The Republican leadership has selected Senator-elect Tom Coburn (R-OK), an advocate of the death penalty for doctors who perform abortions, and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), another strong opponent of abortion rights, to sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. When it meets in January, the Republican Conference is likely to follow tradition and agree to the […]
The fundamentalist regime of Iran has sentenced two women to death for so-called “crimes against morality,” according to Amnesty International UK. Leyla M., a mentally disabled 19-year-old, has been sentenced to be flogged and then executed. Leyla, who was forced into prostitution at the age of eight by her mother, received 100 lashes for prostitution […]
Time Magazine named President Bush as the 2004 “Person of the Year,” for the second time. Time also named 17 people, one group of women, and a horse as “People Who Mattered.” In addition to the cast of “Desperate Housewives,” only two women were named as “People Who Mattered” – Nancy Reagan and Martha Stewart. […]
Two women are leading for the presidential nomination of Chile’s ruling coalition, for the first time ever. The women, Christian Democrat Soledad Alvear and Socialist Michelle Bachelet, are competing for the nomination of the center-left, multi-party coalition that has been in power in Chile since the end of General Pinochet’s regime in 1990, according to […]
A California state government oversight panel released a study on Wednesday showing that despite the fact that there are five times the number of women in the California prison system (some 22,000) than there were two decades ago, female prisoners are still subject to policies and practices that are designed for male prisoners who are […]
Two major victim advocacy groups are urging US bishops to reinstate full independent audits of Catholic dioceses across the country to ensure that the Church is fully addressing the priest sex abuse scandal. In November, the bishops voted to cut back the number of dioceses that would have on-site visits by retired FBI agents. Dioceses […]
Pentagon Inspector General Joseph Schmitz released a report last week on his investigation into the Air Force Academy’s sexual assault scandal that found a succession of commanders responsible for the lack of attention paid to the rampant occurrences of rape and sexual abuse. Over the past decade, there have been 142 instances of sexual assault […]
The Bush Administration’s withdrawal of funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has negative consequence for the battle against child marriage. Since July 2002, the Bush Administration has withdrawn $34 million annual for the UNFPA, a major played in the fight to eradicate child marriage, based on false allegations that the UNFPA participated in […]
President Bush on Monday nominated Republican Mike Leavitt to replace Tommy Thompson as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Leavitt is a former Governor of Utah and currently the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Over the course of his tenure as Governor of Utah, Leavitt signed several pieces of legislation restricting women’s right to […]
Due to inadequate aid efforts by the United States and other donor countries, acute shortages of condoms have been contributing the rapid rise in HIV/AIDS cases in Africa. Thoraya Obaid, the Executive Director of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), asserts that if all the condoms available in Africa were to be distributed, every man would […]
President Bush’s new Cabinet will include at least four women, if his nominees are approved by the US Senate. This includes a move for Condoleeza Rice from National Security Advisor to Secretary of State, replacing Colin Powell. Rice would be only the second woman to hold the post, following Madeline Albright, who was appointed by […]
Mosadi Seboko has been appointed chief of the Baletes tribe in Botswana. Overcoming the centuries’ old tradition only allowing men to become tribal leaders, Seboko leads one of the eight largest tribes in her county. Seboko, whose first name means “woman” in the local language, was opposed by members of her late father’s family who […]
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday that a federal proposal to legalize same-sex marriage would be constitutional, allowing Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin of the Liberal Party to fulfill his promise to introduce legislation to legalize same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court ruling was based on the argument that the traditional definition of marriage […]
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that the Sudan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. According to IRIN News, the UNFPA cited complications from pregnancy and childbirth and the lack of natal health care as the main reasons for the high number of deaths among women in the Sudan. […]
A controversial judge appointed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals announced that he would step down from the bench when Congress adjourns. Charles Pickering was placed on the federal bench by President Bush in a recess appointment after Pickering’s nomination was stalled by a Democratic filibuster. With the urging of a broad coalition of […]
Attorney General Bill Lockyer of California announced yesterday that he will go to court to challenge the constitutionality of an anti-abortion provision signed into law this week by President Bush as part of the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill for 2005. The amendment, misleadingly titled the “Abortion Non-Discrimination Act” and also […]
A 73-year-old doctor, Nawal Saadawi, announced her plans to run for the presidency in Egypt. Saadawi stated that she is “going to stand in the presidential election not to win but to get the Egyptian people moving in favor of a reform of the constitution and to oppose corruption and American colonialism,” according to Agence […]
Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA) recently released a report reviewing federally funded abstinence-only sex education programs, which found that 11 of 13 most popular programs are teaching medically inaccurate information and harmful gender stereotypes to much of the country’s youth between the ages of nine and 18. The 11 programs, many which are based on old, […]
At the first Congressional forum today on election irregularities in Ohio, members of Congress, national leaders, lawyers, and citizens of Ohio testified to the problems that plagued the pivotal state in the 2004 presidential election. Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, explained that in her analysis, voter purging in Ohio is inconsistent from […]
A leading human rights group has issued a global call to action to challenge violence against women and the failure of governments to prevent it. According to Amnesty International, women and girls bear the brunt of war while governments have failed to protect them. Amnesty International released a report today, “Lives Blown Apart,” which examines […]
