From Europe’s pay gap to South Africa declaring GBV a national disaster: this week in sex and relationships

Self-care note: This wrap-up includes discussion of abortion, 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. Cyclist refuses award as trans women are excluded 🚴

Claire Sharpe, a cycling guide and coach from Bristol, has been nominated for “100 Women in Cycling”, a list of the top 100 women cyclists by Cycling UK. However, after the charity decided to exclude trans women from the list, Sharpe chose to decline the award.

Sharpe said: “If they don’t want to ride with all women, then it’s not the kind of ride I want to be part of”, and added that the list “was originally set up to celebrate women who inspire, encourage and empower people to experience the joy of cycling. By excluding trans and non-binary people, it’s just not doing what I think it was set up to do”.

According to Sharpe, three other cyclists declined the award for the same reason.

Source: BBC News

2. Over 64,000 cis women signed open letter in support of trans people ✍️

More than 64,000 cis women have signed an open letter rejecting the discrimination and exclusion of trans, non-binary, and gender-diverse people. The letter is part of the “Not in Our Name” (NION) campaign, which aims to reach 100,000 signatures by Christmas.

“The real threat to women has never been trans women seeking to live their lives with dignity”, but rather “a culture that enables male violence and then blames everyone except the men who perpetrate it”, the letter states.

The thousands of cis women who signed the letter criticised the “weaponisation” of their identities “to justify discrimination” and said they “refuse to stay silent” while trans women “are demonised in our name.”

Source: DIVA Magazine

3. WHO: European health systems are failing survivors of gender violence 🏥

A new World Health Organisation report warns that health systems across Europe are not prepared to support survivors of gender-based violence, leaving many women without safe, effective care at the moment they most need it.

WHO Europe director Hans Kluge said the sector is “failing nearly one in three survivors”, stressing that hospitals, GPs and emergency services are often the first – and sometimes only – place women turn after abuse. When health services aren’t trauma-informed or accessible, he warned, “the system either captures and supports those survivors or loses them.”

The analysis highlights structural barriers, discriminatory policies and victim-blaming attitudes that discourage women from seeking help. Nearly one-third of countries in the region require healthcare workers to report domestic or partner violence to police without the adult survivor’s consent, a practice WHO says can increase fear and mistrust rather than safety.

Source: euronews

4. Hungary: Pride organiser could face prison under new anti-Pride law 🏳️‍🌈

Amnesty International has raised the alarm after Géza Buzás-Hábel, the organiser of Pécs Pride, was placed under criminal investigation for holding a peaceful LGBTI+ rights march.

Pécs Pride went ahead on 4 October despite a police ban issued under Hungary’s new anti-Pride law, which expands the country’s 2021 “propaganda law” and allows authorities to block events they claim show “prohibited content” to children.

Police later recommended charges, and the Prosecutor’s Office is now reviewing the case. Géza could face up to one year in prison for organising a banned assembly, something Amnesty says is an unjustified attack on freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and equality.

The ban had cited support for same-sex marriage, legal gender recognition, and commemoration of LGBTI+ Holocaust victims as grounds for cancelling the event. Despite the ban, around 5,000 people joined the march, which remained peaceful.

The anti-Pride law also allows facial recognition at demonstrations and fines of up to 200,000 HUF for participants, part of a wider 2025 crackdown that saw both Pécs Pride and Budapest Pride banned.

Amnesty has launched an urgent action, urging the Pécs Chief Prosecutor to drop the case immediately.

Source: Amnesty International Canada

5. Women in the EU ‘work for free’ until end of the year, European Commission says 💸

From 17 November to the end of the year, women in the European Union “work for free” due to pay inequality, the European Commission has said.

With the EU gender pay gap currently at 12%, women on average earn €0.88 for every euro earned by men. Based on this, the European Commission estimates that women symbolically stopped earning on 17 November.

The gender pay gap has narrowed over the years, but the Commission warns that, at the current rate of progress, pay equality is still decades away.

Source: euronews

6. Solar-powered incubators saving premature babies in Cameroon 🍼

In northern Cameroon, frequent power cuts used to put premature babies’ lives at constant risk. Now locally built hybrid incubators that run on both solar and mains electricity are helping babies like Nachma survive, even during blackouts.

Created by entrepreneur Serge Ndjidjou after witnessing a preventable death, more than 200 incubators have been produced in Yaoundé so far – supporting hospitals in remote areas, cutting reliance on diesel, and creating skilled jobs in renewable tech.

Source: DW

7. Trans activists are being targeted, new report reveals 🗎

The new Trans Murder Monitoring 2025 report, published by the trans-led non-profit TGEU, revealed a rise in the murders of trans activists over the last year.

Between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, 14 per cent of the 281 trans and gender-diverse people reported murdered were trans activists and movement leaders, compared with 9 per cent in 2024 and 6 per cent in 2023.

“This is an attempt to silence those fighting for trans rights globally,” TGEU said.

The report also revealed that 90 per cent of reported murders were feminicides, and 88 per cent were Black or Brown trans people.

Source: TGEU

8. South Africa declares gender violence a “national disaster” after mass protests 👭🏿

South Africa has formally classified gender-based violence and femicide as a national disaster after a huge online campaign and coordinated protests across the country.

Women were urged to “withdraw from the economy for one day” and take part in a 15-minute “lie down” at noon in memory of the 15 women killed every day in South Africa – a rate UN Women says is around five times the global average.

The protests, dubbed the G20 Women’s Shutdown, took place in at least 15 locations including Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, with allies joining from Eswatini, Kenya and Namibia. Demonstrators wore black in mourning and used purple on social media to highlight gender violence. An online petition gathered over one million signatures.

Following public pressure, the National Disaster Management Centre reversed an earlier position and agreed GBV and femicide meet the legal criteria for disaster status. The designation allows government departments to redirect existing budgets towards measures to prevent and respond to violence. If these steps are deemed insufficient, the government can escalate to a national state of disaster with even broader emergency powers.

Campaign group Women for Change, which helped organise the protests, called the decision a historic win but warned that South Africa has previously passed “beautiful” laws with poor implementation and transparency. Survivors told the BBC of cases collapsing due to lost evidence and of women turning to self-defence training out of fear and frustration.

Activists say the disaster declaration must now translate into real change on the ground: faster justice, better support for survivors, and a cultural shift away from normalising violence.

Source: BBC News