Latest news with #Sexual
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- New Straits Times
Celebrity preacher exposed by Nurul Izzah has been charged, say cops
KUALA LUMPUR: The celebrity preacher involved in a sexual assault case, as recently revealed by PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar, has already been charged. Confirming the matter, federal police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sexual, Women and Child Investigations Division (D11) principal assistant director Senior Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan said eight police reports had been lodged against the preacher. She said seven of the cases took place in Penang, while one occurred in Kedah. "The sexual assault cases involving the celebrity preacher in Penang are currently under trial. "All the victims are male teenagers aged between 13 and 16," she said when contacted today. She said the charges against the preacher were filed in 2023, 2024, and this year. Izzah had previously shared in a Facebook post said the ustaz used a teenager's interest in nasyid to get close to him, but it was merely a ploy to mask his ill intentions. It is understood that the man did not remain silent, and has reportedly filed a lawsuit against the victim's family, demanding a public apology.
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
HHS removes LGBTQ+ 'gender ideology' from teen pregnancy program
"This is a seismic change," said Adrian Shanker, the former deputy assistant secretary for health policy under President Joe Biden. "This is a program that has been effective at keeping teens across the country from getting pregnant, so this should be a universally appreciated goal." The Department of Health and Human Services policy, announced in a July 1 memo to grantees, bans grant-funded programs from teaching about sex that is not heterosexual vaginal intercourse. It also bans "the eroticization of birth control methods" and bans any content on creating more pleasurable sexual experiences. The policy goes on to prohibit any discussion of youth experiencing gender dysphoria or expressing transgender identities. "The statute does not require, support, or authorize teaching minors about (ideological) content, including the radical ideological claim that boys can identify as girls and vice versa," the memo to grant recipients says. "Programs must be aimed at reducing teen pregnancy, not instructing in such ideological content." Public health experts say the move could further stigmatize LGBTQ+ youth, who have higher rates of teen pregnancy than their heterosexual peers, and often feel less comfortable speaking to parents or health care providers about sex. Emily Hilliard, the press secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that the new policy "ensures that taxpayer dollars no longer support content that undermines parental rights, promotes radical gender ideology, or exposes children to sexually explicit material under the banner of public health." Corina T. Lelutiu-Weinberger, an associate professor of health sciences research at Columbia University in New York, said teen pregnancy rates are already disproportionately high among bisexual girls, so making it harder to talk about their sexual behavior puts them at higher risk. A 2018 study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that bisexual girls had "nearly five times the risk of teen pregnancy, and those who identified as mostly heterosexual or lesbian had about twice the risk compared to teens who were completely heterosexual." Most of the disparity was explained by physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Lelutiu-Weinberger said youth tend to figure out their sexuality alone because they don't want to talk about it with their parents. She said LGBTQ+ people also tend to have a harder time talking about sex with health care providers, who often are not comfortable about talking about sex, or may have their own biases. "There is a lot of discomfort and mislabeling and often there are no conversations," Lelutiu-Weinberger said. "And both parties are uncomfortable bringing it up because of fear of stigma." Amelia Stanton, a Boston University professor and investigator for the Sexual, Reproductive and Mental Health Disparities Program, said the changes don't align with science or promote the best interest of public health. "If we're limiting that information, we're not offering tools for planning," Stanton said. "We're not offering the opportunity to really learn how to prevent STIs or how to have agency in sexual activity." Stanton said heterosexual intercourse might align more with traditional values, but failing to teach kids about oral sex, anal sex and other sexual behavior that carries risk for sexually transmitted infections will cause the rates of those infections to increase. Nearly half the nation's cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis in 2023 were reported in people 15 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Infections were disproportionately high among men who had sex with men. Shanker, the former Biden aide, said that Congress created the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program in 2010 under President Barack Obama to replace an abstinence-only sex education model in place under President George W. Bush. "We have a comprehensive program that's highly effective, and they're tinkering with it for political purposes instead of trying to achieve public health results for the American people," Shanker said.
STV News
08-07-2025
- STV News
Almost 10% of women in Scotland 'sexually harassed at work'
Nearly 10% of women in Scotland have been sexually harassed at work, a Unite survey has found. The poll heard from 6,500 women across the UK and Ireland, with 1,143 female Unite members responding in Scotland alone. The Scottish survey findings revealed that 9.3% had been sexually assaulted, while 4.6% had been sexually coerced, at work. Of the women who said they have been harassed, 52% said they had been recipients of inappropriate sexual jokes, and 45.6% said they experienced unwanted flirting. In addition, 37.5% said they had been inappropriately touched, and 13.6% had been shown pornographic images by a manager or colleague. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Staff safety should be among the highest priorities for employers, but the results of our Scottish survey are damming and show women workers are being failed by bosses. 'Nobody should suffer sexual harassment in the workplace. Unite is committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach and we will put every Scottish based employer turning a blind eye on notice. 'We will fight every step of the way to stamp out workplace harassment once and for all. Every worker deserves a safe working environment and should feel able to report harassment.' Part of Unite's Zero Tolerance to Sexual Harassment campaign, the trade union polled women working across all 19 sectors of the economy where Unite represents almost 300,000 members. It found that some sectors were more affected than others, with women working in construction, civil air transport, passenger transport, food, drink, agricultural and road transport, warehousing, and logistics experiencing higher percentages of incidents. Unite said some respondents had been disbelieved or accused of lying when reporting incidents. Others said perpetrators had been allowed to remain at the workplace and in some cases had even been promoted. Some victims of harassment at work said they had been let go from their roles after reporting it to line managers. The trade union has claimed that despite the Worker Protection Act 2023 becoming law last October, research shows the act is 'not being implemented fully, and workers are being failed'. One Unite member, who works in the food, drink and agriculture industry, said that despite reporting sexual comments from contractors, 'nothing was ever done about it'. It was only after another female worker reported similar inappropriate comments that action was taken. 'I reported disgusting behaviour and sexual comments from contractors which I had put up with for over two years and nothing was ever done about it', the unnamed worker said. 'I refused to work with them in the end and they were still given work for over 12 months afterwards until another female colleague reported them and then action was finally taken. 'It made me feel worthless knowing that nobody had taken any notice of what I had said, and action was only taken after the reports from another female colleague.' Another worker said that she was sacked after revealing she was sexually harassed by a manger in the construction industry. She said: 'I was sexually harassed by my manager in a previous job for several months. I finally built up the courage to confide in the company owner who reassured me that I'd done the right thing by telling him. 'He sacked me the following morning… it devastated me and drove me away from working in the construction industry for many years.' Unite has now launched a campaign calling for greater protections for women in the workplace, with measures including: The introduction of a standalone sexual harassment policy. Mandatory training on sexual harassment for all employees. The deadline for being able to make a claim in an employment tribunal to be extended from three months after the incident occurred to six months as a minimum for lodging a claim. The government should introduce extra legal protections, for example, the Health and Safety Executive should treat third-party harassment and sexual harassment as workplace injuries. Unite's Scottish equalities officer Lorna Glen said: 'The Worker Protection Act has not gone far enough in keeping women safe from sexual harassment in Scottish workplaces. 'Employers are not taking their obligations seriously despite the fact it is the law. This is creating a culture where sexual harassment is going unreported, while those who do take the issues forward are left feeling disbelieved, forced to work with abusers and even losing their roles. 'Unite is calling on the Scottish and UK governments to take our demands seriously to stamp out sexual harassment at work.' The Scottish Government have been contacted for comment. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
New Straits Times
28-06-2025
- New Straits Times
Teen girl allegedly raped by mother's partner while sleeping
KUALA LUMPUR: A teenage girl who was sleeping in her mother's bed was allegedly molested and raped by her mother's partner. The girl's mother was reportedly in the same room and witnessed the incident at their home. Federal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) principal assistant director, Senior Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan, said the incident occurred in the middle of last year at around 4pm, while the 14-year-old victim was asleep in her mother's bedroom. "The victim awoke when she felt someone touching her and, upon opening her eyes, saw her 36-year-old mother and her mother's 61-year-old boyfriend next to her. "The male suspect then proceeded to rape the victim in front of her mother," she said when contacted on Saturday. She added that on June 25, the victim also discovered messages between her mother and the suspect discussing further sexual acts, including the man expressing his intention to have sex with the victim at a hotel. Frightened, the victim fled to a friend's house before lodging a police report at the Pandan Indah Police Station. "Following this, police arrested the victim's mother, who works as a security guard, and her boyfriend, who is self-employed, yesterday. "They have been remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation under Section 376(1) of the Penal Code for rape," she said. If convicted, the suspect faces imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years and not more than 30 years, and shall also be liable to whipping.
New Straits Times
23-06-2025
- New Straits Times
Over 1,400 harmful child-related posts removed in first half of this year
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 1,501 pieces of offensive content involving children were identified between Jan 1 and June 15 this year, with 94 per cent or 1,415 of them taken down. The removal, part of ongoing efforts to safeguard children online, was facilitated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) in collaboration with digital platform providers and through public complaints. Daily monitoring and operations, such as Op Pedo conducted in December last year, also led to the arrest of 13 individuals and the seizure of over 40,000 pieces of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) across several states. In a joint statement today, MCMC and the police said that the act of distributing, storing, or commercialising child sexual exploitation content is an offence under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Upon conviction, offenders may face a fine of up to RM1 million, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Additionally, producing, distributing, sharing, selling, purchasing, accessing, or possessing CSAM is a criminal offence under Sections 5 to 10 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. "MCMC and the police, through the Sexual, Women and Children Crime Investigation Division (D11) and the Criminal Investigation Department, are committed to combating online child sexual exploitation through continuous enforcement and public awareness initiatives. "We urge all parties including parents, educators, community leaders, platform owners, and internet users to work together in addressing child sexual exploitation. "Every public report can aid investigations and help prevent further abuse," they said. Suspicious online activities should be reported immediately to the MCMC via email at aduanskmm@ through the portal at ( ( or at the nearest police station. As part of a broader approach, MCMC is also intensifying awareness through the Safe Internet Campaign, which targets students, parents, and the wider community. One of the campaign's key objectives is to highlight the prohibition of social media account ownership by children aged 13 and below.
