A federal court earlier this month ruled that employers who insinuate that working mothers are not committed to their jobs can be found guilty of gender discrimination. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals cleared the way for the case of New York school psychologist Elana Back to proceed to trial. Back alleges that as she […]
Zanzibar’s parliament recently passed a bill outlawing homosexuality. According to BBC News, people in lesbian and gay relationships can now face penalties of up to 25 years in prison. Zanzibar’s president is expected to sign the bill into law. Zanzibar is located in East Africa and has a predominantly Muslim society. Islamic groups have called […]
Over 100 celebrities have signed on to the March for Women’s Lives, and many will march on Sunday, April 25 in Washington, DC. In addition to the celebrity coalition, almost 1,300 organizations are co-sponsoring the March, including civil rights, women’s rights, environmental, lesbian and gay rights, disability rights, civil liberties, and social justice groups. “The […]
Several members of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) expert advisory committees are speaking out against the agency’s delay of its decision to make the emergency contraceptive Plan B available without a prescription. Two doctors on the advisory committee and Jeffrey M. Drazen, MD, the editor of New England Journal of Medicine, published an opinion […]
A woman is running for president for the first time in Algeria’s history. Louisa Hanoun has used her candidacy to speak out against Algeria’s current discriminatory family law. The current law forces women to seek approval from a male relative to marry and makes polygamy legal. For over two decades women’s rights groups have been […]
A young woman from the Sindh Province of Pakistan has appealed to Pakistan’s President Musharraf for protection from being killed in the name of “honor.” According to IRIN News, Rozina Ujjar was divorced by her husband for standing outside of her house at the same time that a 15-year-old boy passed by. After her husband […]
A United Nations spokesperson has reported that the number of women registering for Afghanistan’s upcoming elections has increased in the last two weeks. However, overall registration is still low as Afghan women only make up 29 percent of the 1.7 million Afghans who are registered to vote, reports UN Wire. The UN stated that women […]
Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), with Representatives Tom Davis (R-VA) and Corrine Brown (D-FL) introduced the “Afghan Women Security and Freedom Act 2004.” The act (HR 4117) authorizes $300 million for each of the fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007. Introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) in the Senate earlier this year, the act includes earmarks […]
Anti-abortion extremist John Burt was found guilty on Thursday of molesting a young girl. The 15-year-old girl lived at Our Father’s House, Burt’s so-called home for “unwed mothers,” in Santa Rosa County, Florida. Burt was found guilty of four counts of lewd or lascivious molestation and one count of lewd or lascivious conduct. Each charge […]
President Bush on Thursday signed into law the so-called Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The Senate passed the bill last week in a 61-38 vote, which grants separate legal rights to a zygote, embryo or fetus if harmed in a federal crime committed against a pregnant woman. This is the first federal law recognizing a […]
Earlier this week, Iraq’s only female interim minister, Nasreen Barwari, escaped an assassination attempt near Mosul. Barawari’s three bodyguards were killed when gunmen opened fire on her convoy. According to Amnesty International, women and girls not wearing the hijab in Basra have been threatened and are afraid to go outside for fear of rape, abduction, […]
On Tuesday, the US Senate voted overwhelmingly by a count of 78-20 to increase funding for childcare for poor families by $6 billion over the next five years, despite objections from the White House. “You can’t get from welfare to work without childcare,” said Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), co-sponsor of the measure, according to the […]
The United Nations and the Afghan government recently warned that Afghanistan needs $27 billion over the next seven years to avoid going back to a state of chaos and lawlessness. However, at the Berlin donor conference for Afghanistan’s reconstruction, donor countries pledged only $8.2 billion over the next three years, reports BBC News. In addition, […]
A study of 83,000 women worldwide published last week found conclusively that having an abortion or miscarriage does not increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer. The study, conducted by a team from the University of Oxford and led by Dr. Valerie Beral, was published in the Lancet, a British medical journal. Proponents of the […]
A bill to abolish laws that discriminate against women in Pakistan has been presented before Pakistan’s parliament. The Protection and Empowerment of Women Bill has received split views from members of Parliament. According to BBC News, conservatives want to keep the current laws because they were made in the name of Islam under General Zia-ul-Haw […]
Trials in three states began yesterday to determine the constitutionality of the federal abortion procedures ban signed into law last year. The law was immediately challenged by abortion rights groups and enjoined by federal judges in San Francisco, New York, and Lincoln, Nebraska. The federal law is similar to a Nebraska state law that was […]
The Massachusetts legislature voted 105 to 92 to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage but establish civil unions for same-sex couples. According to the Washington Post, the amendment must still win approval from lawmakers during the 2005-2006 legislative session and if passed it will then be placed on the state ballot for a […]
Anti-affirmative action measures in Colorado and Michigan were dealt blows in the past several days. In Michigan, affirmative action opponents have been working to garner enough signatures on a petition for a ballot initiative in November’s elections amending the state constitution to ban consideration of race in public employment or education. However, Ingham County Circuit […]
The first post-Taliban elections in Afghanistan, which were scheduled to take place in June, have been postponed until September. According to BBC News, poor security has delayed voter registration, resulting in only 1.5 million of an estimated 10.5 million people being registered. According to the New York Times, more than 200 people have been killed […]
Threats against women’s rights leaders and organizations have been increasing in Iraq over the past few weeks. According to IRIN News, women working for Women for Women International have received a series of threats that have kept half the staff at home for two days because of poor security. The other half went to Amman […]
