News, 12/9/25

[Angeline Binick]

I.     GLOBAL NEWS

II.    SEXUAL HARASSMENT
III.   POLICY / LEGISLATION

IV.   SEX TRAFFICKING
V.    ARMED CONFLICT

VI.   INCARCERATION
VII.  CLERGY ABUSE

VIII. SEXUAL ABUSE BY PROFESSIONALS

IX.   COMMENTARY

 

 

 

 

 

GLOBAL NEWS

UN agency reports rise in violence against women journalists and activists linked to online abuse

https://apnews.com/article/un-women-report-rise-violence-online-66c38bb80b79d64be18b477f209c2db0 

Women protest gender-based violence across Brazil following a series of shocking cases

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/global-issues/article/2025/12/08/women-protest-gender-based-violence-across-brazil-following-a-series-of-shocking-cases_6748256_199.html

Brazil approves law strengthening protective measures for female victims of gender-based violence

https://apnews.com/article/brazil-genderbased-violence-law-lula-ee5d28a8ca21013de4f1506d68c36d73 

Australia: Hotline claims to have identified more than 200 alleged historical child abuse offenders in secretive Christian sect

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-08/aus-hotline-identifies-200-alleged-offenders-in-christian-sect/106044742 

France: Brigitte Macron faces backlash for using slur against feminist protesters

https://apnews.com/article/france-brigitte-macron-feminism-criticism-81844005a1691cf705ca3efdb1f18b13 

Dominican court orders new trial for Tampa Bay Rays’ Wander Franco in sexual abuse case

https://apnews.com/article/dominican-republic-wander-franco-sexual-abuse-case-cdc5f2479e6b3e1b5a4bc00323e3be7c 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Arizona: ASU retaliation case heads to trial after former athletic director is accused of covering up sexual harassment of major donor

https://www.12news.com/article/news/investigations/i-team/asu-retaliation-case-heads-trial-after-former-athletic-director-accused-of-covering-up-sexual-harassment-major-donor/75-017a449c-1f43-4e2d-8582-450194be9d47 

POLICY / LEGISLATION

Anti-human trafficking advocates highlight SC bills that would expand penalties for forced sex work

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/crime/anti-human-trafficking-advocates-highlight-bills-penalties/article_8176b52c-80cc-473c-872c-9c9b04cd3a4e.html 

SEX TRAFFICKING

Chinese marriage brokers find a new hunting ground in Nepal

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3335584/chinese-marriage-brokers-find-new-hunting-ground-nepal 

Judge grants Justice Department request to release Ghislaine Maxwell records in sex trafficking case

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/judge-grants-justice-department-request-to-release-ghislaine-maxwell-records-in-sex-trafficking-case

What to know about the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files

https://apnews.com/article/epstein-justice-department-trump-fbi-files-7b7e45b283a8344b05f3a47640a960ae 

ARMED CONFLICT

Sudan group accuses RSF of raping 19 women who fled el-Fasher

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/8/sudan-group-accuses-rsf-of-raping-19-women-who-fled-el-fasher 

As Russia’s Africa Corps fights in Mali, witnesses describe atrocities from beheadings to rapes

(Trigger warning)

https://apnews.com/article/mali-russia-africa-corps-mauritania-refugees-abuses-2935dd1b50397242a968f69e1dde61f2 

INCARCERATION

Idaho prison system calls for strengthened sexual abuse law in response to InvestigateWest series

https://apnews.com/article/prisons-crime-general-news-idaho-brad-little-9bbc96923bde014a80524210d4c22429 

DoJ moves to eliminate sexual abuse protections for LGBTQ+ people in prisons

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/05/doj-prison-lgbtq-sexual-abuse-protections 

CLERGY ABUSE

Louisiana: New Orleans Catholic archdiocese gains approval to pay $230 million to sexual abuse survivors

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/08/catholic-church-new-orleans-settlement-victims-sexual-abuse 

New York Archdiocese says it’s setting up a $300M fund for sexual abuse victims

https://apnews.com/article/new-york-archdiocese-abuse-fund-church-f26c80229d946760eca8e4a56633fddf 

SEXUAL ABUSE BY PROFESSIONALS

Australia: The 'missed details' that enabled childcare pedophile Ashley Paul Griffith to abuse dozens of children

(Trigger warning)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-08/how-ashley-paul-griffith-could-have-been-stopped/106116080 

COMMENTARY

Florida’s new reporting system is shining a light on human trafficking in the Sunshine State

https://theconversation.com/floridas-new-reporting-system-is-shining-a-light-on-human-trafficking-in-the-sunshine-state-265935 

How boys get sucked into the manosphere

https://stories.theconversation.com/how-boys-get-sucked-into-the-manosphere/ 

Jeffrey Epstein’s most powerful ally was silence

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/08/jeffrey-epstein-silence