High-Tech Answer to Harassment on Egypt's Streets

File- An Egyptian girl is watched by tens of soldiers securing the site of Cairo New court in this Wednesday, April 28, 2010 file photo. It's a problem nearly every woman in the Egyptian capital has experienced _ leering, whistles, groping or other sexual harassment on Cairo's thoroughfares and backalleys. Soon they'll be able to instantly speak out on the Internet when it happens. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

 

It's a problem nearly every woman in the Egyptian capital has experienced - leering, whistles, groping or other sexual harassment on Cairo's thoroughfares and backalleys. Soon they'll be able to instantly speak out on the Internet when it happens.

A planned website, Harrasmap, will allow women to quickly report instances of harassment via text message or Twitter, to be loaded onto a digital map of Cairo to show hotspots and areas that might be dangerous for women to walk alone. The data will be shared with activists, media, and police. (Washington Post)

 

Girls Want to Talk About Sex — With Dad?

 Mostly, the conversation that dare not speak its name, the most excruciating 25 minutes of either a parent or an offspring's life, The Talk, is left to Mom. Make lunch, do laundry, figure out where the thing is that goes on that other thing, tell kids about sex. But a new study from New York University suggests that young women could actually use a little more talk about intimate matters from their dads.  (TIME)

State Warns Cedarburg About Sex Ed Option

The state Department of Public Instruction has warned the Cedarburg School District that it could be sued over its optional sex education class. 

Cedarburg has a program that allows parents to decide by November whether their child should attend the sex ed classes, which include facts on contraception, abortion and homosexuality. (Chicago Tribune)

Sex Workers Granted a Voice to Promote Safety: Asia

No matter your moral standing on sex work, I hope we can all agree that promoting safety within the industry is a worthwhile cause.  

A recent article from the Economist shares a breakthrough in efforts across Asia to involve sex-workers when brainstorming ways to make the industry more safe.  Sex workers have previously been excluded from these government meetings for several reasons as the Economist notes, "In the past they have tended to be excluded from such international gatherings, partly because of language difficulties (“We learned English from our clients,” as one Thai sex-worker, a man, complained), and partly out of an attitude of official condescension, which saw the sex-workers more as the problem than as an important part of the solution."  (The Economist)