Trans and gender-fluid teens left with few ‘safe harbors’

Berkeley: Transgender and gender-fluid teens, particularly those born male, face up to three times more mental and physical abuse at school and at home than their gender-conforming peers, according to a new study from UC Berkeley. The study is one of the largest national surveys to date of sexual and gender minority adolescents who have suffered multiple forms of victimization, including child abuse, physical and sexual assault and bullying, raising their risk of depression, post-traumatic stress, self-harm and suicide.

It's true, some viruses do make men sicker than women

Scimex: Some pathogens may adapt to cause less-severe disease and lower frequency of death in women than in men according to a study published in Nature Communications this week. Women can pass pathogens to their children during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding, in addition to passing them to other individuals in the population the same way as men do. The research shows that the additional opportunities of transmission provided by women compared to men can exert sufficient evolutionary pressure on pathogens to drive the evolution of sex-specific virulence.

Men who want power over women likely to have poorer mental health

TheConversation: Men who see themselves as playboys, and as having power over women, are more prone to poor mental health than those who conform less to traditionally masculine norms, according to a new study. The study, published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, also showed men who conform to masculine norms are less likely to seek help for psychological issues. Researchers from Indiana University conducted a meta-analysis, which combines data from previously published studies to identify consistencies. They analysed around 80 papers with a total of 19,453 participants. The papers focused on the relationship between mental health and conformity to traditional male gender norms.

Want gender equality? Get vaccinated

Scimex: Reductions in the prevalence of infectious disease are associated with increases in gender equality in the United States and the United Kingdom over the past several decades, reports a paper published online this week in the new journal Nature Human Behaviour. The study suggests that efforts to reduce infectious diseases, such as vaccinations, free health care, public sanitation and water treatment, might increase equality between the sexes around the globe. Although differences in gender equality between societies and changes within them have been well documented, the causes of shifts in levels of gender equality remain poorly understood.

We trust children to know what gender they are – until they go against the norm

TheConversation: I will start by asking two questions: at what age did you know your gender, and do you think someone else had to tell you what it was? I’m director of mental health at a leading gender clinic in the US. Our clinic is a half-decade old – and in that short period the number of families coming to us with questions about their child’s gender has grown astronomically every month. We’re not alone. The BBC recently reported that the number of children aged ten and under who were referred to the NHS in the UK to help deal with transgender feelings had more than quadrupled in six years.