In the piece, where she mourns the cultural-annihilation San Francisco has faced since the birth of Big Tech, she quotes PayPal founder Peter Thiel who wrote in 2009, “I stand against confiscatory taxes, totalitarian collectives and the ideology of the inevitability of death of every individual.” 

Thiel recently demonstrated his libertarian agendas by signing on as an investor in the privately funded drug-friendly sports contest, The Enchanted Games.

The competition, which describes itself as “the modern reinvention of the Olympic Games that does not have drug testing,” is headed by Aron D’Souza, Thiel’s former lawyer. The backers of The Enchanted Games believe athletes should be allowed, encouraged even, to use every advantage they can to secure success: they should take as much performance enhancement drugs as they want — all in the name of becoming better, stronger, faster. They believe that banning performance enhancements is stifling scientific innovation. 

The Games will not test athletes for drugs or any performance enhancers at its events, because it “embra[ces] ways science and technology can enhance human performance,” D’Souza, president of the Enhanced Games, said in the statement. 

“The Enhanced Movement believes in the medical and scientific process of elevating humanity to its full potential, through community of committed athletes.”

“[We] see the vision of a new model of sports, that openly celebrates scientific innovation and honestly represents the use of performance enhancements in sports today.” 

The Games will focus on individual sports across athletics, aquatics, combat, gymnastics and strength. 

“By focusing on world records in popular sports such as track and field, swimming, gymnastics, weight lifting and combat sports, we can eliminate wasteful infrastructure spending and reinvest to fairly pay all athletes,” D’Souza said. 

“In the era of accelerating technological and scientific change, the world needs a sporting event that embraces the future, particularly advances in medical science.” 

But what’s really going on here? Who are the people behind this contest? And what are they really trying to do? 

It’s a men’s club

The Enchanted Games is backed by the world’s richest venture capitalists. We have Peter Thiel, the conservative tech billionaire and founder of companies such as Palantir, which monitors immigrants for the Department of Homeland Security in the US. Thiel has had a long history of defying public safety and policy regulations. He was also one of the early investors of Facebook. 

There’s Christian Angermayer, founder of Apeiron Investment Group — a private investment company with a biotech portfolio that includes Atai Life Science, who are currently developing a rapid-acting anti-depressant for home use. Atai has backing from Thiel. 

Angermayer is a big name in the psychedelic industry — he’s been open about how taking mushrooms since 2015 has changed the course of his life. 

He described The Enhanced Games as having “forward-thinking ethos”, and one that “…improves the safety and fairness of competition but also stimulates scientific breakthroughs and nurtures human advancement.”

“The Enhanced games will undoubtedly inspire the public’s imagination and reinforce the profound impact of science on human progress,” he said in a statement. 

Then we have Balaji Srinivasan, a cryptocurrency investor and former CTO of Coinbase, who has been described as a polymath and angel investor who believes that tech has the power to eventually initiate a nation-free world. 

Out of the eleven individuals on the leadership team, there’s one woman — Jodhi Ramsden-Mavric, who is listed as a creative assistant, and who has a background in the film industry. The six people on the company’s Scientific and Medical Advisory Commission come from various backgrounds, including a Harvard professor, a co-founder of OxWash (sustainable commercial laundry service-providers) and a naturopathic doctor. Two are women.

Thomas Rex Dolan, the 19-year old Victorian and Gen Z Party founder and president, is listed as head of executive operations. According to his LinkedIn page, Dolan is D’Souza’s godson. 

The Athletes Advisory Commission consists of five men and just one woman. On the games website, it explains that they “embrace[s] the inclusion of science in sports” and is “unencumbered by anachronistic legacy systems.”

I wonder how they can do this with an organisation that clearly lacks the most basic form of diversity?

Sketchy on the details 

Since the games started making headlines last month, many people have been left scratching their heads. The organisation hasn’t been clear about some details. 

For one, it has declared that it will pay the athletes who compete in the games, but it hasn’t said exactly how much. 

Athletes will be paid a base salary and will compete for additional prize money. According to the website, a prize pool and compensation model will be announced later this year. 

Who gets to compete?

Calling themselves the “most inclusive sports league in history,” the organisers said all adults are eligible to compete in the games regardless of whether they are “natural, adaptive, or enhanced, an amateur or a former Olympian.” 

Registration is set to open later this year, though the actual dates for the contest have not been announced. 

It’s dangerous for the athletes 

The Games insist they will be the “safest international sporting event in history” and will ensure every athlete undergoes full medical screenings to monitor any risks.

But critics believe the competition’s agenda will risk both athletes’ health and sport itself. Two experts from the University of Canberra feared that athletes will turn into “injectable avatars” who will endanger their health by taking medicines that have been approved for human use.

“There’s no shortage of evidence demonstrating the dangers of pharmaceutical abuse for performance enhancement, let alone what might happen when used in experimental combinations and dosages,” Professor Catherine Ordway said last week.

“Elite sport is not conducted on a level playing field. Access to money, knowledge, power and technology already gives some athletes an edge over others, and the Enhanced Games would exacerbate these inequalities.”

Travis Tygart, CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), called the games “farcical,” and that it would be “a dangerous clown show, not real sport.” 

Jamie Crain, CEO of Sports Medicine Australia, took aim at the games’ PR material, which runs on the “anything is possible with science” ideology, pitting “science” as the gateway towards human progress and excellence.

“Science is the process of experimenting and observing and recording results and adjusting accordingly to get a certain outcome or just to understand a topic,” Crain told the ABC.

“And in this context that means they’re going to be giving otherwise fit people experimental substances to see what the outcomes is in the hope it might make them faster or stronger. Is that good science? If it produces a fast athlete who ends up with medical complications down the line, you would argue, no, it is not good science.”

Former Olympic swimmer Kieren Perkins said he could not see “any responsible and ethical person thinking the Enhance Games is even remotely sensible”.

“As soon as you start to go down the murky slope of allowing these sorts of drugs to be involved in the system you are completely setting aside the athlete’s physical and mental wellbeing and prioritising commercial gains and that’s not a place we want to be,” Perkins, now the CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, said.

Last week, retired Olympic swimming medalist James Magnussen announced he would compete in The Enhanced Games to try to break the 50m record for a reported $1.6 million. 

His reason? Money. 

“To be completely transparent, the money is a huge part,” he told News Corp. “A $1.6 million Australian dollar prize is hard to ignore.”

They’re out to make money

The carefully worded PR materials from the games’ website spruce their mission to enhance the “the medical and scientific process of elevating humanity to its full potential.”

But clearly, when you’ve got the world’s richest men backing this, it’s clear the end game is generating money. According to some media reports, D’Souza has plans to hold the games annually and stream it on platforms like YouTube to garner revenue. 

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batyr Chair, Ellen Derrick described the incoming CEO as a “powerful voice” who is “deeply passionate about amplifying young voices and their lived experience, alongside equipping young people and their communities with the tools to live their lives and flourish.”

“Acheson’s leadership is centred around driving transformative change, with lived experience at the core of this,” Derrick said in a statement. 

As a prominent figure in the Australian youth sector, Acheson has served as the CEO of Youth Action, Chair of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition and Executive Manager of Policy and Advocacy at Arafmi. She was the lead youth lived experience consultant for the United Nations World Youth Report in 2022, and earned the title of Financial Review’s Woman of Influence in 2019. Last year, she was a Bob and June Prickett Churchill Trust Fellow, researching the ways involving young people in decision-making can help address rising mental ill-health. 

She is also the Co-founder of Numbers and People Synergy, a data analytics company working to improve social development policies. 

Acheson said she is “beyond excited to join the batyr team.” 

“I have been championing batyr from the sidelines for many years and it’s an absolute honour to now be stepping into the role as CEO to lead this incredible organisation,” she said in a statement.

“Their expertise in prevention and championing lived experience is being recognised and acknowledged in Australia and abroad for its proven impact.”

“I’m already proud of batyr’s work on the ground to date, and can’t wait to amplify this further. I’ll continue to ensure the team are supported, motivated and inspired to keep driving positive change for young people now and for generations to come.”

Derrick added that Acheson’s “depth of knowledge and experience across youth and mental health” is “inspiring.”

“We are excited to officially welcome Katie into the batyr family and see her leadership build on our strong foundations and guide batyr into the future.”

Acheson begins her role on February 19. Last week, the organisation launched its fifth Splash the Stigma swim fundraiser that will continue through the month of February. Splash the Stigma is batyr’s annual drive to “turn the tide on mental health”, where people are invited to take up swimming challenge to raise money for the charity’s education programs to help young people better understand their mental health.

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On Monday, the former defence minister published a statement on her Facebook page declaring she would “not be nominating as a candidate for another term as a Liberal Senator for Western Australia.”

“For forty years I have proudly served my nation in the Army, in the Liberal Party, in defence industry, in Parliament and in Government,” she explained. “In my career after the Senate, I will continue to serve, but in new ways.”

Reynolds was elected to the Senate for Western Australia in 2014, and re-elected in 2016 and 2019. Prior to that, she’d spent more than a decade holding vice-president and treasury positions at various local WA Liberal Party divisions. 

Her first cabinet role came in mid-2019, serving under the Morrison government as Minister for Defence Industry. Over the next several years, she would serve in other portfolios, including Minister for Emergency Management, Minister for Government Services, Minister for Defence and Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. 

In her ‘Statement on Preselection’ published yesterday, Reynolds described her years serving in cabinet as “some of the most challenging times in our Nation’s recent history.”

She noted that being preselected and elected to the Senate was “a great honour and a privilege few Australians are afforded.”

“This is my tenth year in the Senate and my passion and commitment to my State and to my Nation remains as strong as ever.”

She went on to say it was “rare” for her to be in a position “to choose the time and circumstances of your departure,” and that her decision to leave politics was made “after considerable reflection of what is behind me and the opportunities that are now ahead of me.”

“Just as the health of our democracy can never be taken for granted, neither can the health of political parties – both must be constantly renewed and strengthened. I joined the Liberal Party over 35 years ago and my respect for, and belief in, the principles and values it was established on have only deepened over time.”

Addressing her party directly, she said that she “owe[s] the Liberal Party so much” and that she was “very grateful for the lifelong friendships I have made in the Party and for the overwhelming support I continue to receive from WA Liberal Party members and volunteers who have helped me over the last decade.”

In 2021, when she was Defence Minister, Reynolds faced intense scrutiny after former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was sexually assaulted by then colleague Bruce Lehrmann in Reynolds’ ministerial office. Higgins was working as a media advisor to Senator Reynolds at the time. When she told Reynolds about the rape, Reynolds was horrified, according to Higgins, and asked her if she intended to go to the police.

“She said, ‘If you choose to go to the police we will support you in that process, but we just need to know ahead of time. We need to know now’,” Higgins told news.com.au.

Lehrmann has continued to deny the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the alleged rape of Higgins.

In 2021, Reynolds publicly apologised to Higgins for calling her “a lying cow” in February of that year and agreed to cover the legal costs.

“[I] did not mean it in the sense it may have been understood,” she wrote in a statement posted on her socials. “Given that the comment was made public, which I never intended, I also want to retract it and unreservedly apologise to Brittany Higgins and acknowledge the hurt and distress it caused to her.” 

Reynolds also promised to make a donation to a sexual assault charity as part of a confidential settlement with her. 

A criminal trial of Bruce Lehrmann on one charge of sexual assault in 2022 was derailed in the ACT Supreme Court following juror misconduct. A second trial was aborted by prosecutors after concerns were raised for Higgins’ mental health.

In late 2022, lawyers for Higgins were reported to be preparing to bring a civil claim against Reynolds and former Attorney-General Michaelia Cash for sexual harassment, discrimination, disability discrimination, negligence and victimisation.

In December, Higgins reached a settlement with the Commonwealth, with “the parties [agreeing] that the terms of the settlement are confidential.” 

In January last year, Reynolds launched a defamation case against Higgins and her fiance, David Sharaz, over tweets her lawyers said caused damage that were “inaccurate and professionally damaging” and that “cannot be underestimated.”

Months later, Reynolds sent a defamation concerns notice to Tanya Plibersek following an interview on Sunrise where Plibersek claimed that the crime to which Higgins was subject to “had been inappropriately investigated, even covered up by her employers.”

Reynolds told Plibersek she could “make amends” and avoid legal action by issuing a signed apology, withdrawing her comments, paying Reynolds’ legal costs and providing an “appropriate sum to compensate my client for the damage caused by the publication” within 28 days.

Reynolds’ statement yesterday did not mention anything pertaining to Higgins or these cases. She did however insist that she would “keep working” with her party to “diversify and strengthen” it. 

“Having achieved more than I set out to when I entered the Senate, there is no perfect time to leave politics, but this is the right time for me and for the WA Liberal Party to provide my successor with the same opportunities it has given me,” she concluded. 

Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Simon Birmingham applauded Reynolds’ “distinguished career” in both parliament and the military. 

“From her service in the Australian Army to her tenure as a Liberal Senator for Western Australia, Linda has been a steadfast champion for our nation’s defence, national security, and the advancement of Australia,” he said in a statement.

“Linda’s strength, courage and dignity have been remarked upon by many. I have no doubt that in the years ahead Linda will continue to unwaveringly serve her community and our nation.”

Liberal MP Melissa Price commented on Reynolds’ Facebook post, saying, “Thank you for your service to the party and Senate Linda, although I have no doubt that you will find other avenues to contribute to our great nation. My friend, you will be missed.”

Reynolds will remain in the Senate until her term ends in June 2025.

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The survey, funded by the Department of Social Services, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) and managed by the Melbourne Institute, found that in the four weeks leading up to this year’s survey, almost one in five women reported working when they were physically unwell, while 16.8 per cent of employed men said they worked while feeling physically unwell. 

Roughly the same number of women reported working when they were mentally unwell, while just 11.1 per cent of men did the same. 

Those with a moderate or severe disability or in poor mental health were also much more likely to work when unwell. 

The 18th Annual Statistical Report of the HILDA Survey is a nationally representative longitudinal study of Australian households, following the lives of more than 17,000 Australians each year since 2001. 

Collecting information on many aspects of life in Australia, including household and family relationships, income and employment, and health and education, this year’s survey revealed some startling trends for women. Here, we look at a few of them. 

Working conditions

Men were less likely than women to be primarily working from home, the latest study found. In 2019, a mere 3.5 per cent per cent of people worked entirely from home, and 6.5 per cent worked at least 50 per cent of the time from home. In 2021, the figures shot up to 17.7 per cent and 24.3 respectively. 

The industries with the highest number of people mainly working from home are financial and insurance services, information media and telecommunications. Meanwhile, those working in retail, hospitality, education and arts were less likely to be working from home. 

The study also found a link between the number of employed parents and their use of formal child care. Unemployed mothers were less likely to seek formal child care. Unemployed fathers also lead to a decrease in using child care services, however the percentage reduced was much lower. 

The study concluded that the reason for these associations could either be that full-time employment could lead to the use of formal child care, or that having access to formal child care can be a precondition to seeking full time paid employment. 

The number of women in paid employment has also risen, especially in the group aged 65 to 69, where currently, one in four are employed.

Roughly 40 per cent of women aged between 18-64 are now employed full-time, while the proportion of men in that age group continue to be largely employed full time (70 per cent).

The gender pay gap is also slowly shrinking. In 2016, women earned just 78 per cent of what men earned. The latest study showed that now, women earn approximately 86 per cent of what men earn — still an extremely problematic figure. 

The average earnings made by a woman has also risen, though not to the heights of men. In 2021, the average female earning rose to 75 per cent of male average earnings, an increase from 2001 of 66 per cent. 

Marriage

Fewer Australians are now deciding to walk down the aisle compared to a few decades ago. The percentage of women who were married in 2001 was 54.5 per cent. In 2021, that number dropped down to 48.2 per cent. 

More women are now opting to be in de facto relationships. Between 2001 to 2021, the percentage went from 8.9 per cent to 14.3 per cent. Similar figures were found with men. 

The largest cohort of Australians who have decided to waive marriage are those aged between 25 to 34. Generally, less people are partnering up in conventional, romantic relationships. 

Between 2002 to 2004, 31.1 per cent of men and 26.8 per cent of women self-identified as being in a romantic relationship. Between the 2014 to 2016 period, that figure dropped to 26.7 per cent of men and 23.7 per cent of women. 

When it comes to self-assessed relationship satisfaction, women aged 40 to 59 reported lower relationship satisfaction than their male counterparts. 

Last year’s HILDA study already charted a growing number of Australians drifting away from living with their intimate partner. Dr Esperanza Vera-Toscano, an economist and senior research fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, attributed the “qualitative shift in our understanding of family” to a progressive framework of thinking.

“We need get used to the fact that the traditional pathway of meeting someone, having a relationship that ends up in marriage and children, has changed,” she said. “There are other situations that need to be brought into the picture. It’s important we understand them.”

Loneliness and psychological distress

Those aged between 15-24 now encompass the highest portion of lonely individuals. In the period between 2001 and 2009, the greatest proportion of lonely people were those aged 65 and older. 

The study’s co-author Dr Ferdi Botha, said “There is a clear trend of younger people becoming lonelier and feeling more isolated as time goes on.” 

“If there aren’t actions taken or policies implemented to intervene, we may see loneliness and psychological distress increasing in the younger generations and this may lead to lower mental and physical wellbeing and other wider societal issues,” he said in a statement. 

“Loneliness increased in the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, but for young people, there is a longer-term trend increase apparent. It may be that this is partly connected to growth in smart phones and social media use.” 

People in the youngest age cohort (15-24) also reported the highest average distress scores, with 42.3 per cent of them reporting they were psychologically distressed in 2021. Women aged 15 to 24 reported higher levels of distress than older women in the 35 to 54 and 65 and over age category, showing that the average psychological distress levels declined with age. 

Overall, women also reported higher levels of psychological distress. Between 2007 to 2021, the prevalence of psychological distress among women increased by roughly 63 per cent. In 2021, almost one in three women said they were in distress, compared to 22.7 per cent of men. The study measured participants’ psychological distress by asking them questions such as, “In the last four weeks, about how often did you feel tired out for no good reasons? Nervous? Hopeless? Depressed?”

Use of prescription drugs in Australia

More women are using strong painkillers than men, the latest study found. Almost thirty per cent of women reported using strong painkillers or pain-relievers with opioids in them, and 14 per cent reported using tranquillisers and/or sleeping pills. 

The strong painkillers may include Tramadol, Fentanyl, Oxycodone, morphine, codeine products such as Panadeine Forte. 

According to the study’s authors, most respondents were using the strong painkillers only infrequently, “…suggesting they are primarily used for temporary relief from pain, anxiety or sleep issues.” 

“However, it is crucial to acknowledge that these drugs have potential negative consequences, such as addiction, overdose and harmful interactions.” 

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Gerber, 22, is the daughter of 90s supermodel Cindy Crawford, and yes, she has inherited every single cell of her mother’s asymmetrically perfect features. She’s now a successful model in her own right but also a keen reader, a book reader, and in the past few years, she’s made it part of her public identity.

Since 2020, she’s worked hard to cultivate the image of a stylish book-worm. She’s made sure the world knows she reads and that we know she’s a thinker. Gone are the days of the bookworm image, of the girl with glasses reading in her pjs in bed. 

In September 2020, Gerber posted a screenshot to her 10 million followers on Instagram of a scene from Richard Benjamin’s 1990 movie Mermaids, starring Cher and Winona Ryder. 

The image shows Cher in a bathtub, reading Grace Metalious’ 1956 novel Peyton Place, looking beautiful, focused and cerebral. Next to her, Winona Ryder, who plays her daughter in the movie, peers up towards the corner of the camera, obviously distracted by some agitated feelings towards her mother, who seems lost in her book. 

Suddenly, I was interested. 

The book Gerber was promoting that week, Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists, had nothing to do with the film, but that single post piqued my interest. 

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A few months earlier in March, Gerber had started a virtual bookclub via her Instagram as a way for her to connect with writers, other celebrities and friends during the pandemic. The first book was Sally Rooney’s Normal People – whose fans are the OG of ‘the stylish reader’. In her first live chat, she spoke with Daisy-Edgar Jones and Paul Mascal, stars of the screen adaptation of the novel. 

Her book selections were diverse, and her intentions were noble. In May, she selected Spring Awakening, the late 19th century classic play by German dramatist Frank Wedekind, in order to “raise awareness for the performing arts industry in nyc. theaters are closed for the time being, putting so many actors, writers, and crew members out of work,” as Gerber described in a post on Instagram.

“It’s really important that we keep supporting the community that plays such a large & important role to the city.” 

Over the next few months and years, Gerber would invite the likes of Lena Dunham, Jia Tolentino, Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) and Raven Leilani onto her platform to talk about their books. These women have huge cultural capital and radiate an equal measure of affable coolness, intelligence and obtainable beauty. 

Gerber would continue to post images on Instagram of beautiful women reading, either from photos, or screenshots from movies. It didn’t matter that most of the images had nothing to do with the books themselves. Gerber knew how to get someone like me interested.

I’m a female reader, a book reader, and I aspire to be beautiful. Inevitably, in my own life, I separate these two pursuits. When I read, I’m mostly always in some loose, flimsy outfit, sprawled across my sofa chair in my study, looking more like a sloth on a tree than a presentable woman. The last thing on my mind is trying to appear beautiful. 

But these women, women like Gerber, and her fellow supermodel friends who read, including Dua Lipa, Emily Ratajkowski and Camille Rowe, have harnessed Instagram’s most fundamental currency — hot privilege, and began a movement to aestheticise book reading.

And by book reading, I mean, actual books. Physical, paper items. You won’t see a kindle anywhere here. 

The books on Gerber’s bookclub list are carefully selected to exude a certain sensibility. Think east-coast elites. Think oat-milk drinking hipsters who wear white linen shirts and own more than two pairs of Birkenstocks. Carrying a book, or at least, appearing to consume its content, has become another gesture towards aspirational living. Not only do we need to appear to be taking care of our outward appearances — we need to cultivate the right kind of intellectual and cerebral agendas. 

This week, Gerber, along with her friend Alyssa Reeder, (a New York City-bred writer and editor who writes for Into the Gloss) launched Library Science. 

The site collects all the books she’s had on her bookclub so far; all 34 books, it’s 33 authors, most of them American. Joan Didion appears twice. And of course she does. Her books (along with her cult status among liberal white women) is the basis upon which all the other books instantiate. 

Another late author on the list is Françoise Sagan, who has an equally pertinent status among women who pay very close attention to the fabric of their clothes. 

The majority of authors on Gerber’s list are women and out of the 33 authors, nine are people of colour, or mixed race. Five are late authors. There is one trans author. Most of them went to Ivy league colleges, or were born into privilege and celebrity, as Gerber has. 

Wealth and affluence can provide one with a certain cultural capital – in Gerber’s case, she’s used it to curate a literary milieu. They can be “taste” makers. But what does it mean to have “taste”? More importantly, who adjudicates this metric? Today, it seems that the answer is beautiful people who know how to market themselves. Personally, I believe the gay American writer, Ocean Vuong was the first to aestheticize that very singular, New York City-artist image. Just check out his IG to know what I mean.

Initially, I was drawn to Gerber’s ethereal beauty. I love looking at pretty people. But pretty people who read?! Irresistible. Before my private divorce from social media, my favourite Instagram account was @hotdudesreading. The female equivalent is @coolgirlsreadingbooks. Somehow, it feels less of a novelty to see an attractive woman reading than it is to see an attractive man reading. The Internet agrees with me, because the former account has more than a million followers, while the latter has only 48.7K followers. 

As I said before, Instagram runs on hot privilege. And Gerber knows how to milk it. Looking to be well read is now a visual pursuit. It’s aspirational to appear to be well-read. And though her Library Science hasn’t inspired me to amend my break-up with Instagram, I agree with the platform’s philosophy: “We learn the most from the stories that aren’t our own.”

The post The gentle, slow, agonising beautifying of book-reading appeared first on Women's Agenda.

At the half-way mark of his speech, he changed tuned and took a swipe at the Recording Academy’s failure to award his wife Beyoncé, a 32-time Grammy winner, with the most prestigious prize at the Grammys: Album of the Year.

“We want you all to get it right,” he said. “We love you all, at least get it close to right. And obviously it’s subjective, because it’s music, it’s opinion-based, but you know, some things — I don’t want to embarrass this young lady, but she has more Grammys than everyone and never won album of the year,” he said, looking at Beyoncé. 

“So even by your own metrics, that doesn’t work. Think about that. The most Grammys, never won album of the year. That doesn’t work.”

A few audience members cheered. He continued, addressing the wider crowd. 

“Some of you are going to go home tonight and feel like you’ve been robbed. Some of you may be robbed. Some of you don’t belong in the category.”

This last snark garnered the loudest jeers. He responded by saying, “When I get nervous, I tell the truth.”

He ended his speech with some advice, taking hold of his daughter Blue’s hands, who was standing beside him throughout his speech.

“Just in life, you’ve got to keep showing up, forget the Grammys, you’ve got to keep showing up, until they give you all those accolades you feel you deserve. Until they call you chairman, until they call you a genius, until they call you the greatest of all time.”

Users on social media responded to Jay-Z’s speech, with one user writing: “JAY-Z is 100% correct. The fact that Beyoncé has never won Album of the Year for Self-titled, Lemonade, and RENAISSANCE is shameful. The LAST Black woman to win AOTY was Lauryn Hill, and that was over 25 YEARS AGO. The Recording Academy is telling us that no Black woman has created an album worthy of that honor in all this time, and I find that to be very offensive.”

The post garnered over 72K likes. 

Beyoncé has been nominated for Album of the Year four times. In 2010, for I Am… Sasha Fierce, in 2015 for Beyoncé, in 2017 forLemonade and last year, for Renaissance. 

In 2010, she lost to Taylor Swift’s Fearless. In 2015, she lost again to Swift, this time to her fifth album, 1989. In 2017, the year Lemonade was tipped to be the winner, she lost to Adele, who won for her third album 25.

In her acceptance speech, Adele said, “I can’t possibly accept this award. And I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious. But my artist of my life is Beyoncé. And this album to me, the Lemonade album, is just so monumental.”

Perhaps Jay-Z’s comments were enlivened by the fact that Taylor Swift won her fourth Album of the Year, for Midnights on Sunday night. 

Among the 32 Grammys Beyonce has won, only one award was in a “big four” category: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. In 2010, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) won Song of the Year. Most of her wins have been in genre categories, including Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best R&B Performance, Best Music Video and Best Rap Song. 

As arguably one of the most iconic and influential experimental and innovative artists of our generation, perhaps Jay-Z had a point when he called out his wife’s lack of recognition in the most coveted award. 

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On Tuesday, the European Parliament and officials announced that the bloc had reached an agreement on the law that aims to protect women in the 27-nation European Union from gender-based violence. 

The legislation will also criminalise cyberstalking, cyberharassment and cyber incitement to hatred or violence across the European Union.

The agreement comes almost two years after The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, first proposed the law to mark International Women’s Day 2022. 

EU lawmaker Frances Fitzgerald told reporters in Strasbourg after the announcement that the agreement sends “a clear message across the union that we take violence against women seriously.”

Posting images from her meetings in the northeastern city of France, the former Irish senator wrote on Instagram: “It takes a great team, hours of hard work and determination to get any deal over the line.”

“Thank you to all those who played their part in securing agreement on a new landmark Directive to combat Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. This is a good day for the women and men of Europe.”

Swedish socialist MEP and fellow EU lawmaker, Evin Incir said the agreement is “a directive that the women and girls all across the European Union have asked for for over 30 years.”

Fitzgerald and Incir have been the key players in leading the process to introduce EU-wide laws to tackle violence against women. Last October, Fitzgerald expressed her dismay at the lack of urgency from governments to tackle gendered violence across Europe.

“The seriousness of the crime is still internationally not being matched by the intensity of the approaches needed, and this is a symptom of that,” she said at the time. 

“A city the size of Marseilles, Amsterdam or Zagreb disappears every 10 years as 858,000 women are murdered globally. So I can’t help but think it is part of misogyny, and it’s part of a patriarchal society that we live in, that we’ve had such a job getting (crimes against women) to the top of the agenda.”

Earlier this morning, the Vice-President for Values and Transparency at the European Commission, Vera Jourova, wrote on X, “For the first time ever, we criminalise widespread forms of cyberviolence, such as non-consensual sharing of intimate images.” 

“Way too many #women still suffer domestic violence or violence online in the EU.” 

She also posted a video, saying “Today is a very important day because just a few minutes ago we finalised the trilogue on the violence against women directive.”

“Why we needed a legally binding rules against violence against women. Because simply, as I sometimes say, Europe is a good address for women, but not for all.”

“Many women are suffering from violence and we need to stop this horrible practise and the perpetrators have to be punished and the society also have to take a stronger stance against the violence.”

“So that’s why this directive, which is historically the first one which covers and which seeks to combat violence against women, should cause the big difference we have for the first time addressing addressed cyber violence, we have addressed also the non consensual distribution of in images, all these horrible things which see lately, together with the technological development. So now we have the directive, we will have to finalise the process and after some time when the directive will be implemented into the national laws, we will, I hope, see the difference.”

“The European women and girls need and deserve much stronger and better protection.”

Under the agreement made this week, the commission will report every five years on any potential changes to the rule that need to be made. 

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Defining ‘rape’ disagreement 

EU member states and lawmakers have not included a common definition of rape in the law, as countries remain divided on how to define the crime. 

In a statement, the parliament said member states will seek to improve awareness that non-consensual sex is considered a criminal offence. 

Countries including Belgium, Greece, Italy, Spain and Sweden sought to include a definition of rape in the law, but faced knock back from countries including France, Germany and Hungary — who argued that the EU was not equip to do so and that rape lacks the cross-border dimension for it to be assessed as a crime with common penalties in the bloc.

This argument was strongly refuted by the parliament and the commission who challenged that rape could fall within the definition of “sexual exploitation of women” for which a joint set of penalties already exists. 

“We could not get consent-based definition of rape into this directive. So that is a very big disappointment,” Fitzgerald said on Tuesday.

Last month, various international rights organisations criticised the countries who refused to define rape in the law. 

“It is utterly unacceptable that some member states are stubbornly unresponsive to the need to combat rape across the EU,” an open letter from eleven organisations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Center for Reproductive Rights expressed. 

“Consent-based definitions have proven to guarantee greater protection and access to justice for women and other victims of rape, including increased reporting and prosecution rates.” 

“We urge governments to act in accordance with their international and regional human rights obligations, particularly under the Istanbul Convention, and agree on the most robust Directive possible to prevent, prosecute and redress violence against women.”

Last October, Fitzgerald said the hesitation towards introducing an EU-wide consent-based definition of rape was “not acceptable”.

“There isn’t enough political motivation at the moment from some member states to include rape,” Fitzgerald said at the time. 

“You can get somebody moved from Ireland to Germany for murder, but when it comes to rape, they’re saying ‘No, let the member states deal with that’. They don’t say ‘it’s because we don’t like the definition’.”

“They don’t say ‘it’s because what are you talking about with consent?’ which is the belief of certain member states, they really find it hard to get their heads around the idea of consent.”

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The law, which will apply across Great Britain, would ensure equal pay claims on the basis of ethnicity and disability are handled the same as those made by women, who currently have more stringent protections on pay than other groups. The 2010 Equality Act mandates that women and men are entitled to equal pay for equal work.

On Monday, Jacqueline Mckenzie, a lawyer who contributed to the taskforce set up by Labour to develop the new Race Equality Act, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the party’s plans were “a bold step”.

“What we’re not sure about, because we haven’t seen the act, is whether or not it will actually include enforcement penalties and mandatory reporting,” she said. “Because if it doesn’t do that it’s not actually going to make any difference.”

Under Labour’s plans for the Act, the law would be gradually introduced to give employers time to adjust to remunerating all their staff appropriately. Back pay will only be offered to workers from when the law officially comes into play. 

The proposals will take up the “dual discrimination” that some workers face, allowing them to bring a single claim if they believe they have experienced a combination of discriminations — for example, both sexism and racism, or ableism. 

Labour also announced it plans to appoint a Windrush commissioner if it wins the general election to surveil the compensation scheme, and that business groups and unions will be consulted before the law is enshrined. 

Shadow women and equalities secretary, Anneliese Dodds released a statement, saying “It has never been more important to deliver race equality.”

“Inequality has soared under the Tories and too many black, Asian and ethnic minority families are working harder and harder for less and less,” she wrote.

“This is holding back their families and holding back the economy. We are proud of our achievements in government, from the landmark Equality Act [in 2010] to strengthening protections against discrimination. The next Labour government will go further to ensure no matter where you live in the UK, and whatever your background, you can thrive.”

However, Dr Begum believes the proposals are not flawless.

“[The Act] fall short of addressing the formidable scale of inequalities that shape the experiences and opportunities of people of colour,” she said. 

“Committing to address structural racial inequality needs to understand that racism doesn’t simply arise when the system fails – but that racism is actually sewn into the very fabric of the system itself.”

“Labour must use the race equality act as a platform to commit to an ambitious, cross-governmental approach supported with sustained investment addressing the unacceptable – and in some cases worsening – disparities in health, housing, wealth and policing, faced by so many communities of colour.”

Minister for Equalities Kemi Badenoch is even more sceptical, calling the proposals “a bonanza for dodgy, activist lawyers”.

“[The Act would] set people against each other and see millions wasted on pointless red tape,” she wrote on X. “It is obviously already illegal to pay someone less because of their race.” 

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“I have something to say about women,” Bridgers said, standing alongside her Boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. 

“The ex-president of the Recording Academy, Neil Portnow, said that if women want to be nominated and win Grammys that they should step up. He’s also being accused of sexual violence. And to him I’d like to say I know you’re not dead yet, but when you are, rot in piss.”

The 29-year old’s remarks were in response to comments made by former Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow in 2018, who was attempting to speak out about the “brick walls” faced by female musicians and the mounting #GrammysSoMale controversy, only to end up blaming them for their lack of recognition in the industry. 

“I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level, to step up,” Portnow said in 2018. 

“Because I think they would be welcome. I don’t have personal experience of those kinds of brick walls that you face, but I think it’s really a combination. Us as an industry making the welcome mat very obvious, creating mentorships, creating opportunities not only for women but all people who want to be creative and really paying it forward and creating that next generation of artists who feel like they can do anything, they can say anything.”

Although he later issued an apology (“I regret that I wasn’t as articulate as I should have been”) the damage had been done. Female artists and executives, including Kelly Clarkson and Vanessa Carlton, campaigned to have Portnow step down from his role.

On Sunday, Bridgers was among the several female artists who took home multiple awards, including SZA, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. Bridgers took home four awards — three with her three-piece group Boygenius.

Boygenius won Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for their song Not Strong Enough, as well as the award for Best Alternative Music Album for their debut record, The Record. Bridgers also won a Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for featuring in SZA’s song Ghost in the Machine.

Portnow’s comments from 2018 were made in a year when almost no female artists won in the top categories. Lorde was the only woman nominated for album of the year, and even attended the awards that year wearing a poem on her gown about political dissenters. 

During the height of #GrammysSoMale, Pink penned a note and shared it on X (formerly Twitter). 

“Women in music don’t need to ‘step up’ — women have been stepping since the beginning of time,” she expressed. “Stepping up, and also stepping aside women OWNED music this year. They’ve been KILLING IT. And every year before this.”

Portnow stepped down from his Academy position in 2019, after holding the title as the longest-serving president in Recording Academy history. 

Last November, an unnamed female musician filed a lawsuit against Portnow, accusing him of a sexual assault in 2018 in New York City, and against the Recording Academy for negligence. A spokesperson for Portnow responded to the accusations, saying in an email that they were “completely false”. 

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Dr O’Donoghue’s niece, Deb Edwards, released a statement on behalf of the family, describing her aunt as a “formidable leader who was never afraid to listen, speak and act.”

“Our Aunty and Nana was the matriarch of our family, whom we have loved and looked up to our entire lives. We adored and admired her when we were young and have grown up full of never-ending pride as she became one of the most respected and influential Aboriginal leaders this country has ever known.”

“Aunty Lowitja dedicated her entire lifetime of work to the rights, health, and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We thank and honour her for all that she has done – for all the pathways she created, for all the doors she opened, for all the issues she tackled head-on, for all the tables she sat at and for all the arguments she fought and won.”

On Sunday, her family gave permission for Dr O’Donoghue’s name and image to be used.

Australian Indigenous rights activist and former politician Patrick Dodson described Dr O’Donoghue as an “extraordinary person of great courage and strength.”

“[It’s] a sad day for First peoples of this Nation,” Dodson said in a statement. “Her leadership in the battle for justice was legendary. Hers was a strong voice, and her intelligent navigation for our rightful place in a resistant society resulted in many of the privileges we enjoy today.”

“She will be forever remembered in our hearts.”

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney called Dr O’Donoghue a “fearless and passionate advocate” who “dedicated her life to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians and deserves our deepest respect and gratitude.” 

“Australia mourns the passing of Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue and it is with great sadness and love that I pay tribute to her remarkable legacy,” she said.

“Throughout her career in public life, Dr O’Donoghue displayed enormous courage, dignity and grace. She was a truly extraordinary leader. Lowitja was not just a giant for those of us who knew her, but a giant for our country.”

Indigenous leader Noel Pearson described Dr O’Donoghue as Australia’s “greatest leader of the modern era”.

“She was full of grace and fortitude,” he said in a statement. “She was the definition of courage and never lapsed in her principles. Her love and loyalty to our people across the country was boundless.”

“We owed her an unrepayable debt for the sacrifices she made while she lived. Her memory will never be forgotten and her legacy will endure. Her passing … ends an extraordinary public life, marked by unstinting service and dedication to her people and country.” 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese joined in the chorus of tributes, describing Dr O’Donoghue as “one of the most remarkable leaders this country has ever known”.

“As we mourn her passing, we give thanks for the better Australia she helped make possible,” he said in a statement, posted on X.

“Dr O’Donoghue had an abiding faith in the possibility of a more united and reconciled Australia. It was a faith she embodied with her own unceasing efforts to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and to bring about meaningful and lasting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.”

On Sunday, South Australian Attorney-General Kyam Maher wrote a tribute on his Facebook page, extending his sympathies to Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s family, friends, and associates.

“In honouring Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s memory, may we be inspired by the countless positive changes she contributed over her life,” he wrote. “We recognise the profound impact she had on the country and the many lives she touched. Her legacy will forever stand as a testament to the influence of her relentless dedication and service.”

“Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue’s leadership was not just about strength and determination; she led with a presence that inspired others to rise. Her legacy as a leader of both conviction and compassion will continue to inspire generations to come.”

Maher added that at an “appropriate moment” he will reach out to Dr O’Donoghue’s  family “with the offer of a State Funeral, in recognition of [her] incredible service.”

Background

She was born in 1932 on Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands at Granite Downs station (Indulkana) in South Australia. She was the fifth child of Lily, a Anangu Yankunytjatjara woman, and Tom, a first-generation Irishman. 

She was assigned a birthdate of August 1st by missionaries. At age 2, she was removed from her family by South Australia’s Aboriginal Protection Board and taken to Colebrook Home for Half-Caste Children — an institution that was a “crowded house, full of children taken from their parents and told to forget”, according to Dr O’Donoghue’s official biographer, Stuart Rintoul. 

It would be another 30 years before she saw her mother again. She never made contact with her father again.

In 2020, for Rintoul’s official biography of her, Lowitja: The authorised biography of Lowitja O’Donoghue, Dr O’Dononghue reflected on her earliest days of standing up for what she believed in: “One of the earliest memories I have is of coming between the matron and the strap. I would often stand in the way when the strap was intended for others, with the result being that I, too, got a beating.”

Like most Aboriginal children during the time, O’Dononghue was raised to be a servant. She received a secondary education before being sent to work at a sheep station and “told she would soon fall pregnant and amount to nothing.”

By age 16, she was working as a domestic servant in Victor Harbour hospital in South Australia, before being given the role of a nursing aide. But she yearned to do more with her life. 

“I decided that I wanted to be ‘somebody’,” she told Rintoul. “That God had given me intelligence and that I was going to use it.”

She fought to undertake training to become a nurse, after being refused to attend Royal Adelaide Hospital because of her Aboriginality.

In a 1994 interview with National Film and Sound Archive, she described the incident: “The matron … stood me up in the corridor outside her office and just told me very bluntly that I should go to Alice Springs and nurse my own people.”

“Alice Springs of course being a place I had never been to and ‘my own people’ being a people that I didn’t know. So of course that really hurt me, but I didn’t give up.”

Garnering support from then-premier of SA, Sir Thomas Playford, she became the first Aboriginal nurse trainee at the Royal Adelaide hospital, before going on to become one of the first Aboriginal nurses in the country in 1959. 

She experienced racial discrimination from patients, remembering one who told her “Don’t put your black hands on me.” She would continue to work as a nurse for the next ten years. 

Her achievements

In 1962, Dr O’Donoghue travelled to India as a nurse with the Baptist Overseas Mission. On the eve of the 1967 referendum, she joined the South Australian branch of the Federal Office of Aboriginal Affairs as a public servant, campaigning for the recognition of Aboriginal peoples in the census. 

Rising through the ranks in the public service for the next decade, Dr O’Donoghue became the first Aboriginal woman to be named a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1976. The following year, she was the founding chair of the National Aboriginal Conference (NAC), a short-lived Fraser Government initiative that gave a platform for Aboriginal people to express their views. 

In 1984, she was recognised for her work to improve the welfare of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and named Australian of the Year. 

By 1990, she was the inaugural Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander Commission. At the time, the commission was the country’s most explicitly concerted initiative to give institutional structure to Aboriginal self-determination.

Dr O’Donoghue would lead the organisation for the next six years. In 1992, after the Mabo decision, she worked as a lead negotiator on the Native Title Act, working alongside key figures including then-prime minister Paul Keating, Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton to give justice for Aboriginal people and a “workable and fair system of land management” in the country. 

In the same year, she became the first Aboriginal person to address the UN general assembly, delivering an opening address at the United Nations International Year of Indigenous People. 

In 1999, she was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for her commitment to public service and leadership in Indigenous affairs. In 2005 was honoured with a papal award, becoming Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great.

In 2010, The Lowitja Institute in Melbourne was named in her honour. The institute is dedicated to improving Indigenous health outcomes and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations to lead research projects that advance the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Her legacy will also continue through the Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation, which provides opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to advance equality, empowerment, voice and action, and the annual Lowitja O’Donoghue Orations at the University of Adelaide.

Photo Credit: Name and photo used with permission of Lowitja’s family. Photo by Leanne King

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She had just completed a semester-long course titled “Entrepreneurial Musician” where she learned how to present her music to the wider public in interesting fresh ways. 

“The spark of a ‘I can make anything happen’ attitude was ignited,” Junus told Women’s Agenda. She gathered her friends across various art forms and set up concerts to showcase their work.

“We put together themed performances, working with other artistic disciplines such as dance which sparked my interest as different art forms as they have their own different and unique perspectives on music,”  she said. 

The friends held their first concert on Valentine’s Day with a concert called ‘Love: Classical to Contemporary.’ Junus realised that she ultimately wanted to bring overseas trends to audiences in Australia. 

In 2018, Junus officially named her organisation, Artists By Any Other Name. The collaborative entity invites artists from various disciplines to come together and share their ideas. It’s also a registered not-for-profit through the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) where artists can apply for financial support.

“There aren’t many organisations that serve the needs of artists in the creative industry,” Junus said. “Our focus is on creating unique performances that provides important paid work for performers and has seen us broaden the scope of ABAON.”

This Lunar New Year in February, Junus will bring toward two musical ensembles for a concert titled Legends & Lanterns.  

She will be joined onstage by internationally renowned Chinese-Australian cellist Li-Wei Qin,  and the Odyssey Symphony Orchestra, led by Hong Kong-born Briton and Musical Director of the Australian Ballet Jonathan Lo. The concert will feature a musical fusion of East and West, showing traditional pieces from the classical Chinese repertoire, including the Spring Festival Overture, Galloping Horses, and a special rendition of Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto for Violin and Erhu, featuring Junus on the violin and Fuhua Li on the erhu. 

Junus hopes that by performing popular Chinese music using traditional Chinese instruments like the Erhu, Australian audiences will enrich in their knowledge and perception of Western and Chinese classical music. 

“[These performances] are important because we can bring together world-class artists to produce performances that explore different cultural influences and create unique and enriching performances,” she said. “It encourages artists from various backgrounds to explore and merge their artistic voices in a powerful and harmonious symphony.”

By blending traditional art forms with contemporary expressions, Junus believes that the concerts will have something for everyone.

“[We are] bridging the gap between East and West through music so the audience can feel and experience different parts of the world through music. It is helping to foster connection and greater understanding for all who experience it.” 

Fellow musician, Li-Wei Qin said that the concerts are a way to share the international language of music, with both Australians and Australian migrant audiences.

“Legends & Lanterns is unique because we will largely be playing to a Chinese audience as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations,” he said. 

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Junus credits Qin with helping her expand her musical spectrum. 

“I see music as a process of constantly learning and I’m quite methodical in my practise and studies. Being methodical many would say is a Chinese trait, that commitment to discipline and perfection. But sometimes I know myself I trust everything on the page a little too much, what’s written there must be done! I have to remind myself to let myself go and let the music flow through me.” 

“This is something I am learning more and more through collaborations with the prodigious talent of cellist Li-Wei Qin who is playing in our upcoming Legends & Lanterns performances. It is little wonder Li-Wei Qin is so acclaimed as his technique is flawless, yet the beautiful tones and intonations capture the emotions within the pieces and bring them to fore in the audience.” 

Junus hopes to take her concerts to regional Australia in 2024. 

“[We hope to] develop our education partnerships and programs to continue to inspire and support the next generation of musicians.” 

Legends & Lanterns are holding two upcoming concerts: The Concourse, Chatswood on 11 February 2024 at 3pm AND Sydney Town Hall on 14 February 2024 at 7pm.

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The show will be hosted by a woman and at least half of its guests will be women. The female-run, independent network will present the show once a month, addressing issues such as the shortage of female teachers, gender discrimination in politics, and the impacts of environmental issues on women. 

According to the Guardian, the show will operate in a similar style to the UK’s BBC Question Time, where a team of reporters will visit venues across the country and invite the public to participate and contribute their opinions.  

Fathi Mohamed Ahmed, the chief editor of Bilan, believes her media company provides a vital alternative to the current media content in Somalia, which “just focus[es] on politics and conflict.”

“There are so many stories to do on Somali society, especially about Somali people, and what is going on here,” she said. “We are going to have all those stories.”

In December, the host Naima Said Salah featured in the show’s pilot episode, discussing menstruation education and health with young women. 

“Women, including me, never had the opportunity to learn about periods as girls; even our own mums don’t discuss it,” Salah said. “People think this is taboo, but it is a fact; it exists and we cannot ignore it.”

The episode was praised for its candid discussions with young women, many who lack access to basic and essential hygiene products, forcing them to use risky forms of protection including tree barks, old clothes, socks and newspapers.

“One young woman in the audience shared her own experience,”  Salah, a senior reporter at Bilan, said. “She remembered the exact time and day when her period started because she had no idea what was happening. She thought she was dying. It was only after she told her older sister, that she understood.” 

Somalia is the most dangerous country for journalists in Africa. More than 50 journalists have been killed in the past twelve years. In the Global Impunity Index by The Committee to Protect Journalists – a list that calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of a country’s population, Somalia ranks last. 

The country was ranked by the UN as the fourth-lowest for gender equality globally. Women and girls in Somalia face harrowing challenges, with maternal and infant mortality rates among some of the highest in the world, and early marriage being one of the most pervasive. 

Director of the Mogadishu schools network, Cabdulqaadir Maxamed Xasan, posted his reaction to the new show on Bilan, saying he was pleased that the show is offering “more knowledge and experience” on education issues to the public. 

“Given the scarcity of female teachers in the education sector, young girls often struggle during their periods to adapt to changing circumstances. This discussion underscored the importance of community support during this critical time, particularly at the onset of adolescence.”

The show will officially launch on International Women’s Day, on 8 March this year. 

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