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Ann Olivarius

@annolivarius.bsky.social
2.5K followers 403 following 370 posts

Founding partner. US and UK employment, discrimination and sexual assault/abuse law. KC Hons. Feminist. She/Her.

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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New criminal charges against Noel Clarke, a year and change after Clarke *comprehensibly* lost a libel case against Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne. Their reporting, and the Guardian standing up for it in court, only becomes more and more important. news.sky.com/story/actor-...
news.sky.com
Actor Noel Clarke charged with sex offences
The 50-year-old has been charged with two counts of sexual assault, three counts of voyeurism and one count of exposure.
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Reposted by Ann Olivarius
rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
hey parents or let’s be realistic moms. you know how going to the doctor eats up a minimum of 90 minutes no matter what you do. what if you had to do that five times instead of once
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Reposted by Ann Olivarius
Lane Greene @lanegreene.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Apologies 101. Trying to duck it with *If* anyone was hurt *[in the agentless passive]* I *would* like to say sorry for *any* harm that *might* have been done makes it worse, believe me.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Why are churches w charismatic leaders so bad at rooting out abuse? How do you hold a mega church accountable, on behalf of orphans no one cares much about? We got to talk to @aprilajoy.bsky.social and @timwhitaker.bsky.social about our case against Harvest: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFic...
youtube.com
Epstein of Evangelicalism: Lawyers Explain Allegations Involving Greg Laurie Church | Tim and April
YouTube video by The Tim and April Show
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
"We are sorry that we hurt you". That's it. An apology is clear and unequivocal about a) who caused the harm and b) that the harm is real. It's cowardly and insulting to victims when churches hide behind agentless sentences and speculative verb modalities and they fool no one.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
We all read the Epstein papers. Well, I don't know if Marc Agnofili did, but he sure did fail to read the room. There is markedly less appetite for letting rich men treat women as disposable. The "she's a gold-digger" defense doesn't work as well as it used to. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/n...
nytimes.com
Alexander Brothers Found Guilty on All Counts in Sex-Trafficking Trial
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
There is no bad time to stand up for survivors. They have waited long enough, for decades, to be heard and be helped. We say it's time. apnews.com/article/cali...
apnews.com
Lawsuits accuse former California megachurch pastor of child sex abuse in Bucharest
Two Romanian men have filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court in California accusing a former megachurch pastor of sexually abusing and trafficking children for years at a shelter he ran in Bucharest.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Choosing a man who'll champion your success as his own is a very, very smart thing to do in this particular political and legal climate. Taylor Swift and @helenlewis.bsky.social are as always ahead of the curve. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
theatlantic.com
The Defiant Conventionality of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Swifties love seeing him take pride in her success.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Do you have 44 years to wait for the gender pay gap to close? It's overwhelmingly women who go part-time and flex time, to care for children. As long as flex and part-time are seen as less than, women will miss out on promotions and pay increases. www.stylist.co.uk/life/careers...
stylist.co.uk
“Flexible working shouldn’t cost women their careers – it must be central to gender pay gap action”
“This kind of inequality shouldn’t exist in the 21st century.”
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The @churchofengland.org -keeps delaying the Redress Scheme -remains fuzzy on its funding -staunchly refuses independent safeguarding -still can't seem to find an Archbishop untouched by the clerical sexual abuse coverup www.channel4.com/news/a-new-l... The downward spiral continues:
channel4.com
‘A new low has been reached’: Church abuse victim on data breach
The Church of England has described a data breach which revealed the personal details of abuse victims as "deeply regrettable".
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
IF @churchofengland.org truly was "shocked" by its own victim-blaming, if it truly HAD learned "much" about safeguarding it wouldn't: - drag out the Redress Scheme - have survivors data leaked on its watch - refuse independent safeguarding #notshockedatall www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...
thetimes.com
Ex-archbishop of Canterbury sorry for blaming Chris Brain victims
Lord Carey of Clifton said he was shocked to read back what he had written about the Nine O’Clock Service scandal in his 2003 autobiography
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Let's not lean into the "you just can't say anything these days" panic, when writing headlines about employment law. He was sacked after saying “I’m not doing anything. I’m just staring at your ass” (and worse). www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...
thetimes.com
EasyJet manager sacked after calling colleagues ‘lovely ladies’
Male cabin staff member claimed his comments were ‘flirty banter’ but an employment tribunal dismissed his appeal
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
A common misconception about common law marriage: that it offers the same legal protections as marriage. It doesn't, not quite. We see too many people who assumed they were covered, only to find out they weren't. Ask a lawyer, not the internet. www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...
thetimes.com
Legal rights ‘persuade couples to marry instead of cohabiting’
One in five adults would not make their partnership official if they had the same protection as married people, a study has found
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Why does @churchofengland.org insist on coddling "charismatic young priests" while ignoring its own survivors of clergy sexual abuse? Apart from the money, this vicar created a safeguarding nightmare with an app showing exactly which children attended services. www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...
thetimes.com
Vicar claimed £30,000 from church in bogus charges
‘Talented and charismatic young priest’ has been banned from holding services for two years after claiming £500 a month in ‘clergy spouse’ payments
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
I wish I could say that I was surprised. But having the clients that I do, I'm not. The Met wouldn't be so hard to clean up, if there were no cover-ups. www.thetimes.com/uk/law/artic...
thetimes.com
Metropolitan Police detectives arrested over ‘sex assault cover-up’
Five officers have been detained in anti-corruption raids related to a complaint made after a CID Christmas party
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Easy. Sexual harassment is endemic. And a creative industry with intermittent funding, powerful gatekeepers for projects and precarious working conditions remains the perfect breeding ground for toxicity. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...
theguardian.com
From Noel Clarke to Gregg Wallace, why is the UK still battling a toxic TV culture?
Power imbalances and precarious employment for production staff mean whistleblowing remains a rarity
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Care to calculate the odds for a just sentence for a rape victim? Or the toll of getting "justice"? Less than 2% of rape claims go to court. Less than 1% result in a conviction. And 62% cases referred Unduly Lenient Sentencing Scheme are for sexual violence. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
Ministers vow to give sexual violence victims ‘the justice they deserve’
Exclusive: Figures show proportion of sentences referred back as unduly lenient has risen in England and Wales
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
How weird, given how available, affordable and excellent child care is and how little pregnancy discrimination women face at work. It's just inexplicable that women have fewer children, later. They must just not know their own interests. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Fertility rate hits record low in England, Scotland and Wales
Last year’s total fertility rate of 1.41 for England and Wales was lowest since comparable data was first collected in 1938, ONS says
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Male violence against women becomes so entrenched because it starts when we're girls. What is the government's thinking here? That girlhood is this magical, golden safe space and all the violence and abuse start on our 18th birthday? news.sky.com/story/urgent...
news.sky.com
Ten organisations write urgent letter to home secretary over violence against women and girls strategy
Groups including the NSPCC, Barnardo's and The Children's Society wrote to Yvette Cooper to say that violence against women and girls and child sexual abuse are "inherently and deeply connected".
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Reposted by Ann Olivarius
Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
“Denmark summoned the head of the U.S. Embassy … after allegations emerged that three Americans with close ties to President Trump were running ‘covert influence operations’ in Greenland.” Is there a Nobel prize for creating a conflict by threatening to seize the territory of a democratic ally?
nytimes.com
Denmark Summons U.S. Envoy Over Espionage Allegations
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Clarke claimed to be the victim of a conspiracy between the Guardian and 21 women who somehow all had a grudge against him. He wanted an astronomical £70m in damages, a clear deterrent for future reporting on sexual misconduct and for survivors coming forward. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...
theguardian.com
Noel Clarke loses libel case against Guardian over sexual misconduct investigation
High court rejects actor’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
If it sounds like a cult and acts like a cult and abuses like a cult ... well, it's a cult. A thread on why, exactly, the Nine O'Clock Service ticks every box for a high-control group and why the Church of England coddled it for so long: www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...
thetimes.com
Chris Brain: ‘charismatic priest’ behind the Nine O’Clock Service
The leader of a Church of England ‘sex cult’ has been convicted three decades after its collapse. Why did the Church fail to learn lessons from the scandal?
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
"I found Kash’s experience particularly unnerving because my husband and I are planning a move to a state that bans abortion after six weeks" Women, don't give your time, talent and tax dollars to states that let you bleed out or die from sepsis. www.theatlantic.com/family/archi...
theatlantic.com
The States Where It’s Riskier to Have a Baby
In places with significant abortion restrictions, many pregnant women experience delays, confusion, and other substandard care.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
When we list what we don't care about gives "permission slips with which women of younger generations can eagerly anticipate a more unencumbered future—and perhaps even freedom in the present." How beautiful and how needed. www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
theatlantic.com
What We Gain When We Stop Caring
A series of viral videos has doubled as an ode to fed-up women and a repudiation of male expectations.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
It's wonderful that the Exeter centre can now collect evidence for sexual assault forensically. Truly. But 12,532 cases of sexual violence are waiting to go to court. Any evidence the Exeter centre collects will go at the back of that long line. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
New standards for Exeter sexual assault referral centre
The new rules are aimed at reducing the risk of evidence collected being challenged in court.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
By my count, sexual misconduct is the most common reason for by-elections. Makes you wonder why we don't have more female politicians. www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/...
thetimes.com
Labour MSP Colin Smyth charged over indecent images
The 52-year-old, who has represented the South Scotland constituency since 2016, has been suspended by the party
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
"Culver believes that this mess is a result of an “update” to the system that was completed in March this year." The Post Office scandal, the Judicial Case Manager System that lost evidence, the useless DASH domestic violence program. And this: 4 is a trend. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...
telegraph.co.uk
Crimewatch presenter Sue Cook: After my beloved mother died, the courts made my life a living hell
The respected broadcaster says that government bureaucrats turned an already difficult time into a kafkaesque nightmare
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Worrying that young women under 25 not in employment, education or training (Neets) is rising dramatically (an increase of 136.000 since Oct 2021). There's a slight drop for young men, and we need to figure out why that hasn't happened to young women. www.telegraph.co.uk/business/202...
telegraph.co.uk
Number of jobless young women hits near-decade high
Most female under-25s not in employment, education or training since 2016
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
What "shared values"? Those the British forced-birth activist adopt from the White House and fundamentalist Evangelicals, along with their generous funding? The average British woman has very little in common w JD Vance. And yet he's putting his oar in, again. www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
telegraph.co.uk
US warns UK abortion buffer zones put ‘shared values’ at risk
State department censure comes a week after its annual Human Rights Report accused Britain of ‘serious restrictions on free speech’
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The Collinses are not the first socially awkward nepo-babies into pretend-homesteading and weird baby names. Donning an Amish bonnet just to own the libs is pretty weak-sauce in August 2025. They'll will have to step it up, if they want us to be enraged. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
independent.co.uk
Meet the strangest members of Trump’s inner circle
They have deep connections with secret societies. His brother is in DOGE. And they may or may not be personal friends of Elon Musk. Holly Baxter spends the day with Simone and Malcolm Collins, who bel...
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Stealing a woman's underwear is not the same as stealing or her winter boots or her potted plant. We all know why. Stealing underwear is a sexually motivated transgression. Statistically those escalate. www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...
telegraph.co.uk
Officer stole underwear during property search
Marcin Zielinski of Hertfordshire Police sentenced to four months in prison after admitting theft while on duty
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
"“At the time, the very last word I’d use to describe myself was vulnerable. We think of vulnerable women as being an emotional mess or being desperate for love. I was neither." Nobody thinks of themselves as a future victim. That's why we blame them so often. www.telegraph.co.uk/family/relat...
telegraph.co.uk
‘I lost £150,000 to a romance scammer’
When Tracy Hall fell in love with Max Tavita and transferred money to him, she had no idea she was the serial fraudster’s latest victim
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Let's give credit where credit's due: Ossett Rugby Union Football Club handled this well, with immediate and firm response, taking care of the female ref and with full transparency throughout. This is how it's done. www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/...
telegraph.co.uk
Rugby player banned for telling female referee to ‘get your baps out’
Official shocked by verbal tirade from ‘intoxicated’ individual while her parents who were in the crowd were ‘heartbroken and angry’
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Norway unhesitatingly charges their crown-prince's stepson w rape. Meanwhile, here in the UK only 1% of rape claims are prosecuted and in the US, the president is legally liable for sexual assault. It doesn't have to be like this. www.thejournal.ie/son-of-norwa...
thejournal.ie
Son of Norway princess charged with four counts of rape
Hoiby has been under investigation since his arrest on 4 August last year on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
How many times has a man like this learned that he won't get caught? How early did his sense of entitlement and impunity develop? We need to stop men like this decades earlier. His very first offence should have been noticed and addressed. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Suspended Labour MSP Colin Smyth charged over secret camera in toilets allegation
New charge relates to device allegedly placed in Scottish parliament and follows charges relating to possession of indecent images
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The enemies of Catherine the Great claimed she died copulating with a horse. Cleopatra was a nymphomaniac. And so on. Today women leaders are deepfaked. The tech is new, the slander unchanged from before the printing press and germ theory. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...
theguardian.com
Outrage in Italy over porn site with doctored images of prominent women
Phica posted altered photos, with vulgar and sexist captions, of women including prime minister Giorgia Meloni
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
A chess prodigy with a college scholarship joined a cult. It's a (self-serving) myth that only the weak-minded and weak-willed join cults. Cults don't waste their time targeting people without resources to extract. www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/... by @leaskyd.bsky.social
thetimes.com
Mother’s fear for student ‘brainwashed’ into joining tribe in woods
Kaura Taylor, from Texas, was found serving as ‘handmaiden’ to the self-styled rulers of a ‘kingdom of lost Hebrews’ at a campsite in Jedburgh
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Three's a trend: The Horizon (Post Office), the Judicial Case Manager software program that lost evidence and now the Dash program. These expensive and deeply flawed software programs have irreparably harmed the vulnerable people they should serve. www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/art...
thetimes.com
Police domestic violence tool ‘is as helpful as flipping a coin’
The Home Office has been urged to review the ‘Dash’ checklist used by half of police forces after it failed to identify 55 women at high risk who were murdered
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Norway charges their crown-prince's stepson w rape. Meanwhile, in the UK, Prince Andrew quietly tried to get back his 20 million settlement to Virginia Guiffre and only 1 out of 100 rape claims is investigated. It doesn't have to be like this. www.thejournal.ie/son-of-norwa...
thejournal.ie
Son of Norway princess charged with four counts of rape
Hoiby has been under investigation since his arrest on 4 August last year on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
How many warnings were overlooked? How many gropes were dismissed as "jokes"? How many dick picks or online threats was normalised as "banter"? Because it's rare that a 16-year old boy goes straight to raping two girls and (allegedly) killing one of them. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Teenage boy arrested after death of 13-year-old girl in West Yorkshire
Sixteen-year-old from Huddersfield held on suspicion of murder and rape
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
This is why we need public inquiries, however imperfect they are. No institution can police itself. If it could, their abusers wouldn't have had free rein for almost three decades. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Former teacher found guilty of abusing boys at Edinburgh Academy
Judge finds John Young assaulted pupils as young as 10 while head of PE between 1966 and 1993
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Jake Young was free to abuse boys for 27 years. Almost three decades. Nobody in power believed the boys, or cared enough if they did. Victims are believed now and see some semblance of justice. Without a public inquiry civil suits, none of this would happen. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
theguardian.com
Former teacher found guilty of abusing boys at Edinburgh Academy
Judge finds John Young assaulted pupils as young as 10 while head of PE between 1966 and 1993
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
How delightful to believe that violence against women is "alien to our own culture". Paradoxically that's exactly the kind of denial and disavowal that women in abusive cultures need to practice. www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...
thetimes.com
Reform’s women praise men protecting wives from ‘abusive migrants’
Sarah Pochin said that immigrants from ‘predominantly Muslim’ countries had a ‘medieval view of women’s rights’
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
“He wants people to know that he has reflected on the blessings that he’s been given, on the imperfections that I think he sees in himself." Combs faces more than 50 civil suits of sexual abuse and physical violence, sorry, I mean "imperfections". www.thecut.com/article/didd...
thecut.com
Sounds Like Diddy Is Already Planning His Comeback
His lead attorney told CBS he plans to be “back at Madison Square Garden.”
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
“You can be wearing the cutest outfit, but looks only get you so far…DO NOT be a DEBBIE DOWNER or NEGATIVE NELLY. These are the worst types of people.” Nothing worse than a girl who talks about the "the six B’s: booze, boys, bucks, brands, bible, ballot". www.thecut.com/article/soro...
thecut.com
How Much Would You Pay for Friendship?
Private rush consultants are selling teens the sorority dream.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
As ever, it's so nice to imagine that sexual violence isn't endemic, that it's done by People Who Aren't Like Us. Those of us who work with and for survivors know that sexual violence is in every profession, nationality, ethnicity etc. The only solution is to fearlessly root it out, everywhere.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Loved this piece by @megwalters.bsky.social There is genuine discomfort in refusing all the gendered tasks that women "find ourselves" doing. But the reward for simply refusing is worth it. We need to talk more about that option. To simply NOT. www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/hete...
glamourmagazine.co.uk
Heteropessimism and our declining faith in the straight, cis man
From dating safety apps like Tea to ‘are we dating the same guy’ sub-Reddits, it feels like women who date men are more fatigued than ever. When did being straight become so embarrassing?
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
What our debate about online safety doesn't need is another shrill voice with zero tech expertise, who's never cared about this issue suddenly making it their new political football. Come up with a serious alternative or leave the chat, Nigel. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Peter Kyle accuses Nigel Farage of being on side of ‘extreme pornographers’
UK technology secretary hits out at Reform UK’s pledge to scrap Online Safety Act if it wins power
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Excellent thread on expertise, collective solutions and why it's emotionally and cognitively easy to either completely accept or complete write off an authority. The hard part is accepting the nuance and fallibility.
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Ann Olivarius @annolivarius.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Kids don't only learn from the internet, they learn from us. And that includes misogyny. The kids didn't create the internet, adults did. The misogyny is built into society. That needs to change too. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...
theguardian.com
Spanish teenager investigated on suspicion of creating AI-generated nude videos
Modified images of minors appear on social media account allegedly owned by 17-year-old
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