The Northeast School Cooperation will not discipline a teacher who told media sources that LGBT students have no purpose in life. Earlier this week Sullivan High School came under scrutiny as students, parents, and faculty rallied to create a “traditional” prom that would exclude gay students. The group met last Sunday at Sullivan First Christian […]
In a report released on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that many aboriginal women in British Columbia have been the victims of discrimination, aggressive use of police force, and even sexual assault by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The report, titled “Those Who Take Us Away,” features in depth interviews with […]
It is over a week now that crowds refuse to die down in Shahbagh Square in the heart of Dhaka, Bangladesh. While most of the “western media” has either ignored the swelling numbers of ordinary Bangladeshis joining the movement, others have wrongly labeled it as a mass demand for capital punishment. This is perhaps the biggest misconception about […]
The Oklahoma State House Public Safety Committee passed three abortion-related bills Tuesday that make it more difficult for girls under the age of 18 to receive an abortion without parental consent. In a 7 to 3 vote, the Committee approved two bills that would eliminate the ability for an underage girl to have a judge […]
In an announcement made last week, Brown University announced it will join 35 other US colleges that cover gender-reassignment surgery in their student health plan starting in August. The new health insurance plans covers “14 different sexual reassignment surgery procedures” reports the Brown Daily Herald. Jeanne Hebert, Director of Insurance and Purchasing Services, told the […]
In his first State of the Union message since his reelection, President Obama urged quick passage of legislation the women’s movement has supported for many years. This legislation includes: passage by the House of the Senate’s Violence against Women Reauthorization, for Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (which was filibustered in the Senate by […]
An amendment which would have severely restricted protections for Native American women under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was defeated yesterday evening. The amendment, proposed by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), would have removed a new provision of VAWA that would allow Native American tribal courts to try non-Native Americans for cases of violence against […]
On Friday, a federal judge overturned an Arizona law that prohibited funds from the state’s Medicaid program from going to Planned Parenthood because they are affiliated with abortion providers. U.S. District Judge Neil Wake wrote in his ruling, “The Arizona Act violates the freedom of choice provision of the Medicaid Act precisely because every Medicaid […]
The Senate, by a wide margin of 78-22, passed a strong inclusive Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act today. All 55 Democratic Senators and 23 Republican Senators voted to pass a bill that will strengthen protections for students, immigrants, Native American women, the LGBT community, and also aid victims of sex trafficking. Eleanor Smeal, President of […]
Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he will abdicate his position on February 28. During his papacy, Pope Benedict came under scrutiny for the Vatican’s handling of sexual abuse by priests in the United States and throughout Europe. In 2011, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Survivor Network of Those Abused By Priests (SNAP) […]
Students, parents, and faculty at Sullivan High School in Sullivan, Indiana, are rallying to create a “traditional” prom that would exclude gay students. The group met last Sunday at Sullivan First Christian Church to plan and created a Facebook invite-only group to discuss the event. The group has since been taken down, though screenshots of […]
As part of Virginia’s 2013 Budget, Governor Bob McDonnell has limited the amount of hours an hourly employee of the state can work in a week in an attempt to avoid paying for healthcare as required by the Affordable Care Act. The VA budget would limit hourly workers to a maximum of 29 hours per […]
The Department of Defense released a memo today outlining a plan to extend benefits to same-sex partners of military members. Some benefits extended to same-sex partners include child care, youth programs, legal assistance, disability and death compensation, and the right to visit a loved one in the hospital. The announcement fails to extend full health […]
Earlier this month, a seventeen year-old woman was brutally gang-raped in Bredasdorp, South Africa. The victim, Anene Booysen, had been raped by multiple men and then mutilated and abandoned. Despite medical efforts, she died of her extensive injuries this past weekend. Booysen’s aunt said that she lived long enough to identify a family friend as […]
The North Dakota state Senate approved an initiative on a 26 to 21 vote Thursday that, if passed by North Dakota Voters in 2014, would amend the state constitution to state that life begins at conception. The initiative, SB 2303, states it “ensures that the protection that our criminal laws afford[ed] to victims of crimes […]
An amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) proposed by Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-IA) has failed yesterday on a 65 to 34 Senate vote. The proposed amendment would have removed protections for LGBT victims of domestic violence, allow for new restrictions on U visas given to immigrant victims of domestic violence, prevented tribal […]
Last week the United Nations released a report condemning the practice of performing “normalization” surgeries on intersex children. The Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council submitted a report to the General Assembly that addressed the practice of surgically altering children born with ambiguous genitalia. According to the report [PDF], […]
Tennessee state Senator Jim Tracy (R-Shelbyville) introduced a bill earlier this week that would force women to have a mandatory ultrasound no less than 24 hours before having an abortion. Senate Bill 632 [PDF] would require women seeking an abortion to be shown a transabdominal ultrasound and listen to any detected heartbeat. If a woman […]
Yesterday, President Obama announced his nomination of Sally Jewell as the Secretary of the Interior. Jewell is the first woman nominated for an open position on the Cabinet in President Obama’s second term. Jewell is currently the chief executive officer for Recreational Equipment, Inc (REI) which is devoted to outdoor equipment and apparel. She worked […]
A Somali woman who accused government security forces of rape was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday after the court ruled that her accusation was false. A journalist who had interviewed the woman but never published a story was also sentenced to one year in prison. The Somali court ruled that the woman […]
