Women In Technology - Friday Links - 28/11/2025
Hello everyone,
November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The theme of this year’s event Is “end digital violence against all women and girls”. In this week’s newsletter, we take a look at some actions to commemorate victims and end femicide. We also examine the subtle tactics of anti-feminist online influencers and the potential impact of sexual harassment on future STEM projects. As well, we have another great WIT event, and some eclectic stories of inspiring women, both past and present.
Enjoy!
Kate, for WIT SC
Upcoming event: WIT Book Club meeting
Join us for our next event! Please register at: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1608892/.
📚 The book: “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley
📅 Date: 4 December 2025
🕔 Time: 17:00–18:00
📍 Location: Library, The Reading Room
November 25: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
🏮 Geneva event: Lanterns for victims of femicide
On November 30, the three Soroptimist clubs of Greater Geneva, the Zonta International Grand-Genève and Terre Sainte clubs, the Canton and the City of Geneva will be organizing a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of femicide. It will take place at 5pm at the Bains des Pâquis, in the presence of cantonal and municipal authorities and the Geneva office of UN Women. Orange lanterns, one for each femicide perpetrated in Switzerland in 2025, will be lit and launched in memory of the victims. At the time of writing, there have been 28 of these, not counting the too many attempts on the lives of other women and girls.
👩⚖️ Italian parliament unanimously votes to make femicide a crime
"Femicides will be classified, they will be studied in their real context, they will exist," Judge Paola di Nicola, one of the authors of the new law, said of its significance.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1dzp050yn2o
👩💻 16 days of activism: End digital violence against all women and girls
The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE 2025 campaign focuses on one of the fastest-growing forms of abuse: digital violence against women and girls. This year’s campaign is also a reminder that digital safety is central to gender equality.
https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/unite/theme
💊 Anti-feminist media is trying to make young women turn on birth control
We’ve seen far less attention paid to how young women are also being radicalized in digital spaces, similarly lured by seemingly apolitical content — about celebrity gossip, “natural” birth control, “clean girl” aesthetics, and dating — only to eventually be persuaded that our rights to abortion, contraception, even to vote or own bank accounts, were all a mistake. Billionaire-backed, anti-feminist women’s media outlets and viral female lifestyle influencers are increasingly shaping young women’s politics, too.
👩🚀 Harassment at Antarctic research bases could spell problems for moon, Mars outposts
More than 40 percent of respondents to a new survey experienced a sexual assault or sexual harassment during recent Antarctic research expeditions, according to the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).
Deep dives and inspiring women
🎦 Worth every minute
(Note: Although this documentary was made in 1987, much of the subject matter is still strikingly relevant, especially the discussion about the importance of a supportive community of women!)
A tribute to the late Pat Schulz, a feisty working-class heroine. Known since the '50s for her battles for human rights and her fight for workers' rights in the labour movement, Schulz became one of Toronto's most respected feminists. She led the struggle for day care, equal pay, and other issues central to the women's movement. By focusing on her life, this documentary gives a historical view of the women's movement: its roots, the early issues, current concerns, and emerging directions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RYyfhKFZZU
📖 How a cross-dressing, bullet-dodging, 17th century duchess blazed a trail for sci-fi
Born 400 years ago, Margaret Cavendish was a philosopher, scientist – and the mother of a whole new genre of literature
🔭 UK gets first female Astronomer Royal in 350 years
Astronomer Prof Michele Dougherty did not study science in secondary school – but was instead inspired to learn more about space after using her father's telescope. Now she is the first woman to be appointed the UK's Astronomer Royal in the post's 350-year history, and is part of the team sending probes to Jupiter's icy moons.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c741lll88q5o
🧗♀️ She Vanished on a Colorado Mountain. 19 Years Later, a Mysterious Dream Helped Rescuers Find Her.
Michelle Vanek disappeared on Mt. of the Holy Cross in 2005, setting off the largest search for a missing hiker in state history. The trail went cold—until an all-women team reopened the case.
https://5280.com/she-disappeared-on-a-colorado-mountain-a-dream-helped-rescuers-find-her/
🧑🏫 The real way schools are failing boys
Many have raised concerns about a crisis among boys and men, ushering in a “manosphere” cultural wave. After decades of dominance, boys have begun to fall behind girls in school. Today, girls are better readers, earn better grades, and are more likely to graduate from high school. But the issue isn’t that we need more “boy-friendly” reforms. It’s that boys are still socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls. If we really want boys to succeed, we need to ensure that they know how to both beat—and lose—to girls.
https://time.com/7335723/auto-draft-25-2/