A round up of the months news, compiled by Sara Vali.
Women’s binge drinking blamed for rise in rapes
A police chief has warned women about the dangers of binge drinking and potential sex attacks. Paddy Tomkins linked Edinburgh’s 14% rise in sexual assaults to women’s excessive drinking. He stressed that while he was not blaming victims, women needed to keep themselves safe. One woman who had been raped called his statement ‘ludicrous’, saying: “A couple of years ago it was the belief that women were dressing too provocatively and were asking for it. Now it seems to be binge drinking, if you get drunk and you’re vulnerable then you’re asking for it.”
Women may ‘outsprint men by 2156’
Women sprinters will one day run faster than their male counterparts, an Oxford University study has predicted. Winning times are coming down in the 100m for both sexes, but are coming down faster for women. If this continues, women will outpace men in as little as 60 years time, but will most likely be beating them at the 2156 Olympics. Some male sprinters found this hard to believe, but researchers are certain that women could be in contention to post faster finishing times.
Cuts ‘unnecessary’ to deliver
babies
Doctors do not have to cut women to rescue ‘stuck’ babies during labour, a US university has discovered. The study found that physically manipulating the baby
was better than cutting the mother, a technique known as an episiotomy. Researchers said this would prevent possible side-effects such as infections, incontinence and long-term discomfort during sex. The Royal College of Midwives welcomed the news but a British obstetrician argued that for some women, episiotomy might be the best option, preventing uncontrolled tearing.
Female TV execs blamed for “dumb, dumb, dumb” programmes
A former director general of the BBC has blamed female employees for dumbing down the Beeb. Alistair Milne told the Times that “It just seems to me that the
television service has largely been run by women for the last four to five years and they don’t seem to have done a great job of work…There was no
innovation; constant makeovers and far too many cookery and gardening programmes. Dumb, dumb, dumb.” Milne denied he was biased against women. The BBC distanced itself from his views.
More news headlines from this month…
- RAF women pilots ‘quitting early’
- Young mothers face housing problems
- Glass ceiling traps female academics
- Pill reminders texted to young women
- UK women less likely to use wrinkle creams
- Kelly Holmes and Jane Tomlinson honoured at Women of
the Year awards
- Women ‘better at holding their drink’
- Larger women more prone to PMS
- Women given part-time jail terms
- Morning after pill access widens
- Baby born to first ovary transplant woman
- Women drivers may face higher car insurance under EU equality
rules
- Labour pledges 12 month paid maternity leave
- Cannabis use may be linked to ectopic pregnancy
- New research centre launched for women scientists
- Domestic violence ‘huge cost to society’
- Calls for stronger measures to stop doctors abusing
female patients
- Radio 4 launch poll to find women’s ‘life-changing’
books
- More women judges needed
- Women ‘lose six weeks a year’ to period pain