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DAMES wants women to feel safe in style

Safe Space collection by DAMES, US

US – New York-based label DAMES has dropped a new collection of clothes and accessories merging street style and street sense, designed to bolster women’s safety thanks to built-in self-defence features.

Founded by domestic violence and sexual assault survivor Mary Katlyn O’Malley, DAMES’s ambition goes beyond apparel, building a community empowering young women to ‘be free, to be cool and to not take any sh-t’.

To that end, the brand’s collection, Safe Space, is a modern-day armour for women, drawing on workwear staple pieces such as holographic elements or reflective fabrics to inspire a feeling of protection and confidence for the wearer. The line also carries wearable self-defence accessories in the shape of a Power Puff Knuckle spike ring with brass, a hyper-whistle, a safety alarm, and a Safety Spike Lipstick with a hidden switch blade.

‘I created DAMES so women could be safe and sexy at the same time,’ explains O’Malley, adding that ultimately, the brand’s socially charged Doom Dressing is denouncing the fact that women have accepted the feeling of being unsafe as being normal.

Strategic opportunity

Like DAMES, can you turn utility into something covetable? Upgrading not-so-sexy self-defence gear into a stylish collection that protects wearers challenges expectations, and flags up very vital and key debates about gender-related violence and abuse

China is the first country to trial deepfake regulation

China – Taking effect as early as January 2023, the Chinese Cyberspace Administration will implement new rules overseeing the use of deepfake, so that China becomes the first country to regulate the technology.

The Administrative Provisions on Deep Synthesis regulation aims to protect Chinese citizens by banning digital voice or image impersonation without consent. Regulators define ‘deep synthesis’ as the use of technologies including deep learning and AR to generate text, images, audio, video or create virtual scenes. With these guidelines, anyone who intends to create a deepfake is compelled to contact the person whose voice or image they plan to use and can only proceed if given consent.

This government initiative comes in the face of growing concerns about harmful AI use cases, such as scams or identity theft. If successful, China’s AI moderation model could be adopted by other countries. As the use of AI is exponentially democratised, whether it is in an AI-verstisement or for AI-powered art, giving people power and control over their image and identity is a key challenge for big tech.

Dutch Invertuals. Visuals by Audrey Large

Strategic opportunity

Businesses which plan to use artificial intelligence need to thoroughly review considerations around consent and copyright to ensure the viability of the project and steer clear from legal quandaries

Stat: Transgender youth are more prone to sleep disorders

The Feel Good Marketplace by Woo, UK

US – A new study has revealed a positive correlation between being transgender or gender non-conforming and the prevalence of sleep disorders in young people, with a concerning number of individuals in that group suffering from poor sleep quality.

In a bid to better understand youth’s sleep health under the lens of gender studies, researchers from the University of Michigan polled over 1.2m young people aged 12–25, of which 2,603 identify as transgender or gender non-conforming. The results are alarming – transgender teens and young adults have been found to be four times more likely to have a sleep disorder than cisgender peers.

An overall suboptimal mental health may contribute to poorer sleep health among LGBTQ+ individuals, as depression and anxiety are known to worsen sleep quality. In addition, researchers suspect that gender-affirming therapy has a positive impact on transgender youth’s sleep health, as it is proved to improve overall mental health and suppress stress factors linked to insomnia.

The study advocates screening and testing this population for sleep disorders to better support them, and stresses the ever-growing importance of the Queer Care Market in addressing LGBTQ+ health challenges.

Strategic opportunity

Businesses in the health and wellness sphere have a responsibility to be inclusive and cater for all types of consumers – do not disregard minorities, the most underserved groups could also be the most in need of wellbeing support