The United Kingdom has granted asylum to Zainab Fornah, 19, who fears she would be subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) if she returns to Sierra Leone, her home country. Under refugee law, an individual can be granted asylum if she belongs to a “particular social group” that is in danger of persecution. In Fornah’s […]
According to his lawyers, former Representative Mark Foley (R-FL) has reported the name of the Catholic priest who allegedly abused him as a teenager to prosecutors. The priest, Anthony Mercieca, has disclosed details of his involvement with Foley to the Florida newspaper Sarasota Herald Tribune, admitting to the intimate and sexually inappropriate nature of their […]
The Portuguese Parliament is set to vote on whether to hold a referendum that would let voters decide whether to legalize abortion. [UPDATE: On Thursday, October 19, the Portugese Parliament approved holding the referendum. The vote is expected to happen early next year.] Portugal is the only country in the European Union that actively prosecutes […]
Lateefa al-Geeod has become the first woman elected to parliament in the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain this week, a country in which women only won the right to vote in 2001. Al-Geeod registered to run for the seat and officially won after registration closed on Tuesday and she remained without opposition, according to the Khaleej […]
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia appeared in a televised debate on Sunday with ACLU president Nadine Strossen, during which he reaffirmed his anti-abortion and anti-gay rights stance. Scalia believes that abortion and gay rights were never intended to be a part of the Bill of Rights, which is “why abortion and homosexual sodomy were criminal […]
The South Dakota anti-abortion group Vote Yes for Life has launched a misleading television advertisement to gather support for Referred Law 6, a bill on South Dakota’s November ballot that will affirm the state’s current abortion ban. The ad features a group of doctors who claim inaccurately that, “science now proves that life begins at […]
The United States population will hit 300 million people today, the US Census Bureau estimates. The US currently ranks third in the world for population size after China and India, reports PlanetWire. Larger population numbers are attributed to factors such as births outnumbering deaths and immigration, both legal and illegal. About 40 percent of US […]
Lester Crawford, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will plead guilty today to making a false statement and falsely denying a conflict of interest regarding his stock holdings. According to MSNBC, Crawford lied about his stock holdings and options in companies that were affected by FDA decisions, including consumer products manufacturer […]
The House Government Committee has just released e-mails from convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff which indicate that Abramoff tried to use his connections with then White House Political Director Ken Mehlman (who is currently the chair of the Republican National Committee) to have State Department employee Allen Stayman fired. Stayman was advocating for labor reforms to […]
Opposition to same-sex marriage bans is growing in three out of the eight states – Arizona, South Dakota, and Colorado – with ballot initiatives on the subject this November. Failing to pass any of these ballot initiatives would be seen as a major victory for gay marriage advocates, as 19 states have passed ballot initiatives […]
A new bill in New Jersey that requires health care providers to screen new mothers for postpartum depression and educate them about the condition took effect last week. The law gives $4.5 million to providers for education and screening and also mandates that providers ask women about any past depression or postpartum depression history, according […]
The United Kingdom is considering new legislation that would make it easier to convict rapists, even if the victim was intoxicated at the time of the rape. The proposed law is an effort to address “non-stranger” rapes, also known as date rapes, where establishing consent and an intoxicated person’s ability to grant consent is crucial, […]
Timothy Mubhawu, a member of parliament (MP) in Zimbabwe, is insisting that the national assembly reject a bill that would criminalize domestic violence. He stated, “I stand here representing God the Almighty. Women are not equal to men. This is a dangerous bill, and let it be known in Zimbabwe that the rights, privileges, and […]
A recent study found that recognizing same-sex couples with domestic partner benefits or legalizing same-sex marriage would benefit the US economy. The study, conducted by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that homosexual employees who receive domestic-partnership benefits were more relaxed in their work environment and were thereby more productive […]
The women’s peace group CODEPINK has received a huge response to its online campaign to create an anti-war voting bloc. Almost 20,000 have signed the group’s pledge to vote only for candidates “who publicly call for a speedy withdrawal from Iraq and will keep us from engaging in future unjustified wars.” Among the signatories are […]
A proposed law in Nicaragua banning all abortions, even when a woman or girl’s life is at risk, is currently under review by the country’s judicial commission and may be voted on soon. Current law in Nicaragua permits “therapeutic abortions” for situations in which a woman or girl’s life is endangered by a pregnancy, but […]
Yale University has joined the ranks of 74 colleges and universities that have officially banned discrimination based on gender identity from campus. The school is the final member of the Ivy League to write such a protection into official school policy. The campus’s Queer Political Action Committee (QPAC) brought the issue to the school’s attention […]
Anti-abortion advocates in South Dakota have turned to women-centered messages to promote the extensive abortion ban on November’s ballot. While some anti-abortion advocates are using traditional “pro-life” messages by holding a “bucks for babies” fundraiser or a Rock for Life concert, others are promoting the message that “abortion hurts women,” the Los Angeles Times reports. […]
October marks the 30th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment, the law that prohibits using federal funds for abortions. Passed every year since 1976, the Hyde Amendment does not allow any woman on Medicaid, in the military, or on disability insurance to receive financial assistance for an abortion, except in cases of incest or rape, according […]
Four Afghan women’s groups came together to demand greater protection from violence against women in a demonstration on Thursday. The demonstration is a response to the recent murder of Safia Amajan, the provincial director of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs for Kandahar and women’s rights crusader. The four groups participating in the demonstration presented a […]
