This report addresses: Female Crane Operators

Female Mentors: April Anslinger Leading the Next Gen to the C-Suite
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Female Mentors: April Anslinger Leading the Next Gen to the C-Suite

Name: April Anslinger

Title: Global Chief Marketing Officer

Company: Self Esteem Brands (Anytime Fitness, Waxing the City, Bar Method, Basecamp Fitness, and Stronger U)

Years in Franchising: 3

Number of units: 5,200+ club and studio locations in 42 countries and on 7 continents

Can you describe the role mentoring has played in your career?

Early in my career, I had a strong, female boss who continued to care about me after we parted ways, and she continues to be one of my biggest mentors today.

National Women’s Week, a government initiative, coincides with the Campaign and usually involves the Department of Gender and Family Affairs planning a few events.

One is the singular way that the government and many other institutions define “woman.” Another is the focus on the protection of (some) women from gender-based violence.

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Exclusive
GOALDEN GIRL

How Laura Woods overcame sexist trolls and sad split to become TV’s hottest new star – and Prem footballers’ celeb crush

SHE’S the TV presenter famous footballers want to date - and women look up to.

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs a PR firm in London, told The Sun: “There are people out there who are stand out stars and Laura is definitely one of them.

This report addresses: Female Crane Operators

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Content: Female Mentors: April Anslinger Leading the Next Gen to the C-Suite
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Female Mentors: April Anslinger Leading the Next Gen to the C-Suite

Name: April Anslinger

Title: Global Chief Marketing Officer

Company: Self Esteem Brands (Anytime Fitness, Waxing the City, Bar Method, Basecamp Fitness, and Stronger U)

Years in Franchising: 3

Number of units: 5,200+ club and studio locations in 42 countries and on 7 continents

Can you describe the role mentoring has played in your career? The most profound mentors in my life haven’t been those with a formal mentoring title. They cared enough to help me find and learn my way forward and upward even without the mentor title. They were intentional about it, and I’m grateful. Early in my career, I had a strong, female boss who continued to care about me after we parted ways, and she continues to be one of my biggest mentors today. As my career has progressed, mentors have appeared in my life as peers, colleagues, and leaders. I’ve realized that mentoring happens when both parties are willing to give thoughtful and empathetic insight and willing to be curious and vulnerable. They’re ready to put insight into action.

Why is mentoring important for female franchise leaders? Mentioning women in business is not just important—it’s essential. We need to be intentional about building each other up, connecting each other, and celebrating each other. It can make or break business success and, more importantly, our relationships with our careers and mental health. Take stock of the women in your life that you are building up. If you aren’t, find the women you can and want to help!

What are the key elements of a good mentoring relationship? Intentionality and purpose: As mentors, we have to embrace the mindset of being generous leaders and give that leadership and guidance away to those we know are hungry for it. We’re not just mentors because we want to be; we are mentors because we take action to be mentors.

Trust, respect, empathy, vulnerability, and humanness: These things have to happen on both sides of the equation to make it work. Trust that the mentor truly has our success in mind when sharing sometimes hard truths, and trust that mentees are internalizing insight and making it actionable. Have respect for each other’s time and know what’s going on in each other’s lives. Everyone is human with high and low moments. When you show and embrace those moments, it builds trust.

What are the benefits of mentoring programs for female leaders looking to advance their careers? Mentoring helps everyone become better leaders. When we’re sharing knowledge, we’re putting leadership development into practice. When we’re learning from others, we become better, so we should do it for our entire careers. Mentoring programs are an important piece of the mix because not everyone knows how or where to be a mentor or how to be mentored. Formalized programs remove the awkwardness and provide platforms for willing and excited participants.

What should the mentoring process include? Accountability, action, and grace. Accountability is about committing the time, and deliberate action ensures the time spent for both parties is fruitful. Grace is critical because we need to remember that we’re all human and continuing to grow and evolve.

How is a mentor different than a coach? I think mentoring and coaching are more alike than they are different. Both are about sharing experiences, knowledge, and insight to empower others. There’s no need for paralysis by analysis here. Be intentional to give and receive to help others (especially women) grow into their careers and strengths.

What role did mentoring play in your path to the C-suite? I wish mentoring had played a bigger part. I had a few incredible leaders and colleagues who chose to mentor me. But truthfully, I had to find my own way a lot. I didn’t need to do that, and I just don’t want that for anyone else. It’s challenging. It’s lonely. And it’s hard. There is more trial and error than there needs to be. So, I’ve committed myself to helping pave the way for upcoming leaders to help them learn from my wins and my mistakes. I want to use my platform for good and inspire others to do the same.

How has what you learned from a mentor helped you navigate difficult career challenges? One of the most important things you learn in your mentoring relationships is that what you are working through isn’t new. You are not alone. Difficult career challenges have been faced by all leaders. There is a lot of solace in this. It reminds you that there are plenty of people to help you through the tougher times.

How did mentoring help you in other business relationships? Mentoring has made me a better listener even for things that go unsaid. It also has taught me grace in understanding that everyone has a backstory, and it shapes their thought processes. True listening and genuine grace earn trust, credibility, and quality in every relationship in life.

In what ways has mentoring helped you build confidence in your decision-making? Most of us need affirmation. And that affirmation is what gives us confidence in our answers and our thought processes. In the best mentoring relationships, I’ve learned how to make decisions—when to trust my knowledge and my gut, how and when to seek insight, and how to communicate. Learning how to make decisions is what matters most.

In what ways has mentoring helped you set goals and achieve objectives? When you are the mentee, the mentor is usually someone who has more experience than you do. With that experience, they tend to understand the importance of setting goals and achieving results. They help to build the same discipline with the mentee because setting goals and achieving results are critical to job success.

What were the three most important things you learned from mentoring? 1) Intentionality and willingness—nothing happens if we’re not focused on making it happen. There has to be a desire to learn and grow. 2) Vulnerability and curiosity—be curious enough to ask genuine questions and vulnerable enough to realize when we need help or perspective. 3) It never ends—none of us are ever done learning, so find a mentor who can help you continue to grow.

How can mentoring help the next generation of women on their path to the C-suite? Mentoring helps us embrace priorities that include yourself and not just that of pleasing other people. It’s a constant reminder that you must choose to take care of yourself and your career. It helps us find common ground and points of connection no matter the generation, the culture, or the gender. Our mentoring relationships help us grow and strengthen our networks, which helps us grow businesses and credibility within our businesses.

What advice do you have for female executives considering mentoring? There isn’t a prescription for mentoring. There isn’t one way to go about it. Mentoring programs aren’t for everyone, but intentionally mentoring others and allowing yourself to be mentored will only help us make a bigger impact in our corners of the world. Be vulnerable, have grace, and help make a difference in the lives of other young women!

Published: March 24th, 2024

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ALICIA WALLACE: Who is a woman?

Alicia Wallace

SATURDAY, November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (IDEVAW), marked the beginning of the Global 16 Days Campaign, also known as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. National Women’s Week, a government initiative, coincides with the Campaign and usually involves the Department of Gender and Family Affairs planning a few events. One of them always seems to be Christian church service. There is, of course, no acknowledgement of the existence of other faiths or the people who have them which, on its own, gives insight into the way that many people think of this nation. That way of thinking extends to the way that many, including the government and far too many of its actors, regard women. This should raise the question: Who is a woman in The Bahamas? The finely printed continuation of the question is “who is considered to be of sufficient value to be protected from gender-based violence?”

There are many issues here. For now, we can look at two of them. One is the singular way that the government and many other institutions define “woman.” Another is the focus on the protection of (some) women from gender-based violence.

Women are not all the same. We do not all have all of the same experiences. We do not all experience the same forms of oppression to the same extent. The difference is not one that just happens to exist. It is one that based in the difference of and between women. No woman is only woman. Though we are often discussed as though we only have gender and that dictates our entire life experience, we have many other identities. In the same way that society has used gender to define and limit women, it used our other identity markers. We have race and ethnicity, age, nationality, income level, and marital status, among many others. None of these exists in isolation. They are used together to oppress, discriminate, and violate to extents that vary greatly among us.

Consider women and age. A twenty-year-old and a seventy-year-old are not treated the same in very many circumstances, if at all. What happens to each of them when they seek social assistance? How are they each treated when they go to the police to report incidents of violence against them? How do people respond to each of them when they report a concerning pain to a medical professional, or even to their family members? We have certain ideas about age that shape the way to engagement with people of different ages. In no time at all, we decide, based on age, whether or not a person should have enough resources needed to meet their needs, or the ability to indecently create or access them. Can this woman get a job? Does or should this woman have savings? Does this woman have a husband or children? The assumptions that we make about people, based on what is visible to use, affect them and the way they move through the world.

Consider women and religion. The image of the Bahamian women that is held by the government seems to be one that is a Christian who goes to church regularly. She wears pantyhose and a slip, and she likely wears a hat and/or a broach. After church, she cooks dinner for her family to eat together. She quotes verses from The Bible and she likes to let people know that she is a member of a church and believes in the Christian God.

Based on this description, how old do you think this woman is? Is she married? How many children does she have? What kind of car does she drive? Where does she shop for her clothing? What is her race? What area does she live in?

These are important questions because this is the woman that the government sees and thinks about. This is the woman who is centred in government-planned activities. This is the woman who needs to be protected from gender-based violence. She is the Bahamian woman, she is the one of value, and she is the one who deserves to live a happy, violence-free life.

You know this woman, don’t you? You probably know quite a few of them. You see them at work, you pass them in the grocery store, and you sit behind them when you find yourself at church, whether that is weekly, monthly, seasonally, or strictly for special occasions. What does it mean to be that woman?

What about the other women? How many of the women you know and interact with on a daily basis are not that woman of a certain age and marital status who goes to church with her knees covered? How many of the women in your life are not included when the government thinks about what women need and plans national events to honour women and call attention to the achievements of women over the years? What does it mean for them to be excluded?

There are many other questions to grapple with when we consider the way that women are defined, not just by the people around us, but by the government, and not just in theory, but in its practice which is supposed to include critical services and resources. Perhaps the definition it holds for women is the reason there are so many dark streets and overgrown bushes. The government definition of woman suggests that women do not venture out of their homes when it is not light outside. This may seem like an exaggeration, but look at the evidence. Look at who is centered and who is ignored. A national church service is not just a church service. It is a site of exclusion and it is a statement on who gets to be a woman who is regarded by the government and its actors as a woman who, importantly, “deserves” acknowledgement of any kind.

The central question raised here is: “Who is a woman in The Bahamas?” I put a finer point on the question. “Who is a woman in The Bahamas who is considered to be of sufficient value to be protected from gender-based violence?” The definition of woman, as seen by the government (based on its planning of National Women’s Week among other demonstrations), considered, we can look at the second issue. Protection. When we talk about gender-based violence against women, there is still an emphasis — and often singular focus — on protection. This suggests that there is nothing to be done about the issue, that is will continue to exist, that prevention and intervention are not an area of focus (or secondary to protection, at best), and we must resign ourselves to focus on ensuring that gender-based violence does not happen to certain women. The women the government sees as fitting into its narrow understanding of womanhood which is bound up in other issues and areas, including the persisting refusal to acknowledge people of other faiths.

Protection does not solve the problem. On the contrary, the focus on protection is the throwing up hands, communicating (incorrectly, in this case) that the problem cannot be solved, so we must simply live with it and put measures in place to ensure that the problem does not affect a certain group of people, or that it only affects a certain group of people.

Who can be included in protection from gender-based violence? Does it include LGBTQI+ people who, along with women and girls, are disproportionately impacted by gender-based violence? Does it include migrant people and, in particular, undocumented migrants? What about people who have been and are being trafficked? Does it include sex workers? Who is protection for?

We see, with every reported case of violence against women and girls, that some women and girls are valued more than others. There are some women and girls that people are more concerned about. People are more upset by violence against certain kinds of women and girls, while violence against others is shrugged off. Look at the reports of missing girls and requests for help in finding them. What do most of the comments say? What does it say about this country that so many people are adamant that they will not help to find a child because she is “bad” or “think she is woman” when this has nothing to do with her, if she was taken by a man, being raped? What does it say about this place, that some even some girls are seen as less “deserving” of protection? If all girls do not need or get protection, then what about women?

Protection is not the way to go. Violence against women and girls must be eliminated. Gender-based violence must be eliminated. This is in the language of the day that starts the Global 16 Days Campaign every year. International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It is in the language of the recommendations based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Gender-based violence is not to be accepted. It is to be eradicated. The Government of The Bahamas needs to understand that it is responsible for ensuring that all women and girls — not just the ones fitting its special definition — live free of violence, and that protection will not get us there.

Equality Bahamas is hosting a series of events during the Global 16 Days Campaign, delving into the issue of gender-based violence from various perspectives. Tonight, at 6pm, in a session on gender-based violence research, Étoile Binder, president of Sanigest International will talk about data collection and analysis on gender-based violence in The Bahamas, regional statistics, and the development of a coordinated care model in response to gender-based violence. Register at tiny.cc/16days23c. See the full event lineup at tiny.cc/16days23.

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GOALDEN GIRL

How Laura Woods overcame sexist trolls and sad split to become TV’s hottest new star – and Prem footballers’ celeb crush

SHE’S the TV presenter famous footballers want to date - and women look up to.

With killer looks, an enviable wardrobe and a new Love Island beau on her arm, Laura Woods might just be the sporting world’s answer to Maya Jama.

This week we revealed Laura enjoyed a low-key date with Adam Collard, 27, in a County Durham pub - after splitting from long-term love England rugby player Alex Corbisiero.

The TNT Sports host - who won praise for her coverage of the Women’s World Cup for ITV -  is being tipped to become a household name with the potential to earn millions.

One expert reckons stylish Laura, 36, could bag major fashion deals and presenting jobs away from sport as her star rises.

Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs a PR firm in London, told The Sun: “There are people out there who are stand out stars and Laura is definitely one of them.

“Female sports presenters like Gabby Logan and Kirsty Gallacher will always be iconic but Laura is fresh blood and looks like the perfect person to take on the reins.

“She’s very intelligent and did great coverage of the Women’s World Cup and has shown off her knowledge of different sports.

“Yet she’s not too pigeon-holed in sport that other presenting roles won’t be offered to her and she could even branch out to fashion and produce her own collections.

“She’s a British celebrity but her job means she has an international profile and that will really help in her quest to become a big star."

Nick added that dating some like Adam Collard - known for his bad boy antics on Love Island and recent dalliance with Lottie Moss on Celebs Go Dating - will "only elevate her status".

“It means Laura might find herself propelled onto the front of newspapers as much as the back, which is something new for her, but she can utilise it in a strong way to raise her profile," he said.

“She’s clever and gorgeous and really is the perfect package. She could be on her way to earning millions just like Maya Jama.”

Humble start

Laura, who played rugby as a kid, started her career as a humble runner at Sky Sports in 2009 before working her way up to a producer role.

She kicked off her presenting career with behind-the-scenes interviews on the darts coverage for Sky Sports’ YouTube channel.

Laura then got a job on the Saturday morning kids’ show Game Changers before joining the Soccer AM online presenting team.

By 2018 she was a regular pitch-side reporter on Super Sunday before leaving Sky Sports four years later.

She was also Talksport’s breakfast show host with Ally McCoist from 2020 until June this year.

She joined TNT Sports as the lead presenter for the UEFA Champions League and boxing coverage.

But it was Laura’s knowledgeable coverage of the recent FIFA Women’s World Cup that has really propelled her into the limelight.

Hurt feelings

She had already won over leading sportsmen with her knowledge and good looks.

Ex Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek admitted she is his celebrity crush live on air, leaving her giggling.

And in April boxer Anthony Joshua told her she was his “dream date” after he flirted with her during an interview.

Laura has also bagged two major presenting awards and has won plaudits on social media for her stunning dress sense.

But her stratospheric rise to fame has not been easy.

When she first hit our screens Laura faced criticism that she’d only landed on TV because of her looks - something that hurt her feelings.

She said: “I accept that as presenters we are putting ourselves out there; we’re essentially targets. I’m learning to live with it because that’s part of our job. You’re never going to please everybody.

“It would hurt me a lot more if I took it all to heart, so I take it with a pinch of salt now as much as I can."

But Laura soon proved the haters wrong, proving herself a worthy adversary to the male presenters.

She said she “wouldn’t get in the door” without her knowledge adding: "If you don’t have a grasp of what’s going on, you’re never going to get to the top.”

Laura added: "We are all striving for equality but the reaction to a woman on screen or radio is still not equal. A producer once told me that women reporters have higher to fall from.

"It stuck with me. It’s not just what you say, it’s how you look, the way your voice sounds.

"I have had it all in tweets and stuff. 'You are underweight'. 'You are overweight'. 'You have too much make-up'. 'You look tired'.

"Men have to deal with scrutiny, too. I know. But their knowledge is never attacked in the same way.

"Women have transitioned into some sports such as cricket incredibly well. But what is it about football that people can’t accept something if it’s coming out of a woman’s mouth?"

As well as succeeding in a mainly male dominated world, Laura is famous for slapping down sexist Twitter trolls with witty one-liners.

On Instagram, when one man told her to get ‘back in the kitchen’ she swiftly replied: “Ohh Mick. Nothing screams ‘I have a small penis’ more than this old phrase.”

Sad split

She might be in the public eye but Laura is fiercely protective of her private life.

Laura dated her ex Alex for eight years and was by his side while he battled testicular cancer in 2019, which later spread to his lymph nodes.

The retired prop, who played for London Irish and Northampton Saints, now hosts The Scrum Down podcast.

Laura said the split was her decision, and she's "never regretted it".

"We’d lived in each other’s pockets and breaking up with him felt like coming up for air," she explained.

She recently told The Sun: "I am single, but I'm also dating. That's a part of my life that I have learned to keep private.

"I don’t want to put my whole life out there for everybody to see. I want to keep some things like ‘that person’ more sacred."

Laura grew up in the north east before her family moved to Dagenham, London. Her mum Michelle coached rugby, and dad Steve is a former English cricket player.

A huge Arsenal fan, Laura says that while she’s living the dream in a job she loves, she wishes she could spend more time with her family.

She said last month: “I’d really love to get healthy. I want to be able to exercise more and take my dog for long walks.

"I’m just tired of feeling tired. I want to give my family and friends more of my attention. I really want to prioritise that part of my life more.”

Tipped to be propelled to superstardom, it may be a while yet before Laura gets that rest…

Topics


This report addresses: Female Crane Operators

In its Not all Gen Z report, Yuvaa--a youth media, insights and impact company--exclusively shared this and other findings with ET on the behaviour and ideologies of the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

This indicates a shift in the perception of content creators and their 'influence' on the demographic cohort that also forms one of the largest audience groups on most social media and content platforms.

MEKHENNET: I'm Souad Mekhennet, international security correspondent here at The Washington Post, and I am very pleased and honored to have my wonderful colleague here, Barkha Dutt.

She is one of the most-known journalists in India, and she is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post.

Women are twice as likely to enrol at university, according to the Gender Fact Sheet (March 2020 and 2021) published by the Department of Higher Education and Training, and women now account for 58% of South African students in tertiary education,” he said.

According to the university, one in seven female students received a place at a residence, while one in five male applicants secured a place this year.

This report addresses: Female Crane Operators

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Content:     The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Friends may have a bigger influence on Gen Z when they step out to shop

    Synopsis

    Friends’ suggestion matters more to Gen Z than an influencer’s while buying products: Report

    India's Gen Z are 50% more likely to buy products based on a friend's recommendation than that of an influencer or a celebrity endorsement. This indicates a shift in the perception of content creators and their 'influence' on the demographic cohort that also forms one of the largest audience groups on most social media and content platforms.

    In its Not all Gen Z report, Yuvaa--a youth media, insights and impact company--exclusively shared this and other findings with ET on the behaviour and ideologies of the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

    According to the report, 71% of Gen Z shoppers from India prefer brands that are environment-friendly, owing to their hyper awareness and concern for climate change, while 63% like to shop from brands that support a social cause. Retail experts note that Gen Zers expect brands to create sustainable products but don't like to pay the additional cost for it.

    Close to 77% of Gen Z shoppers are price-conscious buyers, as per the report. This also explains their role in popularising the thrifting culture–the trend of buying used goods, often from a shop that specialises in second-hand products.

    Gen Z are the DIY (do it yourself) generation, said Dhatri Bhatt, founder of D'Altair Marcom, an integrated marketing agency.

    “They like to be unique, inclusive, and socially aware citizens,” she said. “They also realise that a large part of what influencers put out is monetised so they can't completely trust them and therefore need a close friend to validate some of their purchases.”

    At over 2 billion, Gen Z forms roughly 25% of the global population. It makes up around 35% of India's population, as per Yuvaa. The survey of 900 Gen Z participants from about 20 cities across tier 1, 2, and 3 India revealed consumption behaviour and expectations that may have got several brands to redefine products and marketing strategies in recent times.

    “You'll notice major apparel brands have a separate Gen Z section that is price sensitive, focuses on latest trends, and has sustainability as a key communication theme,” said Bhatt, who has worked in the marketing and communication verticals of brands like Nykaa Fashion, Christian Dior, and H&M.

    In May, Myntra launched FWD, a section on the retail app with weekly trend drops “to bring Gen Z their latest drip.” That’s a Gen Z word for a trendy look or style.

    Gen Z is “the defining voice on fashion and beauty--be it embracing Barbiecore or making everything Insta-worthy, hence they play a big influence in how we are shaping our initiatives,” said Vijay Sharma, senior director of marketing, Myntra.

    The survey findings about trust in friends over influencers for shopping seem to reflect the behaviour of "networks typically found in more affluent circles, where there is a wider collective exposure to different interests and domains," noted Abhimanyu Radhakrishnan, managing director at Qyuki Digital Media, a creator management and monetisation company that runs e-commerce product businesses of a few of its creators like Faisal Shaikh and Madhura Bachal.

    "We are seeing that people outside the elite consumer band tend to get most of their expertise-based information for the first time from influencers. They tend to believe influencers because of this notion that their tier 3 and rural towns are cocoons while the real world is out there and the influencer is showing it to them," he added.

    Radhakrishnan pointed out how the rapid rise of finfluencers (finance and trading influencers) hinged on this very phenomenon. "People from smaller towns were more inclined to trust finfluencers instead of turning to family and friends for advice as they are perceived to be financially illiterate because they bank on fixed deposits, physical gold and other traditional investment avenues."

    Besides shopping, the Yuvaa report also provides insights on the Gen Z thought process in areas such as sex education, mental health and loneliness that aim to dispel certain gender-related stereotypes.

    According to the report, 71% of Gen Z men want better safety features on dating apps. Gen Z men, in general, are twice as likely to feel lonely because of their gender than women, the report added.

    When it comes to their watchlist, 70% of Gen Z place a good trailer above factors such as cast and marketing to decide whether to watch a movie or show. Gen Z women are 10% more interested in thrillers than in romcoms, the report further said.
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Content: Democracy Dies in Darkness

Transcript: Global Women’s Summit: Truth to Power

MS. MEKHENNET: Hello. Welcome.

[Applause]

MS. MEKHENNET: I'm Souad Mekhennet, international security correspondent here at The Washington Post, and I am very pleased and honored to have my wonderful colleague here, Barkha Dutt. She is one of the most-known journalists in India, and she is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post. Welcome, Barkha.

MS. DUTT: Thank you very much.

MS. MEKHENNET: Barkha, we just saw in the introduction video the case of Bilkis Bano, and in the end you ask the question, "Should any woman's fight for justice end like this?" Could you tell us, who is Bilkis Bano and what does this case show and say about the cases and the lives of women in India and of Muslims in India?

MS. DUTT: Thank you, Souad, and good evening, everybody. Thank you very much for turning out in such large numbers to hear this conversation. My answer, however, is going to be a little bit complex.

Who is Bilkis Bano? Bilkis could be any one of us. She could be any one of us women who has experienced sexual assault of the most horrific, unimaginable kind. She was 19 years old when she was gang-raped by a group of 11 men in 2002, in the backdrop of anti-Muslim riots that had taken place in Gujarat. She was pregnant, three months pregnant, and she had a three-year-old baby. As the mob came for her, the baby in her womb obviously didn't survive. Her three-year-old daughter, Saleha, her head was smashed with a stone.

As Bilkis was raped and lay on the ground bleeding the men then split up and raped her mother. The men made the mother witness the rape of the daughter, and the daughter witness the rape of the mother.

Bilkis fought. She fought for 17 years, and the Indian justice system actually worked. The men were sentenced to life imprisonment. In India's history, she is the rape survivor to have been granted by the Supreme Court exemplary compensation in 2019. However--

MS. MEKHENNET: And the men were released then, right?

MS. DUTT: --now is the horrific part.

A few months ago, the men who did this to her, who were supposed to spend the rest of their life in prison were released by a government decision, as part of a special program to show leniency to prisoners, and all 11 of them walked out, and they walked out to garlands and sweets. And one of the legislators who was part of the decision to release these men, he said, in an interview to my platform, that these are men of good values. He referenced their cost, and he said, "They're Brahmins. They are men of good values."

It made me very angry. I'm not usually an activist-y journalist. I believe in letting the story speak for itself. This is one of the few stories I've actually run an advocacy campaign on because I did not see another side.

MS. MEKHENNET: And do you think they also were released because she was a Muslim woman? Did that play a role in all of this?

MS. DUTT: So this is where I'm going to give you an answer that's a little bit complex, and I want your understanding, and maybe just two minutes to let me explain.

MS. MEKHENNET: Please, go ahead.

MS. DUTT: Are there issues with religious minorities in India today? Yes. For me the biggest two issues are the following. We have one of the most powerful elected governments in recent history, completely democratically elected, I should underline. There's nothing about seizing power here or a flawed system. This is what the people of India have willed, and it's an extremely powerful government in terms of how many seats it has.

However, the ruling party does not have a single Muslim member in Parliament, and to me that is a problem, in a country where there are 220 million Muslims. That is a nation by itself. That is a problem.

The other problem is we've seen all manners of literally sort of right-wing nuts, I would call them, make hate speeches, that I believe that those in power have not done enough to shut down.

However, I want to say something a little complex here. When I travel to the West there is a broad stroke in the Western media about India. The cliches I usually hear are, "Muslims under Modi," "India in the age of Modi." There is a kind of generalization and no granularity in actually trying to know us. Who are we? We are 1.3 billion people. We are many things all at once. We have issues that we raise our voices against, but we also have extraordinary syncretism. We have diversity. We have pluralism.

And just as we talk about Bilkis--one more sentence and I'll shut up--in the last 12 hours, I was up all night before I got to the conference here, came the report of a young woman called Sharaddha. She had been killed by her boyfriend. He chopped her up into 35 parts. He minced the intestines. He stored them in the refrigerator in his home, where he then brought other women to date. In this case, the perpetrator was Muslim; the victim was Hindu.

I make this point to say two things. We do fight, and we do speak against injustices as we see them. But please try and have a more granular understanding of our nation, and please, as women, let us understand that the fight for women's rights is universal. You've all just been through Roe vs. Wade. In many ways my country is freer on abortion. So let's acknowledge that women are fighting everywhere.

MS. MEKHENNET: And I wish you would pick up on this point because you wrote a piece for The Washington Post where you spoke about the prism of prejudice, that some Western journalists, when they come to India, that they look at India from a perspective with some prejudices. And I would like to ask you what exactly do you mean by that? You mentioned a few points, but could you tell us a bit more?

MS. DUTT: This assumption that as an Indian woman I will, by definition, be less empowered than many of the women sitting in this hall today. That is the assumption I confronted when I was a student here at grad school at Columbia. I grew up in New York. That was the assumption my schoolmates had. I was a brown girl from India, and somehow, I was less of a feminist. Oh, I must be really oppressed. I must only be married by an arranged marriage. They couldn't even imagine that I'm not married. And I'm not.

MS. MEKHENNET: I grew up with the same prejudices.

MS. DUTT: Yeah? The broad stroking and the asymmetry of power, right? Can I come here and look at America only through the prism of race? Guns? Roe vs. Wade? No. I lived here. I love this country. I recognize that it's many things all at once. I ask for my country to be recognized in the same way.

MS. MEKHENNET: But when you cover cases like Bilkis, or you spoke now about the new case, this actually also does something with you, right? I mean, you have been attacked for some of the coverage you did. Can you tell us what kind of attacks have you faced? What do you have to deal with at the moment, covering these things?

MS. DUTT: Souad, I'm sure you've experienced this. I think any intelligent, independent-minded woman, no matter where in the world, has been intimidated, or there's been an attempt to intimidate us, and an attempt to silence us. And nowhere is this more manifest than it is on social media, where you actually have organized, well-oiled machines coming after you, almost like lynch mobs. I call them virtual lynch mobs.

And I remember a time when, in the context of a story I had reported, where I actually spoke about sort of how criticism does not mean that I am antinational. I'm a proud Indian, and if I criticize a policy, let's say, it doesn't make me an antinational, which is a word that's bandied about far too easily.

My phone number was shared on an escort site, on a site to hire sex workers. And I was then sent about 5,000 dick pics, nude pics, rape threats, threats to shoot me. I got police security briefly, and I was very uncomfortable about it, you know, with it, as a reporter, and so I gave it up.

And I remembered, funnily enough, I was listening to Hillary Clinton moderate earlier today, and she'd come to India and I had interviewed her, and I was asking her--she was Secretary of State then, and she quoted Eleanor Roosevelt, and she said, "Barkha, you have to grow a skin as thick as the hide of a rhinoceros."

My challenge is this. I think I have that thick skin, but how do you keep the thick skin but still keep your heart molten, because we need to be tough outside and soft inside to tell the stories we do.

MS. MEKHENNET: So what do you do then? How did you keep the thick skin but how do you also take care of yourself?

MS. DUTT: I spent two years traveling across India, reporting on the pandemic in my country, at a time when no channels--there were no boots on the ground. I traveled 30,000 kilometers by road from the north to the south of India, spending 130 days consecutively on the road. And I realized that the answer is in returning journalism to people.

Everywhere, from New Delhi to New York, people have one complaint about the media. They don't see their lives reflected in the news that they consume. And I committed and recommitted to making journalism about people. And I think the answer to those who try and silence us, apart from the thick skin, is to be powerful storytellers and tell a story so good that nobody can afford to ignore you.

MS. MEKHENNET: I have to ask this question because you kept talking about the people who tried to silence you and organized mobs online. Do you have the impression that any of this is organized by the government to silence you?

MS. DUTT: No, I would not say that because I have no evidence to actually make that point. But I think I've studied sort of online behavior enough to find that independent-minded people get crushed between ideological camps.

You know, I always say we talk about free speech. We just had Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born New Yorker stabbed for his work. More than free speech, what we need to re-emphasize, not just in India but I would say everywhere in the world, is the need for a free interrogating mind. And as women we are going to be resented for having free, independent minds, for rejecting tribalism, for not being coopted by any camp, for being ferociously me, individualistic, for speaking truth to power and for being inconvenient, for being a pain in the ass, for being a troublemaker. I plan to be all of those.

[Laughter]

MS. MEKHENNET: Good for you. Good for you.

[Applause]

MS. MEKHENNET: So what can we do, we as fellow journalists, but also what could international organizations for journalists do to support you, to be still the troublemaker, and to, you know, not give up on all of this, despite all the pressure?

MS. DUTT: I think that we need to be respectful of each other's complexities. Complexity and nuance has become a bad word in the age of polarity. I think we have to acknowledge that as women we fight everywhere, and sometimes we fight in the space that's supposed to be the safest, our private spaces, in relationships where we think we're going to be safe, and we end up in abusive relationships. In India I'm fighting to legalize marital rape. It's been sort of a space I've done a lot of work on.

But if we just look at another country from the perch of superiority, we assume ourselves to be culturally superior, democratically superior, superior in some ways of, you know, we have a better track record of civil liberty, what it's going to do is actually diminish the space for these conversations back home, because it's going to get everyone's back up, and people are going to say, "Hey, dear Americans, do we have a right to also opine about what's happening in your country?" And once it's a conversation between equals that is a much more productive conversation.

On journalism I would only say, Souad--and you are a brilliant, brilliant security correspondent who has covered terror groups. You know this. There is no excuse for bad journalism. We are not activists. That's somebody else's job. We are not politicians. And we are not supplicants to power. We have to be interrogatory. We have to be unafraid, but it has to be through our work. And the lines between news and opinion have blurred to a degree where people have stopped respecting and trusting media. And if we want trust back in media, in India or in the United States of America, actually we need to go back to the basics. We need to be reporters.

MS. MEKHENNET: Speaking about the basics, how much did your mother play a role in who you became? Your mother was the first war correspondent in India, and she passed away when you were very young. But how did her work influence your life and what you're doing today? If you could give us a short answer.

MS. DUTT: Yes. Thank you for that question. I know the time is up so I'll keep it short. My mother was the first generation of women journalists in India. When she applied for a job, the editor told her there were no jobs available in the newsroom for women. She was free to cover the flower show in the city.

She grew up to be the head of bureau at the Hindustan Times, which is one of India's major newspapers. A few years later, war broke out between India and Pakistan. She asked for a chance to report from the front lines. She was told that there was no chance that a woman would be allowed to be a war correspondent.

She left with her notepad and pen in the 1960s, in a sari, to the war front, where she had a cousin in the military, and became, by accident and by will and by stubbornness, India's first woman war correspondent.

MS. MEKHENNET: There it is, the stubbornness.

MS. DUTT: The stubbornness. And three decades later, she was already dead, I became a war correspondent at the front line, and I had to really fight as a woman to get to the front line.

Our life is a constant battle. Every day is a negotiation. So we should be kind to ourselves, and we should encourage women to be selfish. We've been romanticized for too long as being sacrificing, as being people who put others before ourselves. I want women everywhere to pursue ambition without apology and happiness without regret.

MS. MEKHENNET: Thank you very much, Barkha. Wonderful.

[Applause.]

MS. MEKHENNET: Unfortunately, we are running out of time. Thank you so much for being here with us, and please stay here with us. My colleague, Frances, will be here shortly after the video. Thank you.

MS. DUTT: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

[Applause]

Title:

Content: Sunday, March 19, 2023

Maties moves to cater for more female students at res

File - A Stellenbosch University residence. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency (ANA)

Published 1h ago

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The University of Stellenbosch (SU) has started engagements with students on plans to increase the number of “mixed or co-ed” residences to meet the growing number of female students.

According to the university, one in seven female students received a place at a residence, while one in five male applicants secured a place this year.

Spokesperson Martin Viljoen said over the past two decades, the percentage of female students at the university steadily increased to where it currently stood, at 58% of the total undergraduate student population.

“This is largely a result of more women having access to higher education, both nationally and globally. Women are twice as likely to enrol at university, according to the Gender Fact Sheet (March 2020 and 2021) published by the Department of Higher Education and Training, and women now account for 58% of South African students in tertiary education,” he said.

Currently, there are 14 mixed residences at the university, including Goldfields, Metanoia, Huis Neethling, Lobelia, Concordia, Huis MacDonald, Ubuntu and Nkosi Johnson House.

Now the university is exploring ways to catch up with the student trends and meet the needs of its female student population.

Of the first-year applications received for a place in residence this year, 37% were males and 63% females.

The university had 5 579 beds available in undergraduate residences on campus.

“First-year spaces are not fixed and will vary depending on the number of senior students who move out in a particular year. This year, first-year students' placement ratio at residences on the Stellenbosch campus was 49% for males and 51% for females,” said Viljoen.

The university wanted to achieve a 60/40 residence placement split in favour of female students in its residences in 2024.

“An increase over the next few years to 60% of the available places will bring SU closer to a more equitable gender split,” said Viljoen.

A working group to be spearheaded by Dr Choice Makhetha, senior director: Student Affairs, has been set up to formulate proposals for the phased-in implementation of the proposed 60/40 residence placement policy.

So far, residences had yet to be identified for reconfiguration but the committee would also consider financial implications, infrastructure requirements, and student community environments.

Chairperson of the Student Representative Council (SRC) Masilo Silokazi also believed that there was a need to increase female student placement in residences.

“A committee within the SRC has started canvassing views from the student community which will be compiled into a proposal,” said Silokazi.

Other universities that had long-established mixed or co-ed residences, included UCT, Wits, UWC and CPUT.

Wits said that of its 14 residences, five were mixed residences.

However, first-year students were placed in same-sex residences with an option to be in mixed residences as they progressed.

“As students mature in the university environment, they grow in confidence and learn to co-exist regardless of gender, race, and class, which is beneficial for their development as they get socialised into the bigger society in preparation for the working world,“ spokesperson Buhle Zuma said.

Security needs were also taken into consideration when managing the mixed residences, including the provision of security staff and installation of CCTV cameras at other institutions.

“In mixed-gender residences, men and women are accommodated on separate floors. All residences have strict access control and most are covered by closed-circuit television,” said UCT spokesperson, Elijah Moholola.

At UWC all senior and postgraduate residences are co-ed.

“The first-year residences are single-ed, male and female. The rationale behind the separation is to assist students with the adaptation and transition into a “new living and learning environment,” said spokesperson, Gasant Abarder.

He added that post-1994, integrated residences “became the norm”.

Allocation of residences at CPUT has in recent years been done on a faculty or course basis, according to spokesperson, Lauren Kansley.

“This means we can allocate space to students closest to their building or campus, it enhances peer education and tutoring. We always opt to have our first years as close to campus as possible,” she said.

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This report addresses: Female Crane Operators

In its Not all Gen Z report, Yuvaa--a youth media, insights and impact company--exclusively shared this and other findings with ET on the behaviour and ideologies of the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

This indicates a shift in the perception of content creators and their 'influence' on the demographic cohort that also forms one of the largest audience groups on most social media and content platforms.

MEKHENNET: I'm Souad Mekhennet, international security correspondent here at The Washington Post, and I am very pleased and honored to have my wonderful colleague here, Barkha Dutt.

She is one of the most-known journalists in India, and she is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post.

Women are twice as likely to enrol at university, according to the Gender Fact Sheet (March 2020 and 2021) published by the Department of Higher Education and Training, and women now account for 58% of South African students in tertiary education,” he said.

According to the university, one in seven female students received a place at a residence, while one in five male applicants secured a place this year.

This report addresses: Female Crane Operators

Title:

Content:     The Economic Times daily newspaper is available online now.

    Friends may have a bigger influence on Gen Z when they step out to shop

    Synopsis

    Friends’ suggestion matters more to Gen Z than an influencer’s while buying products: Report

    India's Gen Z are 50% more likely to buy products based on a friend's recommendation than that of an influencer or a celebrity endorsement. This indicates a shift in the perception of content creators and their 'influence' on the demographic cohort that also forms one of the largest audience groups on most social media and content platforms.

    In its Not all Gen Z report, Yuvaa--a youth media, insights and impact company--exclusively shared this and other findings with ET on the behaviour and ideologies of the generation born between 1997 and 2012.

    According to the report, 71% of Gen Z shoppers from India prefer brands that are environment-friendly, owing to their hyper awareness and concern for climate change, while 63% like to shop from brands that support a social cause. Retail experts note that Gen Zers expect brands to create sustainable products but don't like to pay the additional cost for it.

    Close to 77% of Gen Z shoppers are price-conscious buyers, as per the report. This also explains their role in popularising the thrifting culture–the trend of buying used goods, often from a shop that specialises in second-hand products.

    Gen Z are the DIY (do it yourself) generation, said Dhatri Bhatt, founder of D'Altair Marcom, an integrated marketing agency.

    “They like to be unique, inclusive, and socially aware citizens,” she said. “They also realise that a large part of what influencers put out is monetised so they can't completely trust them and therefore need a close friend to validate some of their purchases.”

    At over 2 billion, Gen Z forms roughly 25% of the global population. It makes up around 35% of India's population, as per Yuvaa. The survey of 900 Gen Z participants from about 20 cities across tier 1, 2, and 3 India revealed consumption behaviour and expectations that may have got several brands to redefine products and marketing strategies in recent times.

    “You'll notice major apparel brands have a separate Gen Z section that is price sensitive, focuses on latest trends, and has sustainability as a key communication theme,” said Bhatt, who has worked in the marketing and communication verticals of brands like Nykaa Fashion, Christian Dior, and H&M.

    In May, Myntra launched FWD, a section on the retail app with weekly trend drops “to bring Gen Z their latest drip.” That’s a Gen Z word for a trendy look or style.

    Gen Z is “the defining voice on fashion and beauty--be it embracing Barbiecore or making everything Insta-worthy, hence they play a big influence in how we are shaping our initiatives,” said Vijay Sharma, senior director of marketing, Myntra.

    The survey findings about trust in friends over influencers for shopping seem to reflect the behaviour of "networks typically found in more affluent circles, where there is a wider collective exposure to different interests and domains," noted Abhimanyu Radhakrishnan, managing director at Qyuki Digital Media, a creator management and monetisation company that runs e-commerce product businesses of a few of its creators like Faisal Shaikh and Madhura Bachal.

    "We are seeing that people outside the elite consumer band tend to get most of their expertise-based information for the first time from influencers. They tend to believe influencers because of this notion that their tier 3 and rural towns are cocoons while the real world is out there and the influencer is showing it to them," he added.

    Radhakrishnan pointed out how the rapid rise of finfluencers (finance and trading influencers) hinged on this very phenomenon. "People from smaller towns were more inclined to trust finfluencers instead of turning to family and friends for advice as they are perceived to be financially illiterate because they bank on fixed deposits, physical gold and other traditional investment avenues."

    Besides shopping, the Yuvaa report also provides insights on the Gen Z thought process in areas such as sex education, mental health and loneliness that aim to dispel certain gender-related stereotypes.

    According to the report, 71% of Gen Z men want better safety features on dating apps. Gen Z men, in general, are twice as likely to feel lonely because of their gender than women, the report added.

    When it comes to their watchlist, 70% of Gen Z place a good trailer above factors such as cast and marketing to decide whether to watch a movie or show. Gen Z women are 10% more interested in thrillers than in romcoms, the report further said.
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Title:

Content: Democracy Dies in Darkness

Transcript: Global Women’s Summit: Truth to Power

MS. MEKHENNET: Hello. Welcome.

[Applause]

MS. MEKHENNET: I'm Souad Mekhennet, international security correspondent here at The Washington Post, and I am very pleased and honored to have my wonderful colleague here, Barkha Dutt. She is one of the most-known journalists in India, and she is also a contributing columnist at The Washington Post. Welcome, Barkha.

MS. DUTT: Thank you very much.

MS. MEKHENNET: Barkha, we just saw in the introduction video the case of Bilkis Bano, and in the end you ask the question, "Should any woman's fight for justice end like this?" Could you tell us, who is Bilkis Bano and what does this case show and say about the cases and the lives of women in India and of Muslims in India?

MS. DUTT: Thank you, Souad, and good evening, everybody. Thank you very much for turning out in such large numbers to hear this conversation. My answer, however, is going to be a little bit complex.

Who is Bilkis Bano? Bilkis could be any one of us. She could be any one of us women who has experienced sexual assault of the most horrific, unimaginable kind. She was 19 years old when she was gang-raped by a group of 11 men in 2002, in the backdrop of anti-Muslim riots that had taken place in Gujarat. She was pregnant, three months pregnant, and she had a three-year-old baby. As the mob came for her, the baby in her womb obviously didn't survive. Her three-year-old daughter, Saleha, her head was smashed with a stone.

As Bilkis was raped and lay on the ground bleeding the men then split up and raped her mother. The men made the mother witness the rape of the daughter, and the daughter witness the rape of the mother.

Bilkis fought. She fought for 17 years, and the Indian justice system actually worked. The men were sentenced to life imprisonment. In India's history, she is the rape survivor to have been granted by the Supreme Court exemplary compensation in 2019. However--

MS. MEKHENNET: And the men were released then, right?

MS. DUTT: --now is the horrific part.

A few months ago, the men who did this to her, who were supposed to spend the rest of their life in prison were released by a government decision, as part of a special program to show leniency to prisoners, and all 11 of them walked out, and they walked out to garlands and sweets. And one of the legislators who was part of the decision to release these men, he said, in an interview to my platform, that these are men of good values. He referenced their cost, and he said, "They're Brahmins. They are men of good values."

It made me very angry. I'm not usually an activist-y journalist. I believe in letting the story speak for itself. This is one of the few stories I've actually run an advocacy campaign on because I did not see another side.

MS. MEKHENNET: And do you think they also were released because she was a Muslim woman? Did that play a role in all of this?

MS. DUTT: So this is where I'm going to give you an answer that's a little bit complex, and I want your understanding, and maybe just two minutes to let me explain.

MS. MEKHENNET: Please, go ahead.

MS. DUTT: Are there issues with religious minorities in India today? Yes. For me the biggest two issues are the following. We have one of the most powerful elected governments in recent history, completely democratically elected, I should underline. There's nothing about seizing power here or a flawed system. This is what the people of India have willed, and it's an extremely powerful government in terms of how many seats it has.

However, the ruling party does not have a single Muslim member in Parliament, and to me that is a problem, in a country where there are 220 million Muslims. That is a nation by itself. That is a problem.

The other problem is we've seen all manners of literally sort of right-wing nuts, I would call them, make hate speeches, that I believe that those in power have not done enough to shut down.

However, I want to say something a little complex here. When I travel to the West there is a broad stroke in the Western media about India. The cliches I usually hear are, "Muslims under Modi," "India in the age of Modi." There is a kind of generalization and no granularity in actually trying to know us. Who are we? We are 1.3 billion people. We are many things all at once. We have issues that we raise our voices against, but we also have extraordinary syncretism. We have diversity. We have pluralism.

And just as we talk about Bilkis--one more sentence and I'll shut up--in the last 12 hours, I was up all night before I got to the conference here, came the report of a young woman called Sharaddha. She had been killed by her boyfriend. He chopped her up into 35 parts. He minced the intestines. He stored them in the refrigerator in his home, where he then brought other women to date. In this case, the perpetrator was Muslim; the victim was Hindu.

I make this point to say two things. We do fight, and we do speak against injustices as we see them. But please try and have a more granular understanding of our nation, and please, as women, let us understand that the fight for women's rights is universal. You've all just been through Roe vs. Wade. In many ways my country is freer on abortion. So let's acknowledge that women are fighting everywhere.

MS. MEKHENNET: And I wish you would pick up on this point because you wrote a piece for The Washington Post where you spoke about the prism of prejudice, that some Western journalists, when they come to India, that they look at India from a perspective with some prejudices. And I would like to ask you what exactly do you mean by that? You mentioned a few points, but could you tell us a bit more?

MS. DUTT: This assumption that as an Indian woman I will, by definition, be less empowered than many of the women sitting in this hall today. That is the assumption I confronted when I was a student here at grad school at Columbia. I grew up in New York. That was the assumption my schoolmates had. I was a brown girl from India, and somehow, I was less of a feminist. Oh, I must be really oppressed. I must only be married by an arranged marriage. They couldn't even imagine that I'm not married. And I'm not.

MS. MEKHENNET: I grew up with the same prejudices.

MS. DUTT: Yeah? The broad stroking and the asymmetry of power, right? Can I come here and look at America only through the prism of race? Guns? Roe vs. Wade? No. I lived here. I love this country. I recognize that it's many things all at once. I ask for my country to be recognized in the same way.

MS. MEKHENNET: But when you cover cases like Bilkis, or you spoke now about the new case, this actually also does something with you, right? I mean, you have been attacked for some of the coverage you did. Can you tell us what kind of attacks have you faced? What do you have to deal with at the moment, covering these things?

MS. DUTT: Souad, I'm sure you've experienced this. I think any intelligent, independent-minded woman, no matter where in the world, has been intimidated, or there's been an attempt to intimidate us, and an attempt to silence us. And nowhere is this more manifest than it is on social media, where you actually have organized, well-oiled machines coming after you, almost like lynch mobs. I call them virtual lynch mobs.

And I remember a time when, in the context of a story I had reported, where I actually spoke about sort of how criticism does not mean that I am antinational. I'm a proud Indian, and if I criticize a policy, let's say, it doesn't make me an antinational, which is a word that's bandied about far too easily.

My phone number was shared on an escort site, on a site to hire sex workers. And I was then sent about 5,000 dick pics, nude pics, rape threats, threats to shoot me. I got police security briefly, and I was very uncomfortable about it, you know, with it, as a reporter, and so I gave it up.

And I remembered, funnily enough, I was listening to Hillary Clinton moderate earlier today, and she'd come to India and I had interviewed her, and I was asking her--she was Secretary of State then, and she quoted Eleanor Roosevelt, and she said, "Barkha, you have to grow a skin as thick as the hide of a rhinoceros."

My challenge is this. I think I have that thick skin, but how do you keep the thick skin but still keep your heart molten, because we need to be tough outside and soft inside to tell the stories we do.

MS. MEKHENNET: So what do you do then? How did you keep the thick skin but how do you also take care of yourself?

MS. DUTT: I spent two years traveling across India, reporting on the pandemic in my country, at a time when no channels--there were no boots on the ground. I traveled 30,000 kilometers by road from the north to the south of India, spending 130 days consecutively on the road. And I realized that the answer is in returning journalism to people.

Everywhere, from New Delhi to New York, people have one complaint about the media. They don't see their lives reflected in the news that they consume. And I committed and recommitted to making journalism about people. And I think the answer to those who try and silence us, apart from the thick skin, is to be powerful storytellers and tell a story so good that nobody can afford to ignore you.

MS. MEKHENNET: I have to ask this question because you kept talking about the people who tried to silence you and organized mobs online. Do you have the impression that any of this is organized by the government to silence you?

MS. DUTT: No, I would not say that because I have no evidence to actually make that point. But I think I've studied sort of online behavior enough to find that independent-minded people get crushed between ideological camps.

You know, I always say we talk about free speech. We just had Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born New Yorker stabbed for his work. More than free speech, what we need to re-emphasize, not just in India but I would say everywhere in the world, is the need for a free interrogating mind. And as women we are going to be resented for having free, independent minds, for rejecting tribalism, for not being coopted by any camp, for being ferociously me, individualistic, for speaking truth to power and for being inconvenient, for being a pain in the ass, for being a troublemaker. I plan to be all of those.

[Laughter]

MS. MEKHENNET: Good for you. Good for you.

[Applause]

MS. MEKHENNET: So what can we do, we as fellow journalists, but also what could international organizations for journalists do to support you, to be still the troublemaker, and to, you know, not give up on all of this, despite all the pressure?

MS. DUTT: I think that we need to be respectful of each other's complexities. Complexity and nuance has become a bad word in the age of polarity. I think we have to acknowledge that as women we fight everywhere, and sometimes we fight in the space that's supposed to be the safest, our private spaces, in relationships where we think we're going to be safe, and we end up in abusive relationships. In India I'm fighting to legalize marital rape. It's been sort of a space I've done a lot of work on.

But if we just look at another country from the perch of superiority, we assume ourselves to be culturally superior, democratically superior, superior in some ways of, you know, we have a better track record of civil liberty, what it's going to do is actually diminish the space for these conversations back home, because it's going to get everyone's back up, and people are going to say, "Hey, dear Americans, do we have a right to also opine about what's happening in your country?" And once it's a conversation between equals that is a much more productive conversation.

On journalism I would only say, Souad--and you are a brilliant, brilliant security correspondent who has covered terror groups. You know this. There is no excuse for bad journalism. We are not activists. That's somebody else's job. We are not politicians. And we are not supplicants to power. We have to be interrogatory. We have to be unafraid, but it has to be through our work. And the lines between news and opinion have blurred to a degree where people have stopped respecting and trusting media. And if we want trust back in media, in India or in the United States of America, actually we need to go back to the basics. We need to be reporters.

MS. MEKHENNET: Speaking about the basics, how much did your mother play a role in who you became? Your mother was the first war correspondent in India, and she passed away when you were very young. But how did her work influence your life and what you're doing today? If you could give us a short answer.

MS. DUTT: Yes. Thank you for that question. I know the time is up so I'll keep it short. My mother was the first generation of women journalists in India. When she applied for a job, the editor told her there were no jobs available in the newsroom for women. She was free to cover the flower show in the city.

She grew up to be the head of bureau at the Hindustan Times, which is one of India's major newspapers. A few years later, war broke out between India and Pakistan. She asked for a chance to report from the front lines. She was told that there was no chance that a woman would be allowed to be a war correspondent.

She left with her notepad and pen in the 1960s, in a sari, to the war front, where she had a cousin in the military, and became, by accident and by will and by stubbornness, India's first woman war correspondent.

MS. MEKHENNET: There it is, the stubbornness.

MS. DUTT: The stubbornness. And three decades later, she was already dead, I became a war correspondent at the front line, and I had to really fight as a woman to get to the front line.

Our life is a constant battle. Every day is a negotiation. So we should be kind to ourselves, and we should encourage women to be selfish. We've been romanticized for too long as being sacrificing, as being people who put others before ourselves. I want women everywhere to pursue ambition without apology and happiness without regret.

MS. MEKHENNET: Thank you very much, Barkha. Wonderful.

[Applause.]

MS. MEKHENNET: Unfortunately, we are running out of time. Thank you so much for being here with us, and please stay here with us. My colleague, Frances, will be here shortly after the video. Thank you.

MS. DUTT: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

[Applause]

Title:

Content: Sunday, March 19, 2023

Maties moves to cater for more female students at res

File - A Stellenbosch University residence. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency (ANA)

Published 1h ago

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The University of Stellenbosch (SU) has started engagements with students on plans to increase the number of “mixed or co-ed” residences to meet the growing number of female students.

According to the university, one in seven female students received a place at a residence, while one in five male applicants secured a place this year.

Spokesperson Martin Viljoen said over the past two decades, the percentage of female students at the university steadily increased to where it currently stood, at 58% of the total undergraduate student population.

“This is largely a result of more women having access to higher education, both nationally and globally. Women are twice as likely to enrol at university, according to the Gender Fact Sheet (March 2020 and 2021) published by the Department of Higher Education and Training, and women now account for 58% of South African students in tertiary education,” he said.

Currently, there are 14 mixed residences at the university, including Goldfields, Metanoia, Huis Neethling, Lobelia, Concordia, Huis MacDonald, Ubuntu and Nkosi Johnson House.

Now the university is exploring ways to catch up with the student trends and meet the needs of its female student population.

Of the first-year applications received for a place in residence this year, 37% were males and 63% females.

The university had 5 579 beds available in undergraduate residences on campus.

“First-year spaces are not fixed and will vary depending on the number of senior students who move out in a particular year. This year, first-year students' placement ratio at residences on the Stellenbosch campus was 49% for males and 51% for females,” said Viljoen.

The university wanted to achieve a 60/40 residence placement split in favour of female students in its residences in 2024.

“An increase over the next few years to 60% of the available places will bring SU closer to a more equitable gender split,” said Viljoen.

A working group to be spearheaded by Dr Choice Makhetha, senior director: Student Affairs, has been set up to formulate proposals for the phased-in implementation of the proposed 60/40 residence placement policy.

So far, residences had yet to be identified for reconfiguration but the committee would also consider financial implications, infrastructure requirements, and student community environments.

Chairperson of the Student Representative Council (SRC) Masilo Silokazi also believed that there was a need to increase female student placement in residences.

“A committee within the SRC has started canvassing views from the student community which will be compiled into a proposal,” said Silokazi.

Other universities that had long-established mixed or co-ed residences, included UCT, Wits, UWC and CPUT.

Wits said that of its 14 residences, five were mixed residences.

However, first-year students were placed in same-sex residences with an option to be in mixed residences as they progressed.

“As students mature in the university environment, they grow in confidence and learn to co-exist regardless of gender, race, and class, which is beneficial for their development as they get socialised into the bigger society in preparation for the working world,“ spokesperson Buhle Zuma said.

Security needs were also taken into consideration when managing the mixed residences, including the provision of security staff and installation of CCTV cameras at other institutions.

“In mixed-gender residences, men and women are accommodated on separate floors. All residences have strict access control and most are covered by closed-circuit television,” said UCT spokesperson, Elijah Moholola.

At UWC all senior and postgraduate residences are co-ed.

“The first-year residences are single-ed, male and female. The rationale behind the separation is to assist students with the adaptation and transition into a “new living and learning environment,” said spokesperson, Gasant Abarder.

He added that post-1994, integrated residences “became the norm”.

Allocation of residences at CPUT has in recent years been done on a faculty or course basis, according to spokesperson, Lauren Kansley.

“This means we can allocate space to students closest to their building or campus, it enhances peer education and tutoring. We always opt to have our first years as close to campus as possible,” she said.

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This report addresses: Science Fiction Evolution

Border soundscapes, meditation and tequila take centre stage at Santa Fe Literary Festival

Busy Sunday line-up includes Hollywood tales from George RR Martin, the premiere of new audio work by Valeria Luiselli and a generous selection of fine spirits

Kevin E G Perry
Monday 23 May 2022 04:07
Comments

On the second full day of the inaugural Santa Fe Literary Festival there was an offering of a packed line-up of author talks, historic walking tours and energetic lessons about New Mexico’s vibrant cuisine.

That was followed by an appearance from Lawrence Wright, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower and The Plague Year, his momentous account of the impact of Covid-19.

Stephen Luntz

Stephen has a science degree with a major in physics, an arts degree with majors in English Literature and History and Philosophy of Science and a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication.

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Space and PhysicsAstronomy

Hubble Spots A Suspected Black Hole On The Run, Trailing Stars

A giant black hole and separate galaxy, bridged by a pencil-thin trail of stars, must have an extraordinary story to tell.

The Director of the Greater Dayton LGBT Center, Rick Flynn says, “I think at the time, when HIV and AIDS first came about, everybody was scared, but I think we’ve learned a lot more since then.”

The FDA’s policy has changed over that time.

Pompilio acknowledges the public and political history of the issue, “It was in the 80’s in the height of the aids epidemic, men who had sex with men were banned from donating, entirely.”

That lifetime ban remained in place for more than two decades.

This report addresses: Science Fiction Evolution

Title:

Content: Border soundscapes, meditation and tequila take centre stage at Santa Fe Literary Festival

Busy Sunday line-up includes Hollywood tales from George RR Martin, the premiere of new audio work by Valeria Luiselli and a generous selection of fine spirits

Kevin E G Perry
Monday 23 May 2022 04:07
Comments

On the second full day of the inaugural Santa Fe Literary Festival there was an offering of a packed line-up of author talks, historic walking tours and energetic lessons about New Mexico’s vibrant cuisine.

Not to mention the important distinction between tequila and mezcal being demostrated during an exlcusive tasting.

Although the day’s schedule would later be dominated by vibrant debate and discussion, it began serenely with a guided meditation session from the renowned Buddhist teacher Roshi Joan Halifax. That was followed by an appearance from Lawrence Wright, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower and The Plague Year, his momentous account of the impact of Covid-19. “I think of Covid-19 as being like an X-ray on our society,” he told his attentive audience. “It allows us to see in all the broken places... If Covid-19 has shown us anything, it is that we need to be more coherent as a society.”

Wright was followed on the festival’s main stage by local resident George RR Martin, the award-winning creator of Game of Thrones. He discussed his recent work restoring the nearby Santa Fe Sky Railway and reminisced about how his acclaimed fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire was first sold to HBO by showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. “Their pitch was: ‘The Sopranos in Middle Earth’,” recalled Martin. “You have to be able to say it in a sentence!”

Martin was one of many huge names from the literary world who appeared at this year’s event. Editor and publisher Mark Bryant, the festival’s chief curator, told The Independent how he went about securing the incredible line-up. “The first call I made was to Margaret Atwood and she said: ‘Oh, it is going to be glorious’,” he remembered. “The next day I reached out to Lawrence Wright. Santa Fe was a real draw. The diversity here and the fact there are the three cultures, that matters to most authors. We really wanted to go after the pillars of modern literature.”

As to what comes next, Bryant said he has plenty of ambitions for how the festival can grow after this year’s success. “I have ideas of how I would like it to be going forward,” he said, “And I certainly want to ensure we continue exploring and expanding the theme of diversity.”

That wide and inclusive sense of diversity was on display later in the afternoon, as author Lynn Cline lead a walking tour of the historic sites of the Santa Fe writers’ colony which flourished from 1917 to 1950 while Lost Children Archive author Valeria Luiselli presented an exclusive first extract from her forthcoming sonic essay Echoes From The Borderlands. The 12 minute clip, created from field recordings made in and around the town of Bisbee, Arizona, will become part of a planned 24-hour soundscape documenting the reality of life on the border.

Another busy crowd gathered for N Scott Momaday, who became the first Native American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature with his 1968 novel House Made of Dawn. He discussed the impact the local environment has had on him and his work. “New Mexico is a place where the imagination can flourish,” he explained. “Imagination is that which enables us to see beyond reality. If you see a mountain, that is real, but you imagine the valley on the other side. So much of creative writing comes from that distinction, that separation of ideas and attitudes… I would not like to be confined to reality.”

As well as nourishing ideas, there was also a plethora of distinctive New Mexico food and drink to keep the audience sated. Award-winning Navajo chef Freddie Bitsoie gave attendees a taste of his innovative take on Indigenous cuisine, while moustachioed Chef Fernando Olea, dressed in cowboy hat and snakeskin boots, welcomed visitors into his celebrated bar and restaurant Sazón for a slightly tipsy stagger through his unbeatable selection of tequilas and mezcal.

The festival was brought to a close by Sandra Cisneros and Joy Harjo, writers who have been friends since first meeting 50 years ago. They swapped memories of being silenced and overlooked by both classmates and teachers while they were students together at the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Cisneros has since gone on to become the bestselling author of books like The House on Mango Street, while Harjo will soon complete her third stint as US Poet Laureate.

“I don’t know how many people get to be Poet Laureate three times,” remarked Cisneros with awe. “I want you to know how proud it made us. You did that for all of us. It was poetic justice after what happened at Iowa.” Their touching friendship and tales of resilience provided a poignant note to a festival that has served up a feast of ideas, and left those who attended merrily drunk on the power of stories.

The Independent, as the event’s international media partner, is providing coverage across each day of the festival with exclusive interviews with some of the headline authors. For more on the festival visit our Santa Fe Literary Festival section or visit the festival’s website.

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Title:

Content: Advertisement

Space and PhysicsAstronomy

Hubble Spots A Suspected Black Hole On The Run, Trailing Stars

A giant black hole and separate galaxy, bridged by a pencil-thin trail of stars, must have an extraordinary story to tell.

Stephen Luntz

Stephen has a science degree with a major in physics, an arts degree with majors in English Literature and History and Philosophy of Science and a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication.

Freelance Writer

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A 200,000 light-year-long trail of bright stars has been found stretching between a distant galaxy and a curious formation. After close examination astronomers have concluded what we are seeing is a hyper-fast black hole plowing through intergalactic space. The black hole’s passage is compressing the diffuse gas that exists even between galaxies enough to start star formation, the discoverers think – something we have never seen before.

When the Hubble Space Telescope took an image containing a thin line stretching from unnamed galaxy billions of light-years away astronomers wrote it off as an error. Cosmic rays entering the camera can look like scratches, making streaks in unexpected places easy to dismiss.

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Fortunately, Yale’s Professor Pieter van Dokkum was looking through archival Hubble images seeking globular clusters around the nearby dwarf galaxy RCP 28 and came across the one below. On closer examination, he realized the line was unlike anything scientists have seen before in all our studies of distant galaxies. In a new paper, van Dokkum and co-authors reveal the consequences of a high-speed escape by a supermassive black hole.

The image van Dokkum examined shows a distant galaxy, with a thin line of stars stretching twice the length of the Milky Way galaxy towards something bright. The line of stars is far too bright and thin for its length to be an intergalactic gas bridge. The source galaxy has less than 1 percent of the mass of the Milky Way, but is forming new stars roughly as fast, probably because of a recent merger.

The paper concludes the trail could only be created by a very massive and fast-moving object creating a ripple effect in its wake. The authors anticipate a mass 20 million times that of the Sun, and five times the Milky Way's Sagittarius A* black hole. The trail has been created in approximately 39 million years, indicating its maker is moving at 1,600 km/s, a speed sufficient to cross the gap between the Earth and Moon in 14 minutes or reach the Sun in 26 hours.

"We think we're seeing a wake behind the black hole where the gas cools and is able to form stars. So, we're looking at star formation trailing the black hole," van Dokkum said in a statement

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The authors liken the effect on the gas it has passed through to a contrail of water vapor condensing behind an airplane under the right atmospheric conditions. The trail is almost half as bright as the galaxy it comes from, a consequence of the gas collapsing into a few very massive stars that become intensely luminous for very short periods – astronomically speaking.

There is also a very bright area around the black hole, which the authors attribute to either gas heated by the shock of the black hole’s arrival, or the accretion disk around the hole.

"This is pure serendipity that we stumbled across it," van Dokkum said. If the cosmic bridge hadn’t been in the same part of the sky, but hundreds of times more distant, than the galaxy he was studying it would not have been found.

This black hole is a million times too massive to be expelled by a supernova explosion, as happens to runaway stars. The only plausible explanation is the interactions between three merging galaxies’ supermassive black holes.

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Just as a third star can displace one member of a binary system, when two black holes orbit each other the arrival of a third can slingshot the lightest of the three out of the system. The other two remain in orbit around each other, while heading in the other direction at a more stately pace.

Finding the black hole pair would confirm the theory and a suspect has been found that will require further study to confirm.

The system is so fascinating that precious time has been booked on both the JWST and the Chandra X-Ray observatory to explore it in more detail. Other “scratches” written off as gamma-ray interference will also be re-examined to see if the phenomenon is unique.

The study is open access in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Space and PhysicsAstronomy
  • black hole,

  • hubble,

  • Supermassive Black Hole,

  • star formation,

  • intergalactic gas,

  • Astronomy

Title:

Content: DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has changed its blood donor eligibility and will no longer ban men solely for having sex with other men, expanding the population of potential donors at a time when blood centers are scrambling to build the blood supply to pre-pandemic levels.

The FDA is emphatic, however, this will not jeopardize the safety of the blood supply.

Mark Pompilio, Public Relations Manager for the Community Blood Center, says, “It is not a change that anyone is making out of political correctness or what anyone might want to assume. This is strictly a decision based on solid science and research.”

Make no mistake, gay and bisexual men donating blood has been a political and social issue as well as a public health concern for over 40 years.

Pompilio acknowledges the public and political history of the issue, “It was in the 80’s in the height of the aids epidemic, men who had sex with men were banned from donating, entirely.”

That lifetime ban remained in place for more than two decades. The social fear of transmission of HIV or AIDS in the 80’s was very real. The science community was scrambling to understand and contain HIV and AIDS and to ensure the blood supply was safe.

The Director of the Greater Dayton LGBT Center, Rick Flynn says, “I think at the time, when HIV and AIDS first came about, everybody was scared, but I think we’ve learned a lot more since then.”

The FDA’s policy has changed over that time. Initially, men who had sex with men were permanently banned from donating. That had been trimmed to a three month deferral. Now, the FDA has eliminated time-based restrictions altogether.

“There’s been blood centers all across the country that have taken part in the research of this topic”, according to Pompilio, “to evaluate what risk presented itself for men in committed relationships from freely giving blood. The risk was miniscule.”

Gay and Bisexual men will now go through the same screening process as all donors in which eligibility will be based on behavior.

The FDA and blood centers maintain the blood supply is safe. Regardless of what is or is not volunteered during the screening process, all blood donated goes through a strenuous screening process for diseases like HIV.

Post-Covid, blood supply has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The new policy opens up donations to another portion of the population, which could help restore blood supply to a safe level.

Pompilio says it’s time. “There was an awareness that at a time when donors were needed more than ever, why are we putting unnecessary obstructions in the way of someone who wants to donate.”

Flynn agrees, adding, “I think that we have more and more medical practitioners who are very supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, and I think that more and more they are learning in med school how to approach someone differently and maybe be a little more open minded.”

While the FDA’s policy has changed, the changes will not be implemented until blood centers in Dayton and the entire country are trained and new processes are put in place, possibly as soon as September.

Until then, the previous policy and its three month deferral remains in place for men who have sex with men.


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