Migration Category: news-1-5000-national

Mavis Leno, chair of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan, along with her husband Jay Leno and FMF National Coordinator Katherine Spillar, today announced the Back to School Campaign to a large crowd at Ramona High School in Los Angeles. Even at this early stage, the Back to School Campaign is taking off, with pledges from over 80 action teams, including the American Federation of Teachers, the Coalition for Labor Union Women, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and the Children’s Museum of Los Angeles. One of the first action teams to volunteer for the Adopt-A-School project were students at the all-girl Ramona public high school. The Scholarship Program is also taking off, with eight young Afghan women refugees beginning college in the U.S. this fall as a result of FMF’s campaign.

“We must do more to restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. We want to help the heroic women who are running clandestine schools for girls in Afghanistan,” said Mavis Leno. “Through the Back to School Campaign, students, teachers, parents will have the opportunity to connect directly with Afghan women and girls and let them know that they are not forgotten.”

“Celebrity members of the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid have been key in alerting the nation to this horrific and brutal situation,” said Spillar.

Two recent polls reveal that, while the presidential race remains close, Vice President Al Gore is edging closer to victory with a large gender gap that shows women overwhelmingly favoring the Democrat. A Washington Post/ABC News Poll shows that 52 percent of women favor Gore and 38 percent favor Bush; among men, 38 favor Gore while 52 favor Bush. A Reuters/Zogby poll also shows a “massive” gender gap. “The gender gap today is one of the largest we have ever seen,” says Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority Foundation and first to identify the gender gap. “With this massive a gender gap, and with ten million more women than men likely to vote, Gore has unquestionably gained the edge over Bush.” Smeal, a political scientist, notes not only that women outnumber men, but that women are more likely to be registered to vote and to go to the polls on election day.

Both the Post/ABC poll and the Reuters/Zogby poll show that Gore leads Bush on most issues that voters consider important, and also demonstrate that the gender gap widens when looking at particular issues, with the majority of women favoring Gore. Currently, Gore is leading on education, health care, and other issues that commonly appeal to women voters, including abortion. Retired Republican Senator Alan Simpson, recently interviewed on MSNBC’s Chris Matthews show, attributed the massive gender gap to the abortion issue. Smeal stressed the importance of abortion in this election, saying that this massive gender gap will likely force Republicans to confront the abortion issue, which they have been trying to avoid in the presidential election.

A recent University of Pennsylvania study shows that many Catholic hospitals in the U.S. do not prescribe emergency contraception (EC) to rape victims, despite the fact that EC is considered a standard treatment for these women. The survey, published in the September American Journal of Public Health, targeted 27 Catholic hospitals and 30 non-Catholic hospitals. While all of the non-Catholic hospitals surveyed regularly prescribed EC to rape victims, 12 of the Catholic hospitals had strict rules against informing rape victims of the option of contraception, and 17 did not allow the hospital pharmacy to dispense the drug. Authors of the study stated that these Catholic hospitals’ policies “undermine rape victims’ right to treatment information.” A Catholic health representative argued that Catholic policy and religious freedom in the U.S. mandates such restrictive policies. Under Catholic teaching, health care providers are prohibited from discussing emergency contraception with rape victims, and may only prescribe the treatment if tests show that the woman is not likely to be ovulating or carrying a potentially fertilized egg.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will implement measures to increase the number of women in the science, engineering, and technology work force, according to a DOE announcement on Sept. 6. Currently, women hold only nine percent of jobs requiring engineering skills and ten percent of those requiring physics. Within the DOE itself, women hold only 15 percent of technical jobs. Women are particularly underrepresented in information technology, one of the most crucial job sectors for the coming years. The DOE, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation, will enact new initiatives to improve the gender balance in the technical field. They will open national labs to students as a means to gain experience in the field, implement aggressive recruitment and hiring measures, and establish criteria to measure the project’s progress.

URGENT ALERT! TAKE ACTION!

On June 20, the Senate passed (57-42) a hate crimes prevention amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization bill, however the House of Representatives has not agreed to include the amendment in its version of the Department of Defense Authorization bill. In order for the amendment to become law, the House must agree to include it in the final Department of Defense Authorization bill.

The hate crimes amendment will allow federal prosecution of hate crimes directed against a person’s race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation and disability. The Feminist Majority Foundation believes that hate crimes are serious and require federal law to combat them effectively. Congress must not adjourn this year without enacting legislation to strengthen the federal response to hate crime violence.

TAKE ACTION„Call Congress at (202) 225-3121 and urge your representative to vote for inclusion of the hate crimes amendment in the final Department of Defense Authorization bill.

Vermont lawmakers who helped pass the state’s Civil Union law for gay and lesbian couples are experiencing a surprising and painful backlash from some of their constituents. Gov. Howard Dean (D), who signed the law, has seen his support plummet, and State Rep. Marion Milne (R), who supported the law last spring, has lost friends, customers, and supporters. She has also been the subject of anti-gay slurs. Milne was disturbed by the anti-gay statement and shocked at her constituents’ anger over her support of the law.

In the upcoming GOP primary, Sylvia Kennedy, a friend of Milne’s, will challenger her for the House seat. Kennedy objected to Milne’s support of the Civil Union law saying, “I just feel that voting her conscience was just uncalled for. As a Christian, I’ve been brought up to believe [homosexuality] is an immoral issue. It isn’t a civil right. They don’t have something about them that can’t be changed like black people. They were born with black skin.” Fifty-four percent of polled registered voters opposed the law, and 49 percent said it would affect their votes in the fall.

In case you haven’t read the gossip columns this week, Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. Magazine, married this week. The lucky man is David Bale, South African anti-apartheid activist and father to actor Christian Bale. The news of Steinem’s nuptials surprised many, considering she has spoken out against marriage in the past, once saying, “You became a semi-nonperson when you got married.” In a more recent statement Steinem said, “Though I’ve worked many years to make marriage more equal, I never expected to take advantage of it myself. I hope this proves what feminists have always said„that feminism is about the ability to choose what’s right at each time of our lives.” Eleanor Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority and Feminist Majority Foundation, was surprised and delighted by her colleague’s news, and thrilled that Steinem married a younger man. Steinem is 66, while Bale is 61. Smeal said, “Strike one for womanhood!”

Two Michigan anti-abortion extremists have filed suit in a Grand Rapids court in an attempt to overturn the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), a law passed in 1994 meant to protect clinics from anti-abortion violence. FACE makes it a federal violation to use force, threat of force or intimidation against any person entering or providing services at a reproductive health clinic. Annelore Norton and Lois Greiffendorf, the two abortion opponents challenging the law, claim that FACE is “overbroad and vague” and violates their right to free speech. Since its enactment six years ago, there have been at least 44 FACE cases brought against anti-abortion activists who have posed a threat against safe and legal access to reproductive health services.

The last of London’s Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp residents have left the Greenham Common Air Force Base grounds after the British government promised to return the land to the public. The Women’s Peace Camp was erected in 1981 in protest to the U.S. sending missiles to the base during the Cold War. For 19 years, thousands of women protested nuclear weapons at this site; at times, the population of protesters swelled to 30,000.

One resident of the camp attributed the U.S. and Soviet signing of the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces agreement to the Women’s Peace Camp movement. Under that agreement, America and the Soviet Union removed their nuclear missiles from western and eastern Europe, respectively. The last missile was removed in 1991, and shortly after, the Greenham Common Air Force Base closed. Some protestors remained on the grounds to make sure the government fulfilled its promise to return the land to the public, and in April of 2000, the wire fence surrounding the grounds was removed. Greenham Common protesters plan to build a monument on the Common lands as a tribute to the two decades of women who protested nuclear weapons.

In an effort to settle a lawsuit filed by two El Modena High School students, the Orange County School District in California plans to reverse its December 1999 decision to ban a club that would give students a forum on school property where they could discuss gay issues, such as homophobia and discrimination. The students sued, stating the board had violated the Equal Access Act, which prevents federally funded public schools from banning certain noncircular clubs while allowing others. The School Board is expected to modify the rules regarding clubs so that all student organizations, from the football team to the a cappella choir, will be prohibited from talking about sexual activity.

In an extensive series of articles in Monday’s Washington Post, women detailed some of their experiences with sexual harassment at the Mitsubishi Motor plant in Normal, Ill. Sandra Rushing said in addition to the daily jokes she endured, male co-workers fondled her breasts and crotch, drew pictures of her engaged in sex acts for the whole plant to see, and threatened to rape her. Rushing’s many complaints to her supervisor fell on deaf ears, she said. Rushing left her annual salary of $70,000 after one of the men who groped her was to become her supervisor. Rushing’s fiance and co-worker also quit.

The Post also reported on other women whose complaints of sexual harassment resulted in disciplinary actions against the women themselves. A related article described a situation in which the daughter of a woman plant worker was raped and murdered by a male co-worker after the mother refused his sexual advances. The case closed when the man committed suicide in his jail cell.

Mitsubishi is being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for the alleged sexual harassment of at least 300 women since the plant’s opening in 1988

A ban on gay and lesbian student clubs in Utah high schools was passed Thursday (4-19) by the Utah state House and Senate and is expected to be signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Leavitt. Legislators in the predominantly Mormon state claim that members of the club “recruit” others into a homosexual lifestyle which the Mormon Church considers immoral. Supporters of the bill, which requires schools to deny access to clubs encouraging criminal or delinquent conduct, promoting bigotry or involving human sexuality, feel certain that it does not violate a 1984 federal law which prohibits discrimination against clubs because of the beliefs they espouse. Last month, the Salt Lake City school board voted to ban all extracurricular clubs in order to keep the Gay-Straight Alliance from meeting. Hundreds of students marched on the state capitol to protest the board’s decision. According to Jensie Anderson of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the bill is the only one of its kind in the nation to win passage. The ACLU said legal challenge can be expected.

Questioning the manner in which the Navy investigated a woman’s sexual orientation, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan halted the dismissal of Amy Barnes Friday (3-29) and said she had a “strong likelihood” of winning her lawsuit against the Navy. Barnes’ suit takes issue with the investigation into her sexual orientation which she says was begun after she was approached by a petty officer in a bar and harassed when she refused his sexual advances. Under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, any investigation of homosexuality must be instigated by reports of “credible” information and must be authorized by a commanding officer which did not happen in Barnes’ case. The case marks the first time a service member alleging a “witch hunt” has filed suit

According to a study put out by the State University of New York at Albany, teens’ opinions about sex and birth control are highly influenced by those of their parents; teens “are more likely to have internalized their parents’ values.” The study involved interviewing 10,000 adolescents twice in two years to evaluate youths’ perceptions of their parents’ approval of birth control. The study concluded that teens who were “satisfied with their relationships with their moms were less likely to engage in sex and become pregnant and more likely to use birth control if they do have sex.”

Researchers in Scotland and China released a study about the preliminary success of a male hormonal contraceptive that could provide men with a birth control option similar to that of the pill taken by women. Sixty-six men were given doses of desogestrel, the main ingredient in women’s birth control pill, and injections of testosterone. The synthetic hormone was found to stem the production of sperm with only minor side effects like weight gain, acne and mood swings„the same side effects women experience while on the pill. After the study period, the men participating in the experiment resumed normal sperm production. More extensive studies will begin at the end of the year, making the male contraceptive available by 2005.

In April of 2000, Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, declared 2000 to be the Year of Human Rights in Pakistan. This week, a new national task force has started work on Musharraf’s pledge to end gender discrimination and protect women’s rights.

Women in Pakistan suffer terrible human rights abuses, including so-called “honor killings” which end over 1,000 Pakistani women’s lives each year. These women die at the hands of their relatives when they ïshame’ their families by marrying against the families’ wishes or speaking to men who are unrelated. Musharraf insists his military-led administration will not tolerate the “honor killings,” saying, “Unlike past governments, we will take a firm stand against the honor killings.”

The task force has also pledged to raise the literacy rate among Pakistani women, currently at 24 percent, compared to the national literacy average of 38 percent.

As quoted in the San Francisco Examiner, “In another case of a woman breaking into a male-dominated occupation, a female has gone on a solo bank robbery spree in Marin County.” Novato Police Sgt. Jim Laveroni commented, “We sometimes see a female accomplice or a female waiting in the car, but this is the first time I’ve ever heard of a female bank robber.” The unidentified woman enters the banks alone, brandishes a handgun and demands money. She has hit three banks in Marin within the past week and is also believed to have robbed four banks earlier in 1996 in Sonoma County. Most witnesses agree that she is white, in her late twenties or early thirties, 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing from 120 to 140 pounds with brown eyes and hair.

The FBI does not keep tabs of bank robberies by gender but noted that in the past five years, the number of women arrested nationwide for armed robbery has increased by three percent, while the overall amount has decreased by seven percent. A search of newspapers conducted by the Examiner found that two other solo, gun-brandishing female bank robberies occurred in the past five years: one in Cleveland in 1995 and one in Chicago in 1992

As girls return to school here in the United States, Afghan women and girls continue to suffer under the Taliban’s ban on education for females. The Feminist Majority Foundation’s Back to School Campaign is aimed at improving educational opportunities to Afghan women and girls through scholarships to U.S. universities, an adopt-a-school project to support clandestine home schools for girls in Afghanistan and refugee camp schools in Pakistan, and a petition drive to pressure the U.S. and U.N. to increase aid to the region. Just one week after announcing the campaign, 69 groups have signed on, including the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at Brandeis University. Jesse Mostipak, a founding member of the group, was recently interviewed by the Boston Globe, voicing her opposition to the Taliban’s brutal treatment of women. Groups participating in the campaign range from college women’s organizations to high school groups to junior high classrooms to advocacy organizations.

The Globe acknowledged the U.S. State Department’s recent statement that FMF’s Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan has produced “as much or more mail than any other foreign policy issue has.” FMF has gathered 211,000 petitions to the U.S. State Department, the White House, and the United Nations, demanding that the U.S. and U.N. put more pressure on the Taliban and the countries that support the terrorist regime.

On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton denied a temporary injunction against Virginia’s new mandatory “moment of silence” law. Under the statute, Virginia public school students are required to observe one minute of silence at the outset of each day, instructed to “meditate, pray, or engage in other silent activity.” The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a case on behalf of nine students and their parents who believe the law is unconstitutional, violating the separation of church and state outlined in the First Amendment. The ACLU says it will appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for the emergency injunction that Judge Hilton denied. Hilton did not rule on the law’s constitutionality, setting a hearing for Friday, September 9. In the meantime, several student plaintiffs in the case will seek permission from teachers and principals to walk out of their classroom during the mandated moment of silence.

Following the recent Supreme Court decision allowing the Boy Scouts to continue their ban on gay scoutmasters, the Interior Department is conducting a review of its relationship with the Boy Scouts to determine whether ties violate the President’s June executive order prohibiting government participation with educational groups that discriminate against gays and lesbians. The department will examine government involvement in the national Scout jamboree, participation in the award of certificates and merit badges, and monetary and non-monetary assistance. The review prompted a strong response from the Republican party, including presidential nominee George W. Bush, who said “I’m troubled by this memo appearing to suggest that the Clinton-Gore administration might sever the federal government’s long-standing relationship with the Boy Scouts of America.” The Boy Scouts of America, in a June 28 press release, defended its ban on gay scout leaders in the name of “morality” and “diversity.”