Caroline

“Egypt, the country that boasts the first evidence of FGM some four thousand years ago, today offers the highest incidence of the practice. Egypt is a country of around 90 million people and, according to UNICEF figures in 2013, has the highest number of women who have been mutilated of any country in the world, nearly 30 million, or 91 per cent of the female population.8 This figure is nearer 100 per cent in the villages of the Upper Nile, where the river cuts a deep, wide passage through the desert plateau.”
― Sue Lloyd Roberts, The War on Women

“There is an apocryphal tale that in the 1885 legislation re-criminalising male homosexuality, lesbianism was also due to become a crime, but Queen Victoria did not believe it existed in England, thinking instead it was some strange French perversion. Whether that is true or not, it is clear that the lack of legislature meant a degree of freedom for lesbians in their courtship that wasn’t there for gay men. Although, regrettably, it also meant that the history of lesbianism is also sadly lacking.”
― Tania O'Donnell, A History of Courtship: 800 Years of Seduction Techniques

“thumb. In 1895 a city of London byelaw was passed entitled Curfew on Wife Beating, which made hitting your wife between the hours of 10pm and 7am illegal in order to stop the noise keeping neighbours awake.”
― Tania O'Donnell, A History of Courtship: 800 Years of Seduction Techniques

“And then there is the category ‘Mental Demands’. The Care Assistant scores 2 and the Waste Collector scores 3. ‘What is this about?’ asks Jackie. ‘We are the ones who have to deal with confused and scared old people, we are the ones who have to reassure their families and even cope with bereavements. It is a nonsense. I remember the council chappie coming with a clipboard to do the evaluations. He asked us a few questions and did not bother to stay long enough to watch us at work. I tell you it is the men all sticking together to get the best deals for the men.”
― Sue Lloyd Roberts, The War on Women