Migration Category: news-1-5000-national

The American Association of University Women’s new report, Tech-Savvy: Educating Girls in the New Computer Age, indicates that computer technology is failing to engage women and girls. “Girls are disenchanted with computing,” it suggests. The report is a culmination of 2 years of research by the AAUW Education Foundation Commission on Technology, Gender, and Teacher Education that included an online survey of teachers, focus group studies with middle- and high-school girls, and analysis of existing research on technology and gender. The study shows a decrease in the percentage of undergraduate degrees in computer science awarded to women since the 1980s, and shows that women make up only 20% of internet-technology professionals.

The report demonstrates that, while exhibiting some mastery of simple internet skills, girls are dissatisfied with computer culture as presented to them in schools. They complain about the passivity of their computer interactions, and “they reject the violence, redundancy, and tedium of computer games.” The AAUW Commission argues, then, for more challenging software-not for software segregated for boys and girls.

Other recommendations of the report include a call for more innovative ways of inviting girls to explore computers, less gender bias in computer software, summer-school computer courses for girls, better technology education for teachers, and an attention to instructing students about the importance of technology in the future work force.

Thousands of women and girls in Sierra Leone have been the victims of a systematic assault by rebels who had sought to overthrow the West African nation’s government. Human rights workers compare the atrocities to the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, where women were similarly targeted, captured, and subjected to gang rape and sexual servitude, but note that the conflict in Sierra Leone “has received far less attention.”

Women in Sierra Leone who were considered particularly attractive were often forced into domestic (as well as sexual) servitude. Many of the women were under 14 or over 45; many girl victims of this violence either became pregnant or died as a result of rape. In addition, the war of terror against women has brought an increase in sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, among females. AIDS and HIV testing is unavailable in Sierra Leone because of prohibitive cost and lack of treatment resources for those who test positive.

The rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front, has been effectively cleared of these crimes due to a recent cease-fire agreement that included a blanket amnesty for human rights violations. The peace agreement also called for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission and a national human rights commission, but neither has been achieved to date. Some government and UN sources say that the rebels may still hold thousands of women in remote areas.

A conflict between founder Rev. Paul Marx and new leader Rev. Richard Welch has cost Human Life International (“HLI) clout, and has revealed a deep conflict in the Orthodox Catholic anti-choice movement, and has not broken into public view with a major story in The Washington Post. The Kaiser Daily Health Report called the HLI argument an indication of widespread infighting and a lack of unity in the anti-choice movement. HLI itself has lost the support of The Wanderer, a right-wing Catholic newspaper, and reported a 28% decrease in donations since September. Some former supporters say they abandoned HLI when Welch “diluted [the group’s] orthodox orientation by abandoning its hard-line stance against sex education.” They have formed a “Donor Rights” group to lobby for the removal of Welch and claim Marx was ousted in a coup. Meanwhile, Marx was ordered back to his Benedictine Abbey in Minnesota and has been suspended from saying Mass “because he broke his vow of obedience” by continuing to attack HLI leadership.

Human Life International is a Roman Catholic non-profit organization that openly opposes “contraception, abortion, ‘radical feminism,’ and sex education in schools.” Moreover Marx, its controversial founder, has been accused of being anti-Semitic; in a 1970s HLI newsletter, he urged his readers to note “‘the large number of abortionists…and pro-abortion medical professors who are Jewish.'”

With abortion legal in the United States, despite increasing legal restrictions against a woman’s right to choose, HLI has focused on an international campaign to limit women’s access to reproductive health services and information. They and other anti-choice advocates, says The Washington Post, are turning to infighting in the face of the strength of the pro-choice movement.

100-year-old Ruth Ellis exudes a feisty spirit and what the Boston Globe calls a “matter-of-fact pride.” An “icon” in the lesbian and gay community, Ellis has been dubbed the “oldest ‘out’ African-American” known. Since the age of 12, Ellis grew up without a mother, under the eyes of a father who supported her education and discouraged attention from boys. Like many lesbians in America today, Ellis tells the story of high school crushes on female teachers and catching glimpses of a gay lifestyle in novels like Radclyffe Hall’s “The Well of Loneliness.” A strong woman who sustained a 30-year romantic partnership with Ceceline “Babe” Franklin, Ellis’s years have offered her a unique perspective on society. She is surprised at being called an “inspiration” by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, but her simple stance on homophobia is enough to inspire anyone: it baffles her why anyone would hate another human being.

A documentary on her life, called “Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100,” directed by Yvonne Welbon, will air on the cable Sundance Film Channel next Monday.

A bipartisan group from both the House and the Senate is introducing legislation that would repeal the global gag rule that restricts international family planning groups seeking aid from discussing the full range of women’s reproductive health care.

The gag rule is a result of the “Mexico City” policy, which forbids United States aid to international family planning groups who “perform or promote” abortion with their own funds.

“The global gag rule forces organizations to sacrifice their right to free speech in order to receive family planning assistance,” said Nita Lowey (D-NY) who sponsored the Global Democracy Promotion Act in the House.

Some 600,000 women die every year from pregnancy-related causes, 100,000 of which from botched illegal abortions. Sponsors of the bill state that 150 million married women in developing countries cannot access contraceptives.

LEARN MORE Click here to read women’s narratives about barriers or successes in accessing reproductive health and family planning services.

Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani attorney, noted in her annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Commission that women are being killed by or on orders from family members because they are perceived to have shamed them.

These so-called “honor killings” are occurring in more and more countries according to Jahangir, who reported cases in India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Peru, Jordan and Israel as well as western countries such as Britain, Norway and Italy.

While Jahangir praised attempts at legal reform in Turkey and Jordan, she emphasized the fact that some non-Muslim countries fail to take a firm stand on “what they perceive as the traditional values of the East, which is not correct.”

A survey conducted by the Chronicle of Higher Education found that colleges are making small gains in the number of female athletes and budgets for women’s sports.

In 1998-99, female athletes saw their budgets rise for scholarships, coaches’ salaries, and budgets for operating and recruiting expenses. Only 36 institutions that participated in the survey met the federal requirement for gender proportional scholarships awarded to athletes, but 175 colleges exceeded the amounts they were required to provide for women.

Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972 prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally-funded education, including athletics programs.

However, Division I schools continue to spend nearly twice as much on salaries of coaches of men’s teams. Data from 311 Division I schools was included in the survey.

The Chronicle has a searchable database online that allows viewers to compare gender-equity data for colleges in a given state, NCAA division, or athletic conference.

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled today that a lesbian who helped raise her former partner’s twins has rights equivalent to a parent’s and is therefore entitled to visitation now that the couple is no longer together.

The plaintiff, identified as V.C. lost her bid for joint custody and visitation in 1996 but won an appeal for visitation rights, despite the objection of the children’s biological mother M.J.B.

Thursday’s ruling again rejected visitation rights for V.C. but upheld her right to visitation stating that she has the status of a “psychological parent” to the children and has a right to help in parenting them.

“Under the statute, V.C. and M.J.B. are essentially equal,” wrote Associate Justice Virginia Long. “Each appears to be a fully capable, loving parent committed to the safety and welfare of the twins.”

Vice President, and democratic presidential candidate, Al Gore announced on Tuesday his opposition to unfair treatment of women in the Social Security system.

Gore announced that he would eliminate the “motherhood penalty” by providing women or men who stay at home to care for their children up to five years in credit in retirement earnings, with an estimated increase of $600 annually.

In addition, Gore pledged to strengthen benefits for widows. Currently, widows can have their combined benefits cut in half upon the death of their husband. Gore proposed to increase the widow’s benefit to three-quarters of the combined benefits.

Both of these proposals are in accordance with the Social Security Taskforce of the National Council of Women’s Organizations’ recommendations. The Taskforce is chaired by economist Dr. Heidi Hartmann of the Institute for Women’s Policy and Research. The Feminist Majority Foundation’s president, Eleanor Smeal, and research director, Jennifer Jackman, are members of the Taskforce.

The Social Security Taskforce calls the “motherhood penalty” proposal a family service credit. Feminist Expo 2000, which took place March 31 – April 2, 2000 emphasized the need for a family service credit or ‘care credits’ – in both our Social Security system and our taxation system.

While expecting a third presidential veto on the bill, the Republican-controlled House passed legislation banning “partial birth” abortions with the two-thirds majority necessary to override a presidential veto.

“‘Partial-birth abortion’ bans are deceptive, unconstitutional, and extreme measures intended to eliminate a woman’s right to choose abortion,” according to the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP).

Opponents of this legislation argue that it could be applied more broadly than late-term abortion and potentially undermine the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion.

Six-year old Kayla Rolland was shot and killed yesterday by a six-year old male classmate while at school in Michigan. The boy is the youngest suspect in the school shootings that have shocked communities across the country in the last three years – shootings by boys that have largely targeted women and girls. The fact that all of the school shooters have been boys and that the vast majority of the victims in these shootings have been girls has been largely ignored by the media. This Mother’s Day, the Million Mom March will take place to educate children on the danger of guns to help stop such senseless violence. The mission of the March declares that “We, the mothers, are calling on Congress to enact common sense gun control legislation by Mother’s Day 2000. Come May 14th, we mothers will go to Washington, D.C. either to celebrate sensible legislation or to protest bipartisan ineptitude.” For more information on the Million Mom March, visit their Web site www.millionmommarch.com.

Egypt’s new law making it easier for a woman to divorce their husbands took effect today. Twenty women, an unprecedented number, took advantage of the new law in its first day and filed for divorce in Cairo. Egypt’s Parliament voted in January to give women the option to file for divorce before a judge based on incompatibility. Under the previous code, a woman had to prove that her husband psychologically or physically abused her. Complaints were often dismissed by judges and the rulings usually went against the women. If a divorce was granted, the husband could appeal the ruling indefinitely. Under the new code, women seeking a divorce are given a three-month period to attempt reconciliation and six months if children are involved. If the women have not changed their minds after the reconciliation period, the divorce is granted.

Recent disclosures in a growing scandal within the Los Angeles Police Department have revealed allegations of police officers involved in beatings and shootings of citizens, perjury, and drug dealing. According to ex-officer Rafael Perez, who has revealed much of the LAPD scandal in exchange for a reduced sentence on drug-dealing charges, women officers were not trusted to be “in the loop.” In 1991, the Los Angeles Police Department was found in court cases to discriminate on the basis of sex. Moreover, the LAPD was ordered by the court twice since then to increase its numbers of women. Despite these rulings, less than one-fifth of the LAPD is female. Katherine Spillar, National Coordinator of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and Penny Harrington, head of the National Center for Women & Policing, argue, “Introducing significantly greater numbers of women to the force would reduce police brutality incidents.” Research nationally and internationally has shown that women are less likely to use excessive force, and are better at defusing potentially violent situations. Spillar & Harrington were recently featured on a 60 Minutes report on police family violence in the LAPD. Nationwide, studies indicate as many as 40 percent of police officers use domestic violence in their own homes.

The U.S. Supreme Court decided yesterday that it would rule on whether public hospitals can drug test pregnant women and then provide the results to police. In Ferguson v. City of Charleston, ten women from South Carolina filed suit against a Charleston hospital for searching a targeted group of women seeking obstetrical care. Women who tested positive for drugs were reported to the police and some were arrested out of their hospital beds. The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, representing the women, argues that “the question before the court is whether pregnant women have lesser constitutional rights than other Americansƒ.” The American Public Health Association, nurses groups, physicians, and public health counselors filed an amicus brief in support of the women.

The number of hate groups is growing in the Portland/Seattle area of the Northwest according to the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity. In its “Hate by State” report released yesterday, the coalition identified the location of 52 hate groups in the Northwest corridor, including the Aryan Nations, numerous chapters of the World Church of the Creator, and the Ku Klux Klan. Researchers correlate the growth of hate groups between Seattle and Portland with the increasing population of that area. Terre Rybovich, executive director of the coalition, explained that hate groups exploit problems within these communities. “When racial strife breaks out in a high schoolƒthere are (supremacist) groups ready and willing to leaflet high school and community meetings and recruit young people,” said Rybovich.

Last Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony in support of the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act,” which would make it a crime to harm a fetus in the process of committing any of 68 federal crimes. The federal law would, as opponents argue, tread dangerously on a woman’s right to choose, as its language is both broad and vague. The hearing came in conjunction with anti-abortion votes in two state legislatures, as Illinois passed heavy restrictions against Medicaid-funded abortions and Idaho signed a parental consent law.

Illinois’ and Idaho’s restrictive measures, like many anti-abortion statutes, disproportionately affect poor women, young women, and women of color. According to the Kaiser Daily Health Report, supporters of both measures stressed the rights of “moral” opponents to abortion to block their tax dollars from funding the procedure and to prevent young women from making this decision in the absence of their parents. Supporters of the bill asserted the measures’ effects on women’s lives: blocking Medicaid funding means adversely affecting poor women, while women of means continue to obtain abortions.

Parental consent laws, rather than encouraging women to seek adult advice in making a decision concerning an unwanted pregnancy, lead to back alley abortions and unwanted births.

The Asracadero Gazette has lost about 11 employees and 200 subscribers in the wake of their recent cancellation of a calendar listing for a local Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) meeting. Publisher Steve Martin and editor Ron Bast both quit after the Gazette’s owners ordered them not to publish any materials that favorably portrayed gays, lesbians, or abortion. The decision has sparked protest in the community that eventually forced the Gazette to slightly revise its policy, allowing letters to the editor in favor of the gay community and abortion. Columnist Anne Calhoun quit the paper, calling it a newsletter with a political agenda rather than an outlet for journalism. At the heart of the case is the Gazette’s supposed commitment to “family values.”

Canada’s Justice Minister Anne McLellan has introduced a measure that would grant lesbian and gay partnerships the same rights that are given common-law heterosexual couples.

The proposed measure would modify 68 federal statutes, such as the Pension Act and the Tax Act, but requires Parliamentary approval. Amending these two statutes would allow lesbians and gay men to claim their partners as dependents and collect survivor benefits if one partner dies.

Anti-abortion militant Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, was given a censure letter by his pastor at the Landmark Church in Binghamton, NY. Ironically, once again Terry has formed a new group called the Loyal Opposition, which is dedicated to “preserving the sanctity of traditional marriage.” Right now Terry is in Vermont with the Loyal Opposition lobbying the state legislature not to permit gay marriages.

Pastor Daniel J. Little, in his letter, accused Terry of a “pattern of repeated and sinful relationships and conversations with both single and married women.”

Terry has recently declared bankruptcy in an effort to avoid paying damages awarded in civil cases to pro-choice groups as a result of his actions against abortion clinics.

Students demanding better working conditions for manufacturers of university-related clothing ended their eight-day sit-in yesterday after school officials agreed to meet some of their demands.

Penn agreed to withdraw from the Fair Labor Association, a group that consists of apparel manufacturers and retailers that monitor working conditions, which the students claim is an inadequate monitor of labor conditions. In her letter to the Fair Labor Association, Penn President Judith Rodin said the school was withdrawing to “take a fresh look at the monitoring organization or organizations to which Penn should belong.”

The school did refuse to join the Workers’ Rights Consortium, which was developed by students and consists of workers and human rights groups who monitor working conditions. Despite this refusal, the protesting students declared victory.