Last month Turkey”s first feminist bookstore opened in Istanbul. The store was founded by Amargi Woman Academy, a women’s organization working since 2001 to develop feminist theory and practice, according to the Turkish Daily News. Amargi Woman Academy is also known for publishing a quarterly journal. Several events are planned for the bookstore this month, […]
Women’s business groups are speaking out against proposed rules for the Women’s Procurement Program by the Small Business Administration that they say will limit eligibility for contracts that the government sets aside for disadvantaged companies. The Washington Post reports that the agency limited the women-owned businesses eligible for such contracts to only four industries: intelligence; […]
The first all-women political party, the United Women Front, has formed in India. This party was founded by renowned social activist Suman Krishan Kant, whose husband is the country”s former Vice President, Women’s eNews reports. The group’s first priority is to increase female representation in the country”s parliament from 8% to 50%, despite the resistance […]
Washington state is one of the numerous states that will no longer receive federal funds for abstinence-only education programs. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that the state’s legislature passed a measure in last spring that rendered comprehensive sex education mandatory in Washington schools. A separate state law requires that Washington apply for the abstinence-only education program […]
An Oregon law that mandates all health insurance plans in the state include prescription drug coverage, including birth control, went into effect this week. The law also requires hospitals to inform victims of sexual assault about emergency contraception and make it available if the patient wishes, according to the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report. The […]
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers issued a legal opinion last week approving the sale of two Colorado hospitals to Catholic organizations. The sale would result in the halting of services banned by the Catholic Church, including emergency contraception, abortion, and some forms of sterilization, such as tubal ligation and vasectomies, according to the Denver Post. […]
President Bush signed a $555 billion domestic spending bill last week, which included $300 million in funding for Title X family planning programs, a $17 million increase from last year’s $283 million. The bill maintains 2007’s $113 million for community-based abstinence-only programs, according to the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report. The bill leaves out language […]
Two men were arrested last week in connection to the fire that destroyed an Albuquerque clinic in early December. Federal agents and arson investigators arrested Sergio T. Baca and Chad D. Altman on federal charges of arson, and the two could face additional charges for violating the federal Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances act, according […]
The omnibus spending bill passed by Congress and sent to the White House yesterday includes $75,000,000 for programs that aid Afghan women and girls. The final language in the bill also requires that the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA), and Afghan women-led nonprofit organizations receive funding. The […]
US District Judge Nora Barry Fischer heard arguments this week on a lawsuit challenging a Philadelphia city ordinance that established safety buffer zones around reproductive health clinics. The ordinance requires protesters at abortion clinics to stay at least 8 feet away from clinics patients and 15 feet away from clinic entrances. The lawsuit was filed […]
Alleged rape victim Jamie Leigh Jones testified before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terror, and Homeland Security on Wednesday. Jones filed a lawsuit against her former employers, Halliburton and its then-subsidiary KBR in May, stating that she was drugged and gang-raped by a group of her co-workers in the KBR camp in the Green Zone […]
New Mexico joined 14 other states in rejecting federal Title V matching funds for abstinence only education programs on Wednesday. State Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil says the New Mexico Health Department will now support programs that give scientific, balanced and complete information to young people, reports the Associated Press. New Mexico’s rejection is the […]
A St Louis woman, represented by Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region lawyers, filed a lawsuit this week seeking to prevent a petition drive to place an anti-abortion initiative on the November 2008 Missouri ballot. The Attorneys argued that the proposed initiative is unconstitutional, as it would effectively ban most abortions in the state […]
Two school teachers in China were convicted of coercing over 20 young girls, including some of their own students, into prostitution. The victims, whose families were threatened if they did not cooperate, ranged in age from 11-17, with six under the age of fourteen, reports the BBC. Zhao Qingmei, the mastermind of the operation, and […]
Veteran feminist and civil rights activist Hilda H M Mason died Sunday at the age of 91. According to the Washington Post, the cause of death was not immediately known. She is survived by two daughters, Joyce and Carolyn, two grandsons and three great-grandchildren. Mason was a former teacher, member of the DC Board of […]
The House approved a $515.7 billion domestic spending bill on Monday that will greatly increase Title X funding. The family planning program would receive $300 million, a $17 million increase over last year. The bill maintains 2007 funding levels for community-based abstinence only programs, reports the Daily Women’s Health Policy Report. The bill leaves out […]
US based Human Rights Watch has demanded Iran drop charges against two Iranian feminist activists who protested for women’s rights. The group urged the government to immediately release Jelveh Javahari and Maryam Hosseinkhak, who were attempting to collect one million online signatures in support of other persecuted women’s activists, Reuters reports. Both women have been […]
This year has seen a jump in the number of states refusing federal funds for abstinence only education programs. Before this year, only four states had turned down such funding, according to the Washington Post. In November, Virginia became the 14th state to do so. The sharp increase in states refusing federal abstinence only funding […]
Saudi King Abdullah has pardoned the rape victim who was previously sentenced to 200 lashes and a six month prison term for being alone in a car with an unrelated man when she was abducted and raped by seven men. The case sparked international outrage over the harsh sentence, which was increased to the 200 […]
The House of Representatives voted Thursday to prohibit US intelligence agencies from using waterboarding and other extreme interrogation tactics. The bill, which passed 222-199, will now move to the Senate. President Bush has already threatened to veto it if the bill passes there, reports the New York Times. The measure was included in the intelligence […]
