Self-care note: This wrap-up includes discussion of 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. Rape survivors to receive specialist legal advice in England and Wales ⚖️
Rape survivors in England and Wales will soon be offered specialist legal advice throughout the criminal justice process, under new government reforms aimed at improving how cases are handled in courts.
The new Independent Legal Advisor (ILA) service will help survivors understand their rights and challenge intrusive requests for personal information, such as access to therapy notes or mobile phone data. The initiative is backed by £6m in funding over two years and is expected to launch later this year.
The reforms also expand the principles of Operation Soteria, a programme designed to shift the focus of investigations and trials onto the behaviour of suspects rather than scrutinising victims. Campaigners say the changes are urgently needed, as many survivors currently withdraw from cases due to the stress and invasiveness of the legal process.
Source: BBC News
2. New prostate cancer drug shows promising early results 🧬
A new immunotherapy drug for advanced prostate cancer has shown encouraging results in an early-stage trial, with researchers saying it could mark a major step forward for treatment.
The drug, known as VIR-5500, is designed to activate only when it reaches tumour cells, helping the immune system attack cancer while limiting side-effects. In the trial, which involved 58 men whose cancer had stopped responding to other treatments, the drug either shrank tumours or stopped them from growing. Researchers said side-effects were mostly mild.
Experts say the findings are particularly significant because prostate cancer has not, until now, benefited much from immunotherapy. Larger trials are still needed, but scientists hope the treatment could eventually offer a new option for people with advanced disease.
Source: The Scotsman
3. MPs urge Greens to drop “normal childbirth” policy 🤰
More than 50 Labour MPs are urging the Green Party to formally abandon a controversial maternity policy that framed childbirth as a “normal and non-medical event” and called for fewer interventions, including caesarean sections.
The policy was removed from the party’s website and did not appear in its 2024 election manifesto after backlash from campaigners and clinicians, but it has not yet been officially withdrawn. Critics say the language risks reinforcing stigma around C-sections and other medical interventions, and could endanger mothers and babies by implying that intervention is a failure rather than a necessary part of safe care.
The row comes amid wider scrutiny of maternity services in England, including ongoing investigations into NHS failings and concern over how birth choices are discussed and supported in policy.
Source: The Independent
4. New non-hormonal menopause treatment to be available on the NHS 🌙
A new non-hormonal drug to treat menopause hot flushes will soon be available on the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The daily tablet, called Veoza, will be prescribed to people who experience hot flushes and night sweats but cannot use hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which is currently the only drug treatment available for menopause symptoms.
HRT is not suitable for those with certain medical conditions, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism.
However, some people will still not be able to receive the new treatment. NICE, the health watchdog, said the drug is not recommended for individuals with certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer, because patients with these conditions were not included in the clinical trials. This means it is not possible to establish the risks and benefits of the drug for them.
Source: BBC News
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5. Blood test may predict dementia risk in women years before symptoms 🧠
According to a new study conducted by the University of California San Diego, a simple blood test could be used to identify the risk of dementia in women up to 25 years before symptoms appear.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analysed data from more than 2,700 women aged 65 to 79 in the late 1990s and followed them for up to 25 years.
Researchers found that higher levels of p-tau217, a protein linked to the brain changes seen in Alzheimer’s disease, were associated with future cognitive problems and dementia in older women who were considered cognitively healthy at the start of the study.
Dr Aladdin Shadyab, co-author of the study, said: “Our study suggests we may be able to identify women at elevated risk for dementia decades before symptoms emerge.”
Compared with men, women over 60 are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Source: ITV
6. EU court says trans people must get IDs matching their gender 🏳️⚧️
The European Court of Justice has ruled that EU countries must provide transgender citizens with identity documents that reflect their lived gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth.
The case was referred by Bulgaria’s Supreme Court, which asked whether national authorities could refuse to update a trans woman’s legal documents. The court found that failing to recognise a person’s gender identity on official documents can create serious problems in daily life, including when travelling across the EU.
The ruling means member states cannot use national law to block gender marker changes where this undermines EU rights, particularly freedom of movement. It is expected to have implications beyond Bulgaria, including for countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, where legal gender recognition remains restricted.
Source: DW
7. Trans inmates will no longer receive hormone therapy in the US 🏳️⚧️
A new policy signed by Bureau of Prisons, the agency responsible for all federal prisons in the US, has prohibited the prison system from providing gender-affirming surgeries or hormone replacement therapy to federal inmates with gender dysphoria.
Prisons will also no longer offer other gender-affirming social accommodations, such as binders, make-up or wigs.
This decision overturns a policy introduced in 2017 that gave transgender inmates access to hormones, surgery and accommodations consistent with their gender identity.
According to the new policy, the change stems from an executive order signed by Trump in January 2025 establishing that “no Federal funds are expended for any medical procedure, treatment, or drug for the purpose of conforming an inmate’s appearance to that of the opposite sex.”
More than 600 people were receiving gender-affirming hormones in federal prisons.
Source: them
8. Senegal toughens law on same-sex relations 🚨
On Wednesday, Senegal approved a law doubling the maximum prison term for same-sex sexual relations to 10 years.
The law passed with 135 votes in favour, none against and three abstentions. It also states that judges may not grant suspended sentences or reduce prison terms below the minimum.
“Promoting” acts against nature – which are homosexuality, bisexuality, “transsexuality”, zoophilia and necrophilia – can also be punished with prison.
Source: Reuters
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Main image: Rob Browne
