A new report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that one third of sex education classes in the United States do not cover information about birth control. Though 97 percent of teens surveyed by the study said they received formal sex education by the time they were 18, only […]
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced in a report yesterday that although maternal mortality rates have decreased by 34 percent since 1990, the decline in the rate of pregnancy-related deaths is not on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal target for 2015. The report, which was published in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s […]
Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, won big in her primary last night with over 80% of the vote. She beat back a challenge that had the backing of some Wall Street interests. Maloney is a champion of women’s rights legislation including truth in advertising to curb misleading claims by so-called […]
For the first time, women earned the majority of PhDs awarded at American Universities in the 2008-2009 academic year. Though the number of women at every level of academia has been increasing for decades, Washington Post reported that doctoral-level study was the only remaining area of higher education that still had a male majority. According […]
In a nearly unanimous vote yesterday, the French senate approved a law banning any veils that cover the face, making France the first European country to pass such a measure. The ban pertains to the burqa, a full-body covering that includes mesh over the face, and the niqab, a full-face veil that leaves an opening […]
Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, testified today before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs at its hearing “Rape in the United States: The Chronic Failure to Report and Investigate Rape Cases” and called for national reform in the reporting and investigating of rape crimes. Moreover, Smeal advocated […]
United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced today that former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet will be the first head of the new UN agency, UN Women. Bachelet was elected the first woman president of Chile in 2006. As President, she fulfilled a campaign promise to institute a gender-balanced cabinet. She first gained visibility and […]
Dr. Irma McClaurin, a member of the Ms. Committee of Scholars, was named the 15th President of Shaw University late last week. Dr. McClaurin considers herself to be an activist anthropologist and taught anthropology, women’s and gender studies, African studies, and Latin American Studies during her tenure at the University of Florida. She later served […]
Iranian women’s rights activist and journalist Shiva Nazar Ahari was released from the notorious Evin Prison yesterday on approximately $500,000 bail. Ahari had been held since December 2009 on a number of charges, including “waging war against God,” according to Radio Free Europe. Ahari was arrested while traveling to attend the funeral of dissident cleric […]
Justin Carl Moose was arrested earlier this week and charged with “providing information related to the making, use, or manufacture of an explosive, destructive device, or weapon of mass destruction to a person Moose believed was planning to bomb a women’s health clinic in North Carolina.” According to the FBI, the criminal complaint against Moose […]
US District Court Judge Virginia Phillips ruled yesterday that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) is unconstitutional on the basis that it violates both the first and fifth amendment rights of lesbian and gay service members. The ruling was in a case filed by the Log Cabin Republicans against the federal government in 2004. Within the […]
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law today, called “Chelsea’s Law,” that stiffens penalties for violent sex offenses against children. The law (see PDF), immediately changes the sentencing guidelines in many current sex offender cases in California courts. Among other provisions, the new law allows for life sentences for sex offenders who attack children under […]
John Boyd, the president of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) held a press conference Tuesday that called for Congress to approve legislation that will fund a historic discrimination settlement against black farmers. Under the settlement, which was reached out of court in 1999, qualified farmers could receive up to $50,000 each. The original case […]
The US Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Education have reportedly launched a probe into whether the state has discriminated against non-native English speaking teachers. According to the Associated Press, the state’s education department began encouraging school districts to lay off teachers who are not fully proficient in English grammar or who lack basic English language […]
Seven women who had been imprisoned in Guanajuato state in Mexico after alleged abortions were freed yesterday. Women’s rights activist Veronica Cruz, who has been working on the women’s behalf, told the Associated Press that the women were “innocent” and that “they all suffered miscarriages.” The state convicted the women under a state law that […]
The European Union traded barbs with Iran today regarding the case of Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, an Iranian woman who was convicted of adultery and originally sentenced to death by stoning. During European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso’s first State of the Union address, he said that he was “appalled” by the original sentence and that […]
ABM Industries, a maintenance contracting company, will pay a $5.8 million settlement to the 21 California Latina janitorial staff who filed a class action sexual harassment lawsuit against the company. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit was filed on the women’s behalf in 2007, according to the Associated Press. The suit alleged that […]
The wife and daughter of Iranian human rights lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, both arrived in Norway yesterday, where the family is seeking asylum. Mostafaei sought asylum in Norway in August after he fled a warrant for his arrest. At the time of his initial disappearance in July, it was unclear whether Iranian authorities had him in […]
Incumbent Senator Barbara Boxer (D) faced Republican challenger Carly Fiorina in a debate yesterday where they addressed many feminist issues. Regarding abortion, Boxer said, “If my opponent’s views prevailed, women and doctors would be criminals, they would go to jail. Women would die, like they did before Roe v. Wade,” reported the Los Angeles Times. […]
Plans to add a statue of groundbreaking aviator Amelia Earhart to the collection displayed at the United States Capitol became public this week. Earhart will be the 10th woman to be featured in statuary hall, where each state is allotted space for two of its citizens to be honored. According to the Washington Post, Kansas […]
