The all-male town council in an Oaxaca village in Mexico tore up ballots in favor of the first woman to run for mayor. Eufrosina Cruz, 27, broke with her village”s traditions, which do not allow women to even attend town assemblies, to run for the office. Cruz told the Associated Press that she was winning […]
Wyoming’s gender wage gap, already the largest in the country since 2004, has grown. The Wyoming Women Status Report was compiled by the bipartisan, governor-appointed Wyoming Council for Women’s Issues. The report showed the gap widened to an average of more than $17,000 in 2006, reports the Associated Press. While Wyoming men earn an average […]
Oral contraceptives significantly protect women from ovarian cancer, a new report from Oxford finds. Dr. Valerie Beral, the lead author of the study, said in Science Daily: “Worldwide, the Pill has already prevented 200,000 women from developing cancer of the ovary and has prevented 100,000 deaths from the disease. More than 100 million women are […]
Sexual violence continues to rise amidst post-election clashes in Kenya. The Nairobi Women’s hospital, one of the country”s leading treatment centers for rape and sexual violence, has noted that the number of rape cases have doubled since the beginning of the month, reports BBC News. The steady rise in sexual attacks has prompted a senior […]
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing Thursday on the Fair Pay Restoration Act. This bill would correct the recent US Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. that gutted Title VII pay discrimination protections for women workers. The companion bill passed in the House in July […]
British researchers said this week that the pharmaceutical industry is failing to develop new medications for pregnancy complications. Researchers Nick Fisk and Rifat Atun from Imperial College London found that only three drug patents for maternal health were created in 28 years, reports Reuters. Fisk and Atun reviewed a database of drugs listed as under […]
Saudi Arabia is lifting its eighteen year ban against women driving within the Kingdom. Government officials confirmed the breakthrough decision and plan to issue an announcement by the end of the year, the Telegraph reports. The current ban, which was written into law in 1990, is applicable to all women in Saudi Arabia, regardless of […]
A new report released this week by the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education highlights both the amazing progress for women and girls after 35 years of Title IX and the distance still to go. The report, Title IX at 35: Beyond the Headlines (PDF), shows that, contrary to critic’s claims, educational performance […]
The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in St Louis ruled on Tuesday that Missouri inmates have the right to an elective abortion. The court unanimously upheld the lower court’s ruling, mandating that the state must allow pregnant inmates to have abortions and must provide transportation to facilities for the procedure, reports the Associated Press. […]
Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, a 23 year old journalist in Afghanistan, was sentenced to death for distributing information regarding the role of women in Islam. A three judge panel in Mazar-i- Sharif found Kambakhsh guilty of “distributing blasphemous material”, BBC reports. ” According to…the Islamic law, Sayed Perwiz is sentenced to death at the first court,” […]
Last week teenage gang members were arrested in Fort Worth, TX in connection with a forced prostitution ring that victimized girls as young as 12. The Star-Telegram reports that seven people have been arrested in connection with the case, five of whom are juveniles. The Associated Press reports that, according to Fort Worth police Lt. […]
The Global Gag Rule prohibits family planning programs receiving US federal funds from speaking about or counseling on abortion. A cover article in the latest issue of Ms. Magazine delves into the dangerous reproductive health consequences of the Global Gag Rule for women in developing countries. Ms. authors go to the notorious Ward 1D of […]
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women questioned Saudi Arabian officials at a meeting in Geneva regarding the government’s infringement the rights of women in the kingdom. Among the practices Saudi officials were asked to explain is the system of “male guardianship” which requires that women seek male permission to travel, […]
Today marks the 35th anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision that gave women the right to a legal abortion. In the 7-2 decision on Roe v Wade, written by Justice Harry Blackmun, the court found that laws restricting abortion violate a woman’s constitutional right to privacy under the 14th amendment. In honor of the […]
As they marked the 35th anniversary of the landmark US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, supporters gathered today outside the Women’s Health Care Services clinic in Wichita, Kansas. The clinic is run by Dr. George Tiller, one of the few remaining providers of late-term abortion care. Despite over 20 years of anti-abortion harassment, intimidation, […]
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women questioned Saudi Arabian officials at a meeting in Geneva regarding the government”s infringement the rights of women in the kingdom. Among the practices Saudi officials were asked to explain is the system of “male guardianship” which requires that women seek male permission to travel, […]
A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 19, 2008 in honor of Judith Meuli, co-founding board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation. Meuli dedicated 40 years of her life to the struggle for women’s equality. She co-founded the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for Women in 1967, served on the National Board […]
Leading feminists spoke out yesterday against the sexist comments of MSNBC’s Chris Matthews about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Women’s rights groups, including the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority, the National Women’s Political Caucus, and the Women’s Media Center, sent a joint letter of protest to NBC News President Steve Capus. Gloria Steinem and […]
Health workers in Kenya are reporting an increase in sexual violence amidst the chaos following the country”s presidential elections. According to Nairobi”s Women”s Hospital, the daily average of rape cases had doubled, reports IRIN. “These sexual attacks may be crimes of opportunism, where people take advantage of the breakdown of normal protection mechanisms to rape, […]
A new report shows that the national abortion rate in 2005 dropped to the lowest measure since 1976. The report by the Guttmacher Institute shows that the abortion rate dropped from 19.4 abortions per 1,000 women from 29.3 in 1981, its peak year. The report also found that the number of abortions declined to 1.2 […]
