Local women’s organizations in tsunami-affected areas are reporting violence, including rape, against women and girls. A local Sri Lankan organization issued a public statement urging attention to “serious issues concerning the safety and well-being of women which have not been addressed so far in relief efforts,” reports Women’s Enews. Another women’s organization in Sri Lanka […]
President Bush announced that he has appointed Claude Allen, who served as an aide to former Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, to be his new domestic policy advisor. Allen, whose appointment to the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals was twice blocked, is the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services […]
The percentage of women who are sexually active but are not using birth control has risen since 1995, according to an in-depth government analysis of contraception and family planning use performed by researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The rise is significant, with 4.56 million or 7.4 percent of women not using […]
Ten members of a Mexico gang were convicted in the killings of 12 women in the border city of Juarez. According to the Associated Press, three men from the Los Toltecas gang were sentenced to 40 years in prison and the fourth was sentenced to 113 years for aggravated rape, premeditated homicide, and criminal association […]
Beginning New Year’s Day, several laws took effect in the state of California that bolster the equality of women, girls, and same-sex couples. According to the Washington Post, one new law will guarantee to same-sex couples who register as domestic partners many of the same benefits marriage affords, including access to divorce court, automatic parental […]
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has joined with Representative John Conyers (D-MI), Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Stephanie Tubb-Jones (D-OH), and other Democratic members of the US House in challenging the Ohio presidential election results. “Senator Boxer’s courageous stand today ensures an important and historic discussion of the many election irregularities in Ohio,” […]
The recently passed omnibus spending bill included an authorization for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson to move oversight of the two largest federal abstinence-only education grant-giving programs within the agency from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF). […]
Armed men shot dead a woman, her husband, their son, and two others in a farming village in Pakistan. According to Agence-France Press, four of the woman’s brothers and four other family members brutally killed the family in a so-called “honor” killing because their sister refused to marry her cousin and chose to marry another […]
Several members of Congress, including Representative John Conyers (D-MI), Ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, plan to challenge the Ohio presidential election results tomorrow during a joint session of Congress to certify the results of the presidential election, and there is a possibility that a Senator will join them. A similar challenge occurred in […]
A new study released today found that women who have easier access to Plan B brand emergency contraception do not engage in riskier sexual behaviors. The study, by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study also revealed that women who […]
Following sexual assault scandals in Iraq and at the Air Force Academy, the Pentagon has issued new policies to prevent these types of crimes from occurring, to investigate cases more thoroughly, and to treat victims with more consideration. According to the LA Times, part of the Pentagon’s plan is to establish definitions of sexual assault […]
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange County, California yesterday formally approved a record settlement of $100 million to 90 victims of sexual abuse by priests. In addition to an average payment of $1.1 million per victim, the diocese has agreed to make public confidential personnel files, and Orange County Bishop Tod D. Brown has agreed […]
South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds (R) said that if a bill banning abortion in the state was introduced in the next session of the legislature, he would sign the measure into law. The Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports that it is likely South Dakota legislators will introduce such a bill in 2005. A similar bill […]
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) released a manual that outlines low-cost methods for treating cervical cancer including visually inspecting the area at the base of the womb, freezing pre-cancerous lesions, and conducting follow-up treatments with patients. According to UN News Service, many of the quarter of a million deaths of women worldwide from […]
Political pioneer Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first woman of any race to seek the nomination of a political party for the office of President of the United States, died on Saturday at her home in Florida the age of 80. The slogan of her many campaigns, “Unbought and […]
The White House has announced that President Bush intends to renominate 20 of his most controversial picks for the federal courts, including those who were blocked by Democratic filibusters. “The childish message to Senate Democrats could hardly be clearer: I dare you to try filibustering them again,” wrote the Washington Post editorial board. Among President […]
Representative Robert Matsui (D-CA), a strong ally for women’s rights, including abortion rights, died yesterday at the age of 63. First elected to Congress in 1978, Matsui was a third generation Japanese American. As an infant, Matsui and his family were taken from their home in Sacramento and placed in an interment camp, as were […]
Since the US-led invasion in Iraq, more and more Iraqi women, both Muslim and Christian, are wearing headscarves in order to protect themselves from attacks by Muslim fundamentalists. A female student at Baghdad University recently stated that she chose to wear a headscarf so she could “walk in the street without fearing someone will kill […]
Democrats in Washington state have declared victory for Christine Gregoire for Governor, after preliminary results in the hand recount of votes put Gregoire eight votes ahead of Republican Dino Rossi. King County was the county to complete the hand counting process, giving Gregoire a statewide eight-vote lead in an election where 2.9 million voted. According […]
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle on Friday settled for $1.8 million a lawsuit brought by 12 people who alleged they were sexually abused by priests. Three other people claiming they were sexually abused are still in negotiations with the Archdiocese, according to the Associated Press. Though most of the claims were brought against a […]
