Any female professional in Pakistan who is active on Twitter will find herself vilified and harassed online simply because she is a woman who works.… Read the rest
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
Haiti’s silenced victims 
Dec 9th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Despite new laws, few women will ever report a rape because of the prevailing social norms that blame victims for their own assault.… Read the rest
The long decline
Dec 9th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The US now has the highest percentage of low-wage workers—those who earn less than two-thirds of the median wage—of any developed nation.… Read the rest
Karachi: 12-year-old Mehzar Zehra shot by the Taliban/SSP
Dec 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Mehzar Zehra was being driven by her father, a government servant, to her school a few miles away, when gunmen fired at them, killing her father and wounding her.… Read the rest
Infant male circumcision is genital mutilation
Dec 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Just as we call sex without consent ‘rape’, circumcision without consent or reasonable justification should be called ‘mutilation’.… Read the rest
Kolkata man beheads his sister
Dec 8th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
He told police he had killed his sister for “running off with a lover and dishonouring the family”, say sources.… Read the rest
Woman prevents her son from getting cancer treatment
Dec 7th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“She wants to work with [the doctors] but the medical profession want to do it all their way,” says her mother.… Read the rest
Bristol University’s Christian Union is being investigated
Dec 5th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“UBU has an equality policy which explains that we prohibit discrimination on grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership” and more.… Read the rest
Bristol University’s Christian Union bans women from speaking
Dec 4th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Unless they are accompanied by their husbands.… Read the rest
Jen Gunter on the ignorance of the Irish bishops
Nov 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The statement from the Irish Catholic Bishops is medically nonsensical, contradictory, and immoral.… Read the rest
Irish bishops issue statement on death of Savita Halappanavar
Nov 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
So sad. So so so so sad. Nothing to do with us. So so so sad.… Read the rest
Nick Cohen on the liberal press and Deeyah
Nov 28th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Had her tormentors been Norwegian neo-Nazis or the BNP, Deeyah would have become an anti-racist hero. They are Islamists, so the liberal media said nothing.… Read the rest
Manchester infant bled to death after circumcision
Nov 26th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The court heard that up to three children a month are admitted to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital because of bleeding after home-based circumcisions.… Read the rest
Nirupama Pathak wanted to marry a boy of a lower caste
Nov 25th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
She was found dead in her bedroom. The police have arrested her mother on suspicion of murder, while the family contends that the death was a suicide.… Read the rest
Catholic officials knew all about a teacher’s abuse
Nov 25th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
A nun walked in on a rape and simply reminded the teacher not to lock the door.… Read the rest
Ron Lindsay on shunning fellow atheists and skeptics
Nov 25th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The list of individuals that CFI has been advised not to have any dealings with is long.… Read the rest
Stop Uganda’s kill the gays bill
Nov 25th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
No, they haven’t dropped the “kill them” part. News reports on that got it wrong.… Read the rest
Muslim radio presenter says gay people should be tortured
Nov 24th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Also that non-Muslims are “filth.”… Read the rest
Iranian blogger dies in police custody
Nov 23rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Sattar Beheshti died after being held on charges of “actions against national security on social networks.”… Read the rest
Football, “corrective rape” and murder in South Africa
Nov 22nd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
On November 9th, Sihle Sijoki, a female football player, was fatally speared in the chest. She was attacked because she was a lesbian.… Read the rest
