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 […]
Afghan War Crimes Victims Lobby Against the Afghanistan Peace Jirga
A coalition of Afghan war crimes victims is lobbying against the Afghanistan Peace Jirga and the Afghanistan government’s effort to begin a reconciliation process with the Taliban and other insurgents. The Afghanistan Peace Jirga, which took place early last week, brought together approximately 1,600 delegates from around Afghanistan to discuss building peace and the motives […]
Day Three: Live-Blogging Women Deliver!
It’s Day 3 of the three-day international conference Women Deliver 2010 in Washington, D.C., and Ms. Bloggers are still on the scene. The conference intends to hammer home the point that maternal and reproductive health is a global priority. Want to do something to help? You can click here to urge President Obama to keep the U.S.’s […]
Day Two of Women Deliver: Ellie Smeal, Rachel Leigh Cook, Ali Larter
At Day 2 of the three-day international conference Women Deliver 2010 in Washington, D.C., Ms. Bloggers are there on the scene. The conference intends to hammer home the point that maternal and reproductive health is a global priority. Want to do something to help? You can click here to urge President Obama to keep the […]
Day One of Women Deliver: Melinda Gates, Ban-Ki Moon, Hillary Clinton
The three-day international conference Women Deliver 2010 opened in Washington, D.C., Monday morning, and the Ms. Blog was there on the scene. The conference intends to hammer home the point that maternal and reproductive health is a global priority. Want to do something to help? You can click here to urge President Obama to keep […]
Global Maternal Mortality Drops, Afghanistan Has Highest Rate
The average rate at which mothers die during childbirth has dropped globally by approximately 40 percent since 1980, according to a study recently released by The Lancet, a European medical journal. Afghanistan ranked highest, as reported by a research team led by Christopher J.L. Murray at the University of Washington, with 1,575 maternal deaths for […]