care after further losses, is not only effective but achievable without significant additional workload for NHS teams who are already working extremely hard to deliver good care.”
Scotland has already implemented the new model, Abrahams also said.
Source: Pulse Today
3. Faster action is needed to support maternal mental health, midwives say 🧠
In a statement marking Maternal Mental Health Week, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) urged faster action to improve mental health support for pregnant and postnatal individuals and to tackle the postcode lottery in services.
Among the many measures needed, the RCM highlighted the need for more specialist midwives trained in perinatal mental health, regular training for all midwives in trauma-informed care, and culturally sensitive services to support people from all backgrounds.
These recommendations were already set out in the Perinatal Mental Health Roadmap, launched last year to improve perinatal mental health care across the UK. Despite the growing political attention the roadmap has received, inequalities in maternity care and maternal mental health support persist.
Lia Brigante, Professional Policy Advisor at the RCM, said: “Maternal mental health matters before, during and after birth, and every woman should be able to access the support she needs wherever she lives”.
Source: Royal College of Midwives
4. Survivors launch campaign against abuse of unconscious women 🚨
Two survivors have launched a campaign calling for stronger laws against the filming and sharing of sexual abuse involving unconscious or incapacitated women.
Zoe Watts and Amanda Stanhope say they were abused by former partners while unconscious, and are now leading #EndEyeCheck, a campaign focused on material shared in online communities linked to drug-facilitated sexual assault. They are calling for the creation, possession, and distribution of such content to become a specific criminal offence.
The campaign also wants online platforms held accountable for hosting abuse material and aims to build an international support network for survivors.
Source: ITV News
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5. Reform plans could threaten pregnancy protections, analysis warns ⚖️
After Reform’s equality spokesperson Suella Braverman announced that her party would scrap the Equality Act “on day one” if they won the general election, advocates and campaigners warned that this move could affect pregnant workers and their job security.
The Equality Act 2010 makes it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of characteristics including pregnancy and maternity. This means someone cannot be fired, demoted, harassed, or treated unfairly because they are pregnant, have a pregnancy-related condition, or are on maternity leave. If the Act were scrapped, analysis suggests around half a million pregnant women could lose these protections each year.
Reform has said it would introduce a new “Workplace Fairness Act” to “protect women”. However, the party has not provided any details about this new plan.
Source: The Independent
6. Hungarian voters back stronger LGBTQ+ rights protections 🏳️🌈
A majority of Hungarians who voted for Péter Magyar in the recent election want stronger protections and greater support for LGBTQIA+ people in the country, a new poll has found.
Conducted shortly after the election, the poll found that 71 per cent of Magyar’s voters strongly or somewhat support the LGBTQIA+ community and ask for the protection of their rights. The findings come after Viktor Orbán’s government limited LGBTQIA+ rights.
Péter Magyar, a former member of Orbán’s right-wing Fidesz party, comes from a conservative background and remained vague on progressive issues during his campaign.
Source: The Guardian
7. Italian PM warns AI deepfakes could target anyone 🤖
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned AI-generated fake images of herself, calling deepfakes a “dangerous tool” that can deceive, manipulate and target anyone.
The images, which show fabricated sexualised content, circulated online and prompted some users to believe they were real. Meloni urged people to verify images before sharing them, warning that while she can defend herself publicly, many others cannot.
Italy previously introduced legislation criminalising harmful deepfakes after similar fake pornographic images of female public figures spread online. The case highlights growing concerns about how AI-generated sexualised content is increasingly being used to harass and discredit women in public life.
Source: Euronews
8. Porn site taken offline after CNN investigation 🚨
A porn website investigated by CNN over content linked to gender-based violence and drug-facilitated sexual assault has been taken offline by Dutch authorities.
Motherless had faced scrutiny after investigations found it hosted videos linked to non-consensual image sharing and the sexual abuse of unconscious women. Dutch prosecutors have now opened a preliminary investigation after the site was taken offline by authorities in the Netherlands.
Robbert Hoving of Offlimits, an independent online safety group based in the Netherlands, told CNN it was “a very important signal” from authorities that “websites normalizing sexual violence against women, and turning that into a business model, are taken down.” But he added that regulators need to “proactively act. Not wait until it has happened by just taking content down.”
Source: CNN
