the digital giraffe

All About Women
Our Persons of the Month Award for November, 2024, goes to the Nobel Prize committee that (finally, I gather) honored the living survivors of nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I suspect that a message is being sent to the egos and power seekers in the field of artificial intelligence. I am not optimistic.

In the U.K. an effort is being made to create "safe spaces" on buses for vulnerable girls and women. Businesses Against Abuse is working with police officers and rape crisis groups so that vulnerable persons can tell a bus driver who will then let them stay on the bus or drop them off at safe place. Observers call this action a good first step to recognizing threatening behavior and providing safety. One detective has described violence against women and girls as "almost a pandemic".

The European Court of Justice has decided that gender and nationality are sufficient grounds for a nation to give asylum to Afghan women. Specifically the Court ruled that these women do not need to prove there is a risk of persecution to them if they return home. The decision followed an act by Austria to reject the refugee status of 2 women from Afghanistan in 2015 and 2020. So far, Sweden, Finland and Denmark have already granted refugee status to all Afghan women seeking asylum.

The Mayor of London has written to every primary school in the city asking them to educate children about misogyny. City Hall has funded a 1 million pound program to emphasize healthy relationships and try to reduce violence against girls and women. A similar effort is being made in secondary schools with a new report revealing that children as young as 9 may be exposed to misogynistic material online.

An article from Women's News looks into the inequity in health care both in the U.S. and worldwide for women generally and particularly for women in underserved areas. These inequities can lead to life-threatening delays in diagnosis and treatment. The health of females has been underfunded and under-researched as well. A lack of education in some communities can also lead to unnecessarily tragic results. One way to begin improving this situation, it is suggested, is with self-collection kits for conditions like cervical cancer.

Uniworld cruise line has introduced an all-female trip for 8 days through French Burgundy and Provence. Beginning August 24 of 2025, the trip will be priced at $5,000. Uniworld describes the voyage as "a special, curated experience designed by a 'passionate team of women.'"

Victoria's Secret has returned to the runway with transgender models. The show had stopped in November, 2019, due to poor ratings and criticism that it failed to include women of varying backgrounds and body shapes. Its new version opened in Brooklyn, New York, with what it is calling "accomplished women" and a "powerful modern lens".

A report from the United Nations reveals that more than 2 billion women and girls worldwide have no access to social protection. Benefits like cash, pensions, and healthcare are being denied, placing more females in danger of poverty. Recent gains have disproportionately gone to men. The largest disparity appears among women of child-bearing age. High rates of inflation. especially in food and energy, have added to the crisis. Globally more than 63% of women still bear children without maternity benefits. Some progress has been noted in Mongolia and Senegal.

Rates of breast cancer among younger women seem to be soaring, with women under the age of 50 increasing over 15% in the past 20 years. Doctors theorize that more women in the U.S. are menstruating earlier and having their first child later. An added factor is that women are exposed to more estrogen over their lifetimes. Other causes being studied include obesity, consumption of alcohol, genetics, and use of hormones for birth control. Essentially, if you get your period before your 11th birthday you are at higher risk for breast cancer. Another risk is developing breasts early. Changes that take place in the breast postpartum pose additional risks for women who have babies later in life. It is possible that younger bodies seem better able to withstand inflammatory events and can more easily repair damaged DNA. Doctors also want to study environmental toxins, like those called endocrine disruptors, and their effects on breast cancer. One recent study discovered that toxic chemicals linked to breast cancer are found in food packaging, including cardboard.

Fragile X Syndrome is a little-known genetic condition that can cause learning disabilities and early menopause. 1 in 250 women can pass this on to their offspring as carriers of the abnormal gene. The condition can cause learning disabilities in about 6,000 females and 4,000 males. It can also affect social, language, emotional and behavioral difficulties. Some issues that arise are short attention span, restlessness, impulsivity, and distractability. Some physical attributes seem to be more noticeable in men than women, like a long face, prominent ears, and flat feet. Women carriers often undergo early menopause, and men may show enlarged testes.

Unicef reports that 1 in 8 girls today is raped or sexually assaulted before the age of 18. That describes over 370 million women and girls and is being called an overwhelming human rights violation, "abhorrent in its magnitude". The rate rises to 1 in 5 if you include unwanted sexual comments or jokes, exposure to pornography, or being shown sexual organs. Note that 1 man or boy in 11 also suffers from sexual assault or rape during childhood.

Rooms have recently been found in Peru that indicate the presence of powerful female rulers more than 1,300 years ago. Wall paintings were discovered at Panamarca, known to have been a political and religious center of the ancient Moche culture. The Moche did not have a formal writing system, and many of their sites were looted, so discoveries like this one are essential to understanding their culture.

Be sure to email giraffe@giraffe.com with your suggestions, be they articles, videos, images, cartoons, music, or comments, so that we can share our celebrations and our concerns with each other.

Last updated November 1, 2024 - 30 years of monthly Web publication

Corinne Whitaker - Artist, Editor, Author, Poet, Sculptor, Publisher, Composer, Betaphysician, Chief of the Newanderthal Tribe

Best of Foster City 2016
Best of Palo Alto 2013

Golden Web Award, 2001 and 2000

Artist of the Month, Artisan Bazaar, 2000

Best in Cyberart Award, 1999

winner of BATech's "Catch of the Day"

winner of Fractal Design's "Artist of the Month"and "Image of the Day"

Featured Master Artist, Shadowart Galleries, 1997 and 1998

Guest Artist of the Month, Hampton Click Salon Online
Exhibit below from Virtual Gallery online