The Small Business Administration (SBA) announced June 15 that it would finally begin the process of implementing the Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contract Assistance Program that was authorized in 2000 but never implemented. This program would help ensure that women-owned small businesses get at least 5 percent of all federal government contracts. Women small business […]
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) has proposed a bill that would require all HIV programs funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to address the rapid spread of infection among women and young people. This legislation, titled the PATHWAY Act of 2006, also removes earmarks in the current law requiring 33 percent of […]
A new study concludes that regular condom use can help stop the spread of the human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in young women. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tracked 82 female college students beginning in 2001 who reported their first intercourse with a male partner either during the study or within […]
The US Supreme Court declined to hear a case Monday that challenged the distribution of anti-choice license plates in Louisiana. Louisiana provided anti-choice license plates as one of many specialty tags the state offers, but did not offer pro-choice plates. The case, Keeler v. Stalder, was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights in 2000 […]
Human rights group Amnesty International is considering abandoning its neutral stance on reproductive rights in order to promote decriminalization of abortion worldwide. If it chooses to do so, Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, said the organization’s members would be “disqualified as defenders of human rights,” according to […]
A new study conducted by Education Sector, an independent think tank, reveals that the so-called “boy crisis” in education that has been much-reported in the media is greatly exaggerated. “The real story is not bad news about boys doing worse; it’s good news about girls doing better” in education, according to the report. In fact, […]
Nearly a year after the President was asked his stance on birth control, the Department of Health and Human Services answered on behalf of President Bush in a letter to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and other members of Congress. In the letter, Assistant Secretary of Health John O. Agwunobi wrote that “This Administration supports the […]
A study published Thursday revealed a massive gender gap in the field of sports writing. The study was conducted by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida on behalf of the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE). The researchers found that 95 percent of sports editors were men. In […]
In an historic agreement, the Quebec provincial government will give some 400,000 women working in the public sector back pay and raises totaling $4 billion to make up for the wage gap between women and men. Quebec’s Treasury Board president Monique Jerome-Forget, in making the announcement, said that though people may think this is a […]
In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court has broadened the definition of employer retaliation so that employees who report harassment can sue for acts of retaliation even if they are not fired or refused wages. Rather, retaliation can be judged on whether or not an employer’s actions would prevent a claim from being made at […]
A parental notification initiative has qualified for November’s ballot in California. A similar initiative (Proposition 73) was proposed in November 2005, but lost 53 to 47 percent. The new initiative is proposed and funded by the same group that proposed the initiative in 2005, but wording defining abortion as Ôthe death of an unborn child, […]
Despite a report confirming the continued use of coercive sterilization on Roma (Gypsy) women, women’s advocates charge that the Czech government has failed to take action to stop these atrocities. In December of 2005, Czech ombudsman, Otakar Motejl, released a report that cites dozens of cases of sterilization of Roma women between the years 1979 […]
House Republicans have forced the House leadership to table the vote to reauthorize the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), which protects the voting rights of racial minorities, particularly in states with histories of discrimination. Some elements of the law are due to expire in 2007, including the provision that some states receive the approval of […]
The United States has failed to successfully comply with standards for women’s human rights set out by the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, according to a report recently released by a coalition of US nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) dedicated to gender equality. The 60-page “Gender Shadow Report,” submitted to the United Nations […]
A federal court recently ruled that the Suffolk County, New York Police Department had discriminated against pregnant women on the force by barring them from positions that allowed them to work while pregnant. Cassandra Stubbs, an attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), represented the six plaintiffs. Said Stubbs, “The Suffolk County Police […]
A Pentagon document that surfaced this week classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, grouping it with retardation and personality disorder. The document has outraged medical professionals, psychologists, and members of Congress, who disagree with this labeling and its discriminatory undertones. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Psychological Association have both written letters condemning […]
A new study by the University of British Columbia reveals that by making Plan B, a form of emergency contraception (EC), available over the counter, healthcare costs can be dramatically reduced. According to United Press International, the soon to be published research by Dr. Judith Soon concludes that healthcare costs decrease because women who have […]
New legislation introduced in the US House of Representatives would require government-funded sex education classes to use only medically accurate materials. Representatives Lisa Gutierrez (D-IL) and Jim Moran (D-VA) introduced the bill, called the Guarantee of Medical Accuracy in Sex Education Act (GMA), in response to research demonstrating the prevalence of misleading information in abstinence-only […]
The Supreme Court decided yesterday to hear a second case on the so-called Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 in the upcoming term. The newest case to be added to the docket will determine whether the law places an unnecessary burden on women seeking an abortion because it lacks a crucial health exception. It will […]
Activists in South Dakota have succeeded in gathering enough signatures to hold a referendum in November on the state’s extreme abortion ban, South Dakota’s secretary of state announced yesterday. Signed into law in March by Governor Mike Rounds (R), the ban has only an exception to save the life of a pregnant woman and does […]
