US Attorney General Michael Mukasey overturned a federal court decision Monday in an asylum case for Alima Traore, a Malian woman. This decision prevents immigration authorities from sending Traore back to her home country, where she fears a forced marriage and genital mutilation. Mukasey rejected the federal court’s rationale that “because [Traore’s] genitalia had already […]
A graduate program that will offer Master of Arts and doctoral degrees in feminist studies at the University of California Santa Barbara has been approved. The women’s studies department has also been renamed and will now be called the Department of Feminist Studies. The first cohort to begin the new MA/PhD program will begin in […]
A new study has found that traditional gender role views are strongly associated with higher earning levels for men. The study (see PDF) suggests that the wage gap is “exacerbated in the presence of traditional gender role orientations” and found that “traditional gender role orientation provides men with strong earnings advantages, even when relevant control […]
The British Columbian Appeal Court recently dismissed challenges to the Canadian Access to Abortion Services Act. The act establishes 50 meter “bubble zones” around clinics that provide abortion services. In the United States, these zones are known as “buffer zones.” Anti-abortion demonstrators contested the act, saying that it “infringed on their freedom of expression” and […]
A federal judge ruled Friday that Diane Schroer, a transgender woman, was discriminated against when she was not hired as a terrorism research analyst at the Library of Congress’ Congressional Research Service. According to the Washington Post, Schroer, a former U.S Army colonel, was offered the job in December 2004 only to have the offer […]
The number of plaintiffs in a gender discrimination suit filed against Bloomberg LP grew last week from 58 to 72. According to New York Magazine, one in seven female employees who became pregnant in the last six years are now plantiffs in the lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Bloomberg LP last […]
In a new New York Times and CBS News poll of 1,113 people, respondents indicated strong support for legal abortion rights. The poll (see PDF) divided the respondents into two groups. Thirty-seven percent of respondents in the first of two groups polled answered that they would like to see abortion generally available to those who […]
The United Nations Development Fund for Women has released a report that details an increase in women’s participation in politics by 8 percent worldwide since 1998. Globally, 18.4% of parliament-level officials are women. However, even if the current trend continues, the report indicates that women in “developing countries will not reach the ‘parity zone’ where […]
Kansas abortion provider Dr George Tiller’s attorneys filed papers Monday that seek to dismiss the criminal charges against him by the Kansas Attorney General. Dr. Tiller is one of the few late-term abortion providers in the US that serves women with troubled pregnancies and complicated health problems. According to the Kansas City Star, the current […]
A recent ruling by a Kentucky Court of Appeals bans gay couples from step-parent adoption unless the stepparent and the child’s biological parent are married, effectively banning second parent adoption by same sex couples. A constitutional amendment bans gay marriage in Kentucky. If a child cannot be adopted by his or her second parent, the […]
Tzipi Livni won the election in Israel to replace Prime Minister Elmud Olmert Thursday as head of the Kadima Party. According to the Associated Press, Livni, Israel’s foreign minister and a political moderate, secured 43.1 percent of the vote. Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister and military leader received 42 percent of the vote. Olmert, […]
The United States Department of Education has found that San Diego’s Mesa College violated Title IX legislation based on an October 2007 complaint. In its review regarding the women’s basketball team, the Department of Education cited disparities in several areas including locker room use and access to practice or training areas that were “more than […]
An Illinois county court ruling that a fertilized unimplanted egg is a person was overturned by an appellate court last week. Executive Director of the Illinois ACLU, Colleen Connell writes on the ACLU blog that if the decision was “left undisturbed, the lower court’s decision could have limited the ability of women in Illinois to […]
Several South Dakota church leaders declared their support last week for a November ballot initiative that would ban almost all abortions in South Dakota. According to the The Argus Leader, church leaders announced at a news conference that they hoped to gain support for the initiative from close to 800 churches within the state. The […]
Women business owners are voicing opposition towards proposed regulations on a federal program that aims to set aside five percent of federal contract dollars for women owned-businesses. In December 2000, legislation went into effect that aimed to set aside contracts for women in certain industries. According to the American City Business Journals Wire Service, the […]
The Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs on Wednesday held a hearing on sexual assault in the military. Dr. Kaye Whitley, director of the Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, testified at the hearing. She was ordered by her Pentagon superiors to ignore a congressional subpoena to attend a previous hearing […]
Clinics in hurricane-affected areas are encouraging women to back up their birth control methods in the event of emergencies. Planned Parenthood clinics across Texas are advocating women to remember to take responsibility for their birth control methods even during times of evacuation and clinic closures. As hurricanes continue to threaten the Gulf Coast, clinics have […]
The Macomb County, Michigan Republican Party Chair plans to use a list of foreclosed homes to prevent certain voters from casting ballots on November 4. In an interview with the Michigan Messenger, Republican Party Chairman James Carabelli said, “we will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those […]
A Houston Planned Parenthood is being targeted by anti-abortion protesters. According to the Houston Chronicle the protestors have picketed the clinic’s current site and plan to target the construction company that will renovate a six-story building for the Houston Planned Parenthood. The Houston Chronicle reports that protesters are erroneously calling the clinic’s new location “the […]
The ACLU filed a class-action lawsuit Tuesday against the US Department of State for refusing to issue passports to US citizens born by midwives along the US-Mexico border. An ACLU press release explains, “the lawsuit charges that the State Department categorically questions the citizenship of virtually all midwife-delivered Mexican-Americans born in southern border states” by […]
