terfwithquestions

THAT is extreme.

THAT is true hatred.

THAT is oppression.

Extremism is not when a woman is slightly mean to a man online. Hatred is not when a woman accurately talks about what men have done throughout history, and continue to do to this day.

Extremism is when a man goes on a stabbing spree targeting women because he couldn't get a girlfriend. Hatred is when women and girls are trafficked and sold like cattle. Oppression is when girls are denied education, simply for being born female.

thinking about this tweet a lot lately

tw femicide

Antiretroviral therapy when used correctly can cause the user’s “viral load” (your viral load is how much of the virus is in your bloodstream), to drop because the medicine prevents HIV from creating copies of itself.

Regular blood tests are done to monitor your viral load, and after taking the medication long enough, it can drop so low that it becomes “durably undetectable”. This means that the HIV virus in you has become so miniscule that it can’t be detected, and by extension can’t be transmitted either. It’s important to note that in order to be considered durable undetectable, you MUST test as undetectable for at least 6 months after testing as undetectable for the first time.

This issue was being completely ignored by the South Korean government and media but thanks to foreign news articles, they have started to pay attention.

However, South Korean journalists who are covering this are now being threatened with having deepfakes made of them.

Also, the government's "investigation" so far seems to consist of a survey asking students if they have committed a crime (used/shared deepfakes)

If there is going to be any justice or even a modicum of safety for young girls and women in South Korea this entire issue needs to remain in the public eye.

One way that we can help do that is by bringing this to the attention of news media in our own countries and sharing the articles. It helped to bring national attention to the case, and it can help to make sure it's not swept under the rug and forgotten about.

Another way we can help is by joining South Korean women on September 1st to ask the government to expel perpetrators from their schools and reveal their identities. If you are on Twitter please join this campaign to put pressure on the South Korean government to hold these monstrous men and boys accountable.

We can also report these Youtube accounts of men who make money off of harassing, mocking, and degrading women to their 100,000's of subscribers.

A new law in Belgium celebrated by activists for providing a “labour contract” to prostitutes will also enable their pimps to punish them with a government mediator if they refuse sex more than 10 times in a six-month period. The Belgian Parliament voted for the law on May 3, with 93 in favor, zero opposed, and 33 abstentions.  

The legislation is being touted as a win by UTSOPI, the Belgium Union of Sex Workers, which had lobbied extensively for the legislation. The law outlines that prostitutes will receive health insurance, a pension, maternity and holiday leave, and unemployment benefits. Their pimps will be forced to provide them with a “safety button” to use for emergencies.

Their website claims that the law “is a historic step in the battle for sex workers’ rights” and will create a “respectful, fair relationship” between prostitutes and their pimps, with UTSOPI spokesperson Daan Bauwens telling media that he believes “Belgium is really demonstrating that it aims to protect sex workers, regardless of any moral judgements about the profession people may have.”

Prostitutes are to be granted “rights” to refuse sexual acts, stop sexual acts, perform sexual acts in the manner they prefer, and refuse to sit behind Amsterdam-style windows (public facing windows where prostitutes are on display). However, should a prostitute use these “rights” 10 times within six months, their pimp can then call on a government mediator to intervene.

All pimps must have a registered office and apply to the Belgian government for approval to offer contracts to prostitutes. The contracts will be disguised as hotel-restaurant-café (HoReCa) contracts so that prostitutes can remain anonymous.

Andrea Heinz, a prostitution abolition advocate, called out the new legislation on X (formerly Twitter).

“There is little chance this will (actually) favour women. Under legalization/full decrim, pimps become ‘managers’ with the backing of the state to further entrench and maintain their power. Pimps see women they sell as products, not people deserving of full dignity & respect.”

Outside the realm of so-called “sex work” activism, social media users have expressed horror at the new law.

I'm all for men wearing skirts. I'm all for men enjoying whatever stereotypically feminine things they enjoy. I'll even support medical transition, provided you're over eighteen, understand the health risks, and have faced persistent dysphoria.

The problem is that they've redefined "woman" to be a feeling. I can no longer use "woman" to discuss the tangible reality of having a female body. Presenting as women isn't enough for them, they have to be women.

Not only does this erode my ability to discuss sex-specific issues, but it leads to self-identification policies that allow men into female-only spaces. Female-only spaces that were created because of the physical threat men pose to women.

I was accused of "driving a shiv between cis and trans women," when I tried to discuss how cis women, face different issues from trans women. I didn't even say that trans women aren't women, but acknowledging a difference at all was enough to elicit hostility. (Their follow-up sentence was, "Someone should drive a shiv through you.")