Yesterday the Department of Defense issued an annual report that showed that sexual assault in the military rose by 35% from 2010 to 2012. The report found that 26,000 members of the military experienced “unwanted sexual contact” in 2012 when answering an anonymous survey – a rate of approximately 70 assaults a day. That number […]
Yesterday, the Delaware state legislature voted to legalize same-sex marriage and the bill was signed into law by the governor moments afterwards. The bill passed in the state House two weeks ago on a vote of 23 to 18. It was approved by the Senate yesterday on a vote of 12 to 9. Governor Jack […]
Last week, a Minnesota judge dismissed a lawsuit that attempted to end state insurance coverage for abortion.The lawsuit, brought against the state by a conservative anti-abortion legal group on behalf of “taxpayers”, alleged that the Department of Human Services was using tax-payer money to fund abortions for women on state assistance when the procedures were […]
The chief of the Air Force’s branch on sexual assault prevention and response was arrested over the weekend on charges of sexual battery. According to the Arlington Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffery Krusinski groped a woman in a parking lot early Sunday morning. She fought him off when he attempted to grab her again and […]
The official death toll from a building collapse in Dhaka, Bangladesh has surpassed 700 as more bodies were recovered on Tuesday. Officials said that the death toll had climbed to 705. It is the country’s worst industrial disaster and the worst disaster in the history of the garment industry. Survivors of the eight story building […]
The Florida state legislature adjourned on Friday without a vote on Medicaid expansion that would extend healthcare to 1 million Floridians.
On Thursday, Rhode Island became the tenth state to legalize same-sex marriage. In a vote of 56 to 15, the Rhode Island state House approved changes in a bill approved by the state Senate. That evening Governor Lincoln Chafee (I) signed the bill into law. Governor Chafee, who has been pushing for marriage equality since […]
The Supreme Court of El Salvador has still not issued a decision about whether or not it will allow a woman in El Salvador to terminate a life-threatening, non-viable fetus. “Beatriz”, who is currently 22 and already a mother of a young infant, was diagnosed with multiple severe illnesses and is 18 weeks pregnant. In […]
Yesterday, the Colorado state legislature approved a bill that will expand voter rights in the state. The bill would provide every voter a mail-in ballot, allow same-day voter registration, create a statewide voter database, and replace assigned precincts with general “voter centers.” The bill which passed in the state Senate with a vote of 20 […]
A 16 year old student in Bartow, Florida was arrested under felony charges earlier this week after a science experiment caused smoke and a loud noise on school property. Kiera Wilmot* mixed toilet bowl cleaner and aluminum foil in an 8oz plastic bottle for a science experiment after hearing it would produce non-toxic smoke from […]
The death toll from the eight story building collapse in Bangladesh last Wednesday has passed 500, making it the worst industrial disaster in the country’s history. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the collapse. An initial investigation found that the top four floors of the eight story building had been constructed illegally without […]
Linda Dorcena Forry won the Democratic primary for the open Massachusetts state Senate seat. She is the first Haitian-American to win a Massachusetts state primary, and will be running for a seat traditionally held by Irish-American men. “I’m so grateful to the many, many members of the community, the folks who came out and supported […]
Late Wednesday night, the Obama Administration filed an appeal in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals challenging a federal judge’s decision that emergency contraception must be made available over the counter with no age restrictions. According to the New York Times, the Department of Justice will argue that Judge Edward Korman, who issued the ruling, […]
On Wednesday, the Irish parliament unveiled the Protection of Life In Pregnancy Bill which clarifies when a woman can have a life-saving abortion. Under the new bill, women can terminate a pregnancy when there is a significant threat to her life, including suicide. In the case of an emergency, a single doctor can approve and […]
Last week, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood approved the language for a 2015 ballot measure that would amend the Mississippi state constitution to define life as beginning at conception. Now, supporters must collect 107,216 valid signatures of Mississippi voters to add it to the Mississippi ballot in 2015. Initiative Measure No. 41, originally approved by […]
President Obama announced his renewed desire to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in a press conference yesterday. He said that the prison was created in an understandable reaction to the tragedy of 9/11, “but we are now over a decade out. We should be wiser. We should have more experience in how we […]
Yesterday, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was sworn in as Bangladesh’s first female Speaker of the Parliament. She was unanimously elected by the Parliament earlier Tuesday to fill the vacant seat. Previously, Chaudhury, a member of the majority Awami League party, was the state minister for women and children affairs. In addition to advancing women’s equality through […]
A staff person for Washington state Senator Mike Hewitt (R-Walla Walla) recently told a Washington blogger that LGBT individuals can fend for themselves when they are denied services under a recently proposed bill. Jay Castro, a reader of the Washington blog column Slog at The Stranger, called Senator Hewitt’s office to ask about his sponsorship of SB […]
The Florida state legislature has a week to reconcile two different versions of a Medicaid expansion bill that could either provide coverage to 1.1 million Floridians, or to only 115,000. The debate over the two versions of the bill is over the question of whether or not Florida should accept funding from the federal government […]
The King Khalid Foundation (KKF) in Saudi Arabia has launched the first advertising campaign to combat violence against women in Saudi Arabia. The advertisement features a woman in a niqab with a black eye and a caption that reads “Some things can’t be covered – fight women’s abuse together.” Other versions of the poster feature […]
