The Afghanistan Mortality Survey (AMS) 2010, sponsored by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the US Government, and the British Department for International Development, revealed that over the past five years, maternal and infant mortality has declined dramatically in Afghanistan. According to the research, there are “500 deaths per 100,000 live births,” as compared to 2005 […]
Should Catholic Bishops Have The Right To Control Your Life?
By Janet Hill, Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), National CLUW Vice President (United Steelworkers) Catholic bishops are pressuring the Obama administration to dilute the rule proposed by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow women access to birth control without paying out of pocket. There is a narrow exemption that allows religious […]
Does China Have the Solution for the Population Crisis? Not Even Close
by Meghan Yee On October 31, the world population reached 7 billion. According to one Chinese demographer, however, if not for China’s one-child policy, the world population would have hit that number five years ago. China has the largest population on earth with 1.4 billion people. However, since 1979, the National Population and Family Planning […]
The Women of “Women, War and Peace”
By Michele Kort The remarkable five-part PBS series Women, War and Peace concludes on tonight (Tuesday, November 8th) with War Redefined, the capstone piece that brings together the issues brought up in the previous films about conflicts in Afghanistan, Colombia, Liberia and Bosnia. Narrated by Geena Davis, the film touches on, among other things, […]
The Staggering Facts of Seven Billion
We humans mark a milestone today—the world’s population reaches 7 billion. When I was born there were about 2.2 billion people on earth. When my assistant was born there were a little more than 5 billion people on earth. It took just 12 years to go from 6 billion to 7. As the population climbs […]
Reflections on a Population Surging Beyond 7 Billion
6,998,460,833: the world’s current population, according to an estimate by Population Action International (PAI). In anticipation of October 31st, the day the world’s population is predicated to reach 7 billion, I’ve sat at my desk transfixed by PAI’s scrolling ticker, documenting the rapidly increasing population as it approaches a number troubling to reproductive rights activists, […]
What Does Seven Billion Mean for Women?
The UN has projected that the world’s population will reach 7 billion today, a scary milestone amidst increasing global political and economic instability. More people will only place increased pressure on our environment, on the world’s habitats, forests, and resources such as water. But how does investing in women’s rights tie into slowing the world’s […]
African Women Need Contraception AND HIV Prevention
A study published on Monday called into question the benefits of injectable hormones, the most popular form of contraception used in Southern and Eastern Africa, and identified a link between the contraception and HIV transmission. The study appeared in a front page, above the fold article in Tuesday’s New York Times, attracting attention to the […]
For Saudi Women, Voting Win Masks Driving Crackdown
By Trish Calvarese, 9/26/2011 In a national TV address Sunday, Saudi King Abdullah declared an end to the de facto ban on women’s suffrage. Beginning in 2015, women will be able to vote and run in local elections. This seemingly good news, heralded by the AP as “a major advancement for the rights of women,” overshadowed […]
A Beating for a Phone: Women Struggle to Access Mobile Technology
People are always shocked to learn how widespread and easily available mobile technology is in “developing nations” like Bangladesh, Kenya, and Afghanistan. When my husband visited my city of birth, Dhaka, last year he could not believe how many people had cell phones in a country where more than half of the population cannot access […]
US Assistance to Global Health Programs: The Battle Continues
The recent hostile budget process targeted women’s health programs globally as much as it did domestically. International family planning was targeted for a 40% cut and UNFPA funding eliminated in the House majority proposals alongside a total elimination of Title X and Planned Parenthood funding. The final amount approved for FY 2011 by Congress for […]
Virginity Tests: Time to Let Gender Out of Revolution’s Closet
There is no doubt that the recent revolution in Egypt got the wheels of the Arab Spring rolling. But just as quickly as women flooded the corners of Tahrir Square and the streets of Cairo in the hopes of a democratic Egypt, their voices were sidelined. This is not uncommon. Even in conservative countries, we […]
Starting the Engine: Saudi Women Drive for Their Rights
The spirit of the Arab Spring broke the steel gates of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today as one by one Saudi women started their engines, defying the country’s notorious ban on women driving, the only place in the world where women are not permitted to drive. Today’s protest is the culmination of an online […]
Are You Supporting Saudi Women This Friday?
This Friday, June 17, women in Saudi Arabia will risk arrest by doing something many of us do every day: driving a car. Sign this letter to key Saudi and U.S. decision makers, sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation, to help Saudi women win the right to go wherever they choose, on their own. The […]
Midwives: Women Saving Women
Today, May 5, 2011 is International Day of the Midwife, which was spearheaded by the International Confederation of Midwives in 1992. It’s been said over and over, but it bears repeating. ONE WOMAN DIES EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY DUE TO COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDBIRTH. That’s approximately 529,000 women each year, with another 10 MILLION more […]
Ugandan Gay Rights Activist Murdered
David Kato, a gay rights activist in Uganda, was beaten and killed in his home yesterday. Kato worked for Sexual Minorities Uganda and was a vocal critic of the Anti-Homosexuality bill, which would impose life sentences or the death penalty for gay people. In October, Kato was included in a list of Uganda’s “top homosexuals” […]
Iranian Human Rights Lawyer Receives 11 Year Sentence
Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian Human Rights lawyer, received an 11 year prison sentence. Sotoudeh was arrested in September and went to trial on November 15 for allegedly acting against state security, assembling, and collusion with intent to disrupt national security. She was also charged for working with the Center for Human Rights Defenders, which was […]
One Year Later: The Women of Haiti Cherie & an American Feminist
For a while there it seemed as if most of the world had forgotten about Haiti (again). This week, by all indications from the news media, the ongoing tragedy has not been completely forgotten. Unfortunately, I can’t help but feel discouraged when nearly half of the people I speak to about Haiti are sure that […]
World Leaders Meet in Afghanistan
World leaders from over 70 countries met in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday for an International Conference on Afghanistan,with the goal of helping the war-torn country restore itself economically, socially and politically. Among the attendees were Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Secretary Clinton spoke […]
Help free Iranian feminists
Iran steps up arrests of women’s rights and human rights activists. This past weekend, on the one year anniversary of the disputed June 2009 elections, Narges Mohammadi, a feminist and vice-president for Nobel Peace Prize Laureate’s human rights organization, was arrested. No information is known about where she is being held or the charges against […]