A United Nations human rights investigator accused Iran of sentencing women to death based on flimsy evidence and called on the Iranian government to abolish the death penalty. Yakin Erturk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, asserts that “discriminatory laws and malfunction in the administration of justice result in impunity for perpetrators and […]
Women’s groups across the country are celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day today. This day is meant to reinforce the positive impact sports participation has in the life of women and girls and commemorate the achievements of women and girls in sports, as well as acknowledge the continued fight women and girls must […]
The National Council of Women’s Organizations (NCWO) urged President Bush to listen to women’s concerns about privatizing social security in a press conference held yesterday. The NCWO, representing over 200 women’s organizations with over 10 million members, including the Feminist Majority, opposes the privatization of Social Security and is concerned that Social Security’s features such […]
Women are being left out of Saudi Arabia’s first municipal elections in 40 years that are taking place tomorrow to elect half of the seats on local councils. Of course, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. One Saudi woman who wished to remain anonymous told Agence France-Presse, “This is not new…Riyadh has always been a […]
A British woman has broken the speed record for sailing solo around the world. Over 8,000 people flocked to Falmouth Harbor in England on Tuesday to watch as 28-year-old Ellen MacArthur finished her 27,354-mile solo sailing journey around the world in less than 72 days, breaking the previous record, held by a man, by 32 […]
A jury in California awarded two women $2.3 million in a sexual harassment case against FedEx Corporation. Kolainia Hettick alleged she was the subject over the course of several years of an obsession by a male coworker, Rubelle Cristobal, and Jana Bryant said she was harassed for persuading Hettick not to date Cristobal, according to […]
Paul Shanley, one of the most notorious priests in the Boston clerical abuse scandal, was found guilty on all four charges of repeatedly raping and assaulting a young boy at St Jean the Evangelist Parish in Newton, Massachusetts during the 1980s. Shanley’s $300,000 bail was revoked, the Los Angeles Times reports, and he was immediately […]
In a victory for lesbian and gay rights activists, a New York State Supreme Court ruled on Friday that same-sex couples cannot be denied a marriage license, as the state constitution guarantees that all citizens must be receive equal treatment, including equal access to marriage. Justice Doris Ling-Cohan ruled that the section of New York […]
On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that African American women are the fastest grouping group of people with HIV/AIDS. The rate of new cases of HIV/AIDS is 19 times greater for black women than white women, and five times greater than Latinas. Poverty is also […]
Feminists can claim a victory at Harvard. In response to an outcry from women’s groups, scientists, faculty, and alumni, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers announced yesterday the creation of two task forces and a new senior administrative position aimed at increasing the number of women faculty in the sciences. In a public statement, Summers said, […]
A new feminist project led by former Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Murphy (D-MA) aimed at closing the wage gap between men and women is collecting women’s stories of workplace discrimination as it prepares to launch. The WAGE (Women Are Getting Even) Project is creating an interactive website to provide women and employers with tools to eliminate […]
Seven Tanzanian organizations have formed a coalition to fight female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that affects nearly 90 million African women and is widespread in Tanzania. According to the coalition, at least 18 percent of Tanzanian women are victims of FGM, and there are some areas in northeastern Tanzania where 100 percent of women […]
The women’s movement is gearing up to fight the Bush plan for privatizing Social Security because of the severe negative impact it would have on women. Many women’s groups are weighing in against the Bush plan. Reports have been released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) and the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) […]
The newly formed Younger Women’s Task Force of the National Coalition of Women’s Organizations held its first major event this past weekend. Launched in summer 2004, the Task Force brought young feminists from around the country to a three-day conference in Washington, DC to strategize and discuss issues of importance to younger feminists. Alison Stein, […]
A United Nations-appointed commission released a report earlier this week that found that the pattern of atrocities in the Sudan did not constitute acts of genocide committed by the government, but instead found the government guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes. The commission is urging the Security Council to refer the case to […]
Several studies released on Tuesday have shown that women are far less likely than men to be treated adequately for heart disease, which is currently the leading cause of death in both men and women, killing more women overall. Nearly 500,000 women die of heart disease every year, the Washington Post reports, almost twice as […]
In the first evaluation of abstinence-only sex education programs across the state of Texas, researchers found that almost all high school aged students were more sexually active after abstinence education. The ongoing state-sponsored study conducted by Texas A&M University researchers examined five abstinence-only sex education programs in 24 Texas schools, reports the Kaiser Daily Reproductive […]
A senior Vatican official from Switzerland has stated that condoms could be used to fight AIDS in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia. While keeping with the Vatican’s official stance against using condoms as contraception, Cardinal Georges Cottier stated that there is justification to use condoms under certain circumstances, like fighting AIDS because the […]
The so-called Child Custody Protection Act, legislation supported by President Bush which would criminalize the transportation of a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, has been deemed a top ten priority by Senate Republicans. Cited as a threat to the health and safety of young women by abortion rights groups, the CCPA claims […]
The Virginia House of Delegates gave voice approval to a bill that would require abortion clinics that provide more than 25 first-trimester abortions a year to undergo costly renovations in order to meet the same regulations imposed on ambulatory surgical centers. The aim of the bill is to force abortion clinics in the state to […]
