Your Weekly Wrap Up | 23 - 29 June 💦
From trans rights victories in India to new rules on porn and police searches — these are the headlines shaping sex, health, and rights this week.
Self-care note: This newsletter covers topics including miscarriage, gender-based violence, anti-LGBTQIA+ discrimination, abortion access, and more. If you find this distressing or triggering, remember to take it at your own pace. You may prefer to read small sections, wait until you feel ready to read it all, or choose not to read it at all.
Police Scotland searches to be based on ‘biological sex’ 🚔
Police Scotland has issued new interim guidance saying that all searches — including stop and search and custody strip-searches — will be carried out based on someone’s biological sex, following the recent UK Supreme Court ruling that legally defines sex as binary.
Under the policy, trans men and trans women will generally be searched by officers who match their sex assigned at birth. However, the guidance says that if someone requests to be searched by an officer who matches their lived gender, police will try to accommodate where “operationally viable.” This requires written consent from the authorising officer, the person being searched, and all officers involved.
Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton acknowledged the “depth of feeling around this issue, both among the transgender community and those who hold gender critical views,” adding that the priority was to uphold human rights while staying within the law.
Trans advocates warn that such policies can increase distress, dysphoria, and even trauma, while limiting trans people’s autonomy over how their bodies are treated during highly invasive procedures.
Police Scotland says this is a temporary measure while it waits for updated national guidance, and that its wider review of sex and gender is ongoing.
Source: BBC
National probe launched into NHS maternity care after families ‘gaslit’ 🏥
The UK government has announced a rapid national investigation into NHS maternity services, following devastating accounts from bereaved families who say they were ignored and even “gaslit” after losing babies.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the current state of maternity care “totally unacceptable” and apologised to families who’ve suffered. Speaking at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists conference, he said:
For the past year, I have been meeting bereaved families from across the country who have lost babies or suffered serious harm during what should have been the most joyful time in their lives.
The Royal College of Midwives welcomed the announcement, warning maternity services are “at, or even beyond, breaking point.”
The probe comes after repeated safety failings were uncovered at NHS trusts across England, including two Leeds hospitals recently rated inadequate. The investigation aims to get answers for families and drive urgent improvements so “no parent or baby is ever let down again.”
Source: Sky News
Autoimmune conditions linked to higher risk of mental health issues, a new study found 🫂
A new study conducted on approximately 1.5 million people in the UK found that 29 per cent of people with autoimmune conditions had been diagnosed with a mental health issue, compared to 18 per cent of those without autoimmune conditions.
Among those with autoimmune disorders, 26 per cent had depression, 21 per cent had anxiety, and 1 per cent had bipolar disorder. Women with autoimmune conditions were more likely than men to report mental health issues.
Despite some limitations, such as a predominantly white participant pool, the study supports previous findings that chronic inflammation, commonly associated with autoimmune diseases, may increase the risk of developing mental health problems.
Source: Euronews
Experts call for more equal access to childhood vaccination 💉
A new study has found that the progress made in global childhood vaccination programs since 1974 has stagnated over the past two decades, and in some countries, even reversed. Declines were observed in 21 of 36 high-income countries and areas for at least one of the World Health Organisation (WHO)- recommended vaccines.
For instance, measles vaccination rates have fallen in nearly 100 countries, and around 16 million children have not received any of the WHO-recommended vaccines. The COVID-19 pandemic has played a major role in this decline, as lockdowns affected immunisation efforts.
Researchers and public health experts emphasised the importance of childhood vaccination as a critical public health tool that must be guaranteed for every child, and call for better provision and more equal access to childhood vaccination globally.
The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet, analysed routine childhood vaccine coverage from 1980 to 2023 across more than 200 countries and territories.
Source: BBC
Porn sites to roll out ‘robust’ age checks in UK 📵
Major porn sites like Pornhub and Redtube will introduce “highly effective” age verification from 25 July, as new Ofcom rules under the Online Safety Act come into force.
The changes are designed to keep under-18s off sites hosting harmful content. New measures could include credit card checks, open banking, or even facial age estimation. Research by Ofcom shows 8% of UK children aged 8–14 visited a porn site in just one month, with 19% of boys and 11% of girls aged 13–14 accessing explicit content.
Oliver Griffiths from Ofcom said it’s about aligning online porn with real-world protections like those around alcohol and gambling.
The Internet Watch Foundation, which fights child sexual abuse imagery, welcomed the rules, warning that early porn exposure can normalise harmful behaviours and leave kids more vulnerable to grooming.
Source: Sky News
HPV home-testing kits to be sent to ‘under-screened’ women 📨
Women across England who have rarely or never attended cervical screening will receive HPV self-sampling kits, the Government has announced.
The home-testing kits will be sent in discreet packaging and can be returned via pre-paid mail through local post boxes.
This initiative aims to reduce the stigma around cervical screening and increase participation rates. Currently, participation stands at 68.8%, below the national target of 80%.
As part of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan for England, the rollout of home-testing kits has been described as a shift from “treating illness to preventing it before it starts.”
According to the NHS, cervical screening checks the health of the cervix and identifies any abnormal changes before they can develop into cancer.
Source: Pulse Today
Denmark to give people copyright over their own faces and voices 🎭
Denmark is set to become the first country in Europe to grant people explicit copyright over their own body, facial features, and voice — a move aimed squarely at stopping AI-generated deepfakes.
The Danish government plans to amend copyright law so that anyone can demand that platforms remove digital imitations of them shared without consent. The change would also allow artists to protect realistic digital copies of their performances.
Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said the law sends an “unequivocal message” that everyone has the right to their own body, voice, and face, pushing back against how easily people can now be copied and misused by AI.
The new rules wouldn’t ban satire or parody, but could mean severe fines for tech platforms that don’t comply. Denmark also hopes to champion similar protections across Europe during its upcoming EU presidency.
Source: The Guardian
Stonewall National Monument excludes transgender flags 🏳️⚧️
The 250 Pride month Rainbow Flag installation, which features 250 flags placed around the Stonewall National Monument in New York City each June, will not include any transgender or progress flags this year.
According to Steven Love Menendez, photographer, activist and the installation’s creator, the U.S. National Park Service has told him that only the traditional rainbow flag will be displayed this year.
In response, activists, citizens, and visitors are bringing and placing their own transgender and progress flags.
Earlier this year, the National Park Service was also accused of erasing transgender and queer identities from its federal website by changing “LGBTQ+” to simply “LGB.”
Source: CBS News
Abortions rise in the US three years after Roe overturned 📈
Three years after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade, erasing the national right to abortion, new data shows abortions are actually on the rise, even in states with near-total bans.
In 2024, providers performed 1.14 million abortions, the highest recorded in recent years, according to #WeCount. A major reason? Telehealth. By the end of last year, 25% of abortions were done through telemedicine, often with pills mailed under “shield laws” that protect providers from prosecution.
“There’s more abortion taking place in Mississippi today than there was prior to Dobbs,” said Dr Angel Foster, whose Massachusetts-based project ships abortion pills nationwide. This highlights how little access many had to in-clinic care even before bans.
Still, access is fragile. Anti-abortion groups are suing to challenge shield laws, and US health officials have called for a review of mifepristone, despite over 100 studies showing it’s safe.
Meanwhile, states with bans recorded just 30 in-person abortions per month on average, suggesting that so-called “exceptions” for emergencies aren’t working.
Source: The Guardian
Indian High Court rules trans women are women in landmark case 🏳️⚧️
In a major victory for trans rights, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in India has ruled that trans women are legally recognised as women, affirming their right to equal protection under the law.
The case involved Shabana, a trans woman who filed a police complaint alleging threats and domestic abuse by her husband and in-laws. They tried to dismiss the charges, arguing Shabana couldn’t be considered a wife under Indian law because, as a trans woman who couldn’t conceive, she supposedly didn’t meet the definition of a “woman.”
Justice Venkata Jyothirmai Pratapa flatly rejected this, declaring that linking womanhood to biological capability was “legally unsustainable” and unconstitutional. The judge cited India’s landmark 2014 NALSA ruling, which enshrined the rights of trans people to self-identify as male, female, or third gender.
“A trans woman, born male and later transitioning to female, is legally entitled to recognition as a woman,” the judgment read. “Denying such protection by questioning their womanhood amounts to discrimination.”
Source: GCN / Yahoo News
That’s all for this week’s wrap up, but plenty is happening beyond the headlines. From workshops to book clubs, here’s what’s coming up across Scotland.
Join our Sex Positive Reading Group!
📌Glasgow Zine Library 📆 29 July 💸 Free! ⏰7-8.30pm
The Sex Positive Reading Group is for anyone interested in learning more about sex education, sexual health, how we relate to the people around us, and how society impacts that. We welcome people of all genders, sexualities and ages in a non-pressured, non-academic setting.
If you have accessibility requests or other queries, send us an email at events@pillowtalk.scot.