Valentine Monnier, a 62 year old French actress, revealed in an interview with Le Parisien that director Roman Polanski violently raped her in 1975 at his skiing chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. At the time, Monnier was 18 years old while Polanski was 42. She told Le Parisien that she went to Polanski’s skiing chalet with […]
International Criminal Court Sentences Man to 30 Years in Prison for Sexual Slavery
Bosco Ntaganda, a former rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been sentenced by the International Criminal Court to 30 years in prison after being convicted of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including rape, murder, sexual slavery, and the use of child soldiers. Ntaganda is the first person to […]
Transgender Cyclist Wins Cycling Championship, Gets Criticism from Competitors
Rachel McKinnon is dominating the women’s cycling field, yet is receiving backlash from her fellow competitors. This 37-year old Canadian woman won at the Masters Track World Cycling Championships in Manchester, England in the 35-39 age category 200-meter sprint. McKinnon is celebrating breaking a world record and her second consecutive world title. Her success was […]
Dozens of People Blinded by Chilean Authorities in Violent Response to Protests
More than 140 people have suffered severe eye injuries since protests in Chile began on October 18th. At least 26 people have completely lost vision in one eye, according to the Salvador Hospital ophthalmology unit in Santiago, the nation’s capital, and many others are still being treated. “Last Monday, we got 10 people with these […]
UN Passes Resolution to Implement Women Peace and Security Agenda
Nearly 20 years after Resolution 1325 was adopted, today the UN passed a resolution calling for the full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The agenda, referring to Resolution 1325, was first adopted in October of 2000 and addressed the disproportionate impact of armed conflict on women, and acknowledges the role of women […]
Pelosi and Bipartisan Congressional Delegation Make Unannounced Trip to Afghanistan After Trump’s Decision on Syria
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led an unannounced congressional visit to Afghanistan over the weekend, Pelosi’s office said Sunday evening. The secret trip was made as Pelosi led a congressional delegation to Jordan, where her office says they discussed Middle East peace and Syria with members of the country’s royal family. “This evening, our bipartisan delegation […]
Congressional Representatives Emphasize the Importance of Preserving the Progress in Afghanistan
A bipartisan congressional dialogue by Rep. Susan Davis (D-CA) and Rep. Martha Ruby (R-AL) at the United States Institute of Peace focused on the achievements accomplished in Afghanistan. Both members of Congress have been leading a group of congressional members to Afghanistan since 2007 and have seen the progress there after more than a decade […]
Art Exhibit Uses Women’s Pantyhose To Explore Feminist Issues
22 international artists came together to create an art exhibit in the U.K. that uses women’s stockings to explore feminist issues. The Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate showcases the work of these artists whose subject matter is traditionally stockings. The exhibit is meant to explore themes of race, gender, femininity, and subversion. The curator of […]
LGBTQ+ Activist Killed in Uganda
Queer activist Brian Wasswa was killed in his home in Jinja, a city in Eastern Uganda. He had been working with the Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum (HRAPF), a legal aid organization that does outreach work for the LGBTQ+ community. His murder was followed by the Ugandan Minister of Ethics and Integrity announcing that […]
Esther Duflo Wins Nobel Prize in Economics for Work Addressing Global Poverty
Esther Duflo, a researcher from Cambridge, Massachusetts, alongside two others, has been awarded this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize for economics. Duflo is part of a trio of researchers from Cambridge, Massachusetts, including her husband Abhijit Banerjee and colleague Michael Kremer, to win the prestigious prize for their work in addressing global poverty. “This year’s Laureates […]
Women In Saudi Arabia Allowed To Join Army
In a series of social and economic reforms, Saudi Arabia will allow women to enlist in the army for the first time. Mohammad bin Salman, the prince of Saudi Arabia, has approved a series of new reforms, the latest being allowing women to enlist. Possible ranks for women now include private to sergeant in the […]
Aisha Khurram Selected as Afghanistan’s 2019 Youth Representative to the United Nations
Aisha Khurram, a law student at Kabul University, has been selected as Afghanistan’s Youth Representative to the United Nations for 2019, joining a group of other young representatives from across the globe seeking to make their voices heard at the world governing body. Khurram — who was selected from among 80 candidates — is tasked […]
Canadian Women Launch a New Project for Afghan Women
Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan (CW4WAfghan.ca) just completed their annual conference in British Columbia. The three-day long conference was packed with inspiring speakers and workshops. During the event, CW4WAfghan launched their new project called Gender Equity in Teacher Training to Improve Girls’ Education in Afghanistan (GETT). This $1.3 million project will train women teachers. […]
Afghan President: Human Rights and Women’s Rights Must Be Protected
In an interview with the German newspaper, Der Spiegel, the president of Afghanistan once again reiterated his commitment to ensuring and protecting human rights and women’s rights in Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani is committed to never “surrender” to the Taliban or allow Afghanistan to be a country where women are “held at home as if […]
Nepal’s Parliament Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara Resigns after Rape Accusation
The speaker of Nepal’s lower house of Parliament, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, stepped down from his position on Tuesday after a parliamentary employee accused him of raping her on Sunday in her own apartment. The lawmaker, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a prominent figure within the country’s governing Nepal Communist Party, denied assaulting the woman who accused him […]
19 Women Rescued From Baby Factory in Nigeria
19 Nigerian women were rescued from being trafficked in Lagos, where they were raped, became forcibly pregnant, and had their babies sold. On September 19, police busted a human trafficking hub in Nigeria. They rescued 19 pregnant women, aged between 15 and 28, and four children from four properties in Lagos they described as one […]
Study Shows Women Are Dying From Heart Attack Gender Gap
A new briefing from the British Heart Foundation says women are dying of preventable heart attacks from a gender gap in treatment and a stigma that heart attacks mostly affect men. A study, funded by the BHF charity, found that over 10 years, 8,200 heart attack related deaths in the UK would have been prevented […]
Protests Erupt in Indonesia Over Bills that Would Ban Extramarital Sex
In cities across Indonesia, protesters have gathered to speak out against a new set of proposed legislation that would ban extramarital sex. This would, in effect, ban any sort of same-sex activity since the country does not recognize same-sex marriage. Additionally, the bill would ban abortion except in cases of rape or incest. These measures […]
French Lawmakers Approve IVF for Single and Gay Women
France’s lower house of Parliament approved a controversial draft of a bioethics law Friday allowing single women and lesbian couples to use medically assisted reproduction methods, but it still needs to make it through France’s upper house. The bill, which would allow women who are not in heterosexual relationships or single to access IVF treatment […]
Nike Nets Four Times as Much Apparel Revenue from this Year’s Women’s World Cup Than the Last One
Nike netted four times as much apparel revenue from this year’s Women’s World Cup than the last tournament in 2015, CEO Mark Parker said on it first-quarter earnings call yesterday. Overall sales in its women’s business increased 10% “on the back of an incredible summer celebrating female athletes,” he said. Strong demand for Women’s World […]