Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada was elected yesterday as the first woman presiding bishop of the entire US Episcopal Church. Jefferts Schori, 52, was elected 30 years after the 2.3 million-member church first allowed the ordination of women. Of the candidates for the position, she was the only woman, one of the youngest, and […]
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has offered an amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations bill that would raise the minimum wage for American workers from $5.15 to $7.25 over about two years, including workers in the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). The current minimum wage in the CNMI is […]
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco (D) signed an extreme ban on abortion into law this weekend. The ban prohibits abortion in all cases, with exceptions only to save the life of the pregnant woman or prevent serious physical harm. There are no exceptions for cases of incest or rape. Under the new law, doctors could face […]
Iranian police violently disrupted a women’s rights protest in Tehran last Monday, beating activists with batons. Accounts vary as to how many protesters were present; the Associated Press reports that 200 women were protesting, 20 of whom, according to the BBC, were arrested. Injuries were also reported, though the number of protesters beaten and the […]
Last week 29-year-old Kelly Kulick became the first woman to ever qualify for the entire season of the Professional Bowlers Association Tour (PBA) which begins this October. During the qualifier for the tour, Kulick placed sixth out of 140 bowlers, all but three were men. Only two women before Kulick have participated in the Tour […]
Women are running for seats in Kuwait’s 50-seat parliament for the first time since the governing body was created in 1962. According to Agence France Presse (AFP), 32 of the 380 candidates are women, who were granted the right to run for office, as well as to vote, in May 2005. Women have been actively […]
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) have released a report that examines the effects of economic transitions from state socialism to free markets on women in 18 Eastern European countries. According to the report, titled “The Story Behind the Numbers: Women and Employment in […]
Patricia Mercado, a feminist candidate in this year’s Mexican presidential election and a founding member of the Social-Democratic Alternative and Farmer party, has made news with her firm pro-feminist and pro-LGBT rights platform. Mercado’s presence in this year’s election is of particular significance, in light of the ongoing violence against women in Juarez, Mexico. Unlike […]
In response to concerns that prosecutions for rape often fail to lead to successful convictions, Scottish Solicitor-General Elish Angiolini has released the results of a review that began in 2004. The Scottish law Commission’s investigation of rape law is the first of its kind in the country, according to the BBC. Suggestions include changing how […]
This week, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) released the deposition of former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Lester Crawford, which was made on May 24. CRR filed suit against the FDA over the delay in a decision on the Plan B application for over-the-counter status, and the case is moving forward in New […]
Women business, professional, and government leaders gathered to build international alliances and develop strategies to advance women’s economic development throughout the world. The 2006 Global Summit of Women, held in Cairo, Egypt June 10-12, was attended by about 900 women from over 80 countries. The summit has informally been called “the Davos for Women” in […]
Today, the Ohio House of Representatives is holding a hearing on a bill that would outlaw all abortion in the state, without any exceptions, including when a woman’s life is at stake. This bill is even more extreme than the recently passed South Dakota ban, which did contain a life exception. Proposed by State Rep. […]
The House of Representatives passed the 2007 fiscal year budget on Friday, which includes $432 billion for international family planning programs. President Bush had proposed cutting aid for international family planning by 18 percent to $357 million, although he has said since 2001 that he would maintain international family planning funding at $425 million, according […]
A lawsuit charging that the Vatican is guilty of sheltering a priest with a history of molestation has been given the green light by a US District Judge, a decision that is the first of its kind in abuse victims’ struggle to hold their abusers accountable. Lawyer Jeffrey Anderson said of the decision, “to get […]
A delegation led by the Guatemala Human Rights Commission/USA, a non-profit organization, will travel to Guatemala later this summer to address violence against women. Guatemala has faced a rash of murders of women over the past five years. Estimates of the number of women murdered between 2001 and 2006 range from 1,800 to 2,400. The […]
A man was arrested yesterday at a truck stop in Western Maryland after some of his friends told the police he planned to bomb an abortion clinic. According to the Washington Post, Robert F. Weiler, a convicted felon, confessed to planning the attack and concealing the bomb at a home in Riverdale Heights. Police searching […]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced its approval yesterday of a vaccine to protect women from several strands of the sexually transmitted disease human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV vaccine, called Gardasil, is approved for women ages nine-26 to prevent cervical cancer and genital warts caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. “This […]
Tuesday marked a significant day in the history of the Gulf region as the first woman was appointed judge in Bahrain’s government. Mona Jassem Al Kawari, a Bahraini lawyer, is also believed to be the first woman judge in the entire Gulf region. In the words of Mona herself, “This is a historic day for […]
The Oglala Sioux tribe in South Dakota voted to ban abortion on the Pine Ridge Reservation and suspend tribal president Cecelia Fire Thunder for 20 days after she announced her intention to build a women’s health clinic on the reservation. Tribal Council representative Will Peters told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader that Fire Thunder performed […]
In a press conference yesterday, several members of Congress announced the introduction of labor law legislation to address women’s rights and human rights abuses taking place on the US territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Introduced by Representatives George Miller (D-CA), Hilda Solis (D-CA), and John Spratt (D-SC), the bill would […]
