QUICK FIRE NEWS 🧨

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🇨🇦 Canada warns its LGBTQIA+ residents against travel to the US
🚕 US rideshare app matches passengers with female drivers
🎤 Polish singer won a reality TV show in full Blackface
👮 Police apologise to women arrested at Everard vigil

LET'S GET INTO IT 🤓

Voter ID caused racial & disability discrimination at elections 🗳️

The context
Boris Johnson introduced voter ID requirements to prevent potential election fraud - something that is so rare that you can count on one hand how many times someone has been convicted for identity fraud over the last decade. The first election that these rules were enforced was in May this year.

What has this meant?
Ministers restricted the types of ID that could be accepted, skewing it in favour of ID that older people might have - like bus passes - but not those of younger people, like youth ID cards, resulting in disenfranchising younger voters. This law also seems to hit non-white people and people with disabilities harder; polling workers have been more likely to fail to compare someone’s photo ID to the person presenting it if they’re of a different ethnicity.

How Britain gets prisons wrong 👎

What's the story?
21-year-old Daniel Khalife escaped from Wandsworth prison last week. He was captured by a police officer but questions were raised about the security of the prison. At the same time, a German court refused to extradite a man to the UK due to concerns over conditions.

So how bad is it?
As far back as the 1770s, accounts described English prisons as significantly worse than other European countries and this still holds water today. In the last decade, budgets were cut and staffing reduced in volume and experience. As a result, assaults have risen against both prisoners and staff, as well as self-harm, drug use and rundown infrastructure. A third of UK prisons have been deemed unsafe.

Why should I care?
These prisons, other than being an obvious human rights violation, cannot operate effectively as a site for rehabilitation. We can learn a lot from the nordic model which provides a sense of wellbeing and agency to their inhabitants, equipping them with the tools to eventually re-enter society. Otherwise, what's the point?

Sharp decline 📉 in happiness of young girls

What's the news?
The annual girlguiding's survey has identified a 15-year low in happiness levels. 89% of respondants said they generally feel worried or anxious. The sharpest decline in happiness was felt by girls between 7-10-years-old.

Why?
Key areas of concern were cited as "appearance, online harms and sexual harassment." 67% aged between 11-21 admitted to feeling ashamed of their appearance due to not fitting in with what they see in the media and online. 34% said they would consider getting plastic surgery to 'correct' this, up from 29% in 2018. 57% have received sexist comments, but it's not just the internet, 44% have experienced sexual harassment in the streets and 69% said boys at school have made "toxic" comments.

THIS WEEK WE'RE LOVING 💗