Civil rights legend Dr Dorothy Height was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony at the US Capitol yesterday. Dr. Height accepted the award “on behalf of the millions of people, particularly women, whose work goes unnoticed.” Dr. Height was at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, when she was […]
Trailblazing feminist and labor activist Mildred (Millie) Jeffrey died yesterday at age 93 of natural causes in Detroit, Michigan. “Today, I’ve lost a very dear friend,” US Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) told the Associated Press. “Millie is an icon in our state and nation in the struggle for civil rights, women’milds rights, and workers’ rights. […]
Maine on Monday became the sixth state allowing emergency contraception to be dispensed without a doctor’s prescription. In a ceremony on Back Up Your Birth Control Day, Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed into law a bill that he said “marks another milepost in the advancement of reproductive rights for women in Maine,” according to the […]
The first woman to become a captain in Washington’s State Patrol has filed a lawsuit against the department alleging sexual harassment and gender discrimination. Colleen McIntyre alleges that she missed out on an assignment in 2001 largely based on her gender, and that she was treated less favorably than a male colleague for violating a […]
A pharmacist in Menomonie, Wisconsin is facing legal action for refusing to refill a woman’s prescription for the birth control pill. The K-Mart pharmacist claimed it would violate his religious beliefs to fill a prescription for a contraceptive that could cause what he believed to be an abortion, and refused her right to have the […]
A report released by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) stresses the importance for donor countries to invest in sexual and reproductive health services in developing countries. The report states that these types of investments will yield great health, economic, and social benefits for societies in developing countries. According to the […]
An Iraqi-born British citizen has become the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. Architect Zaha Hadid, who is also one of the youngest people to win this prize, will formally accept the award and the $100,000 prize in a May 31 ceremony in Russia. Hadid told NPR that she hopes that by […]
The United Nations (UN) has reported that China will face a huge shortage of girls that will cause major problems for China’s family and social stability if the trend is not changed. In addition, the UN resident coordinator in China, Khalid Malik, stated that the shortage of women will lead to increased sex trafficking of […]
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be recommending that women of childbearing age, pregnant women, and children not eat more than six ounces of albacore tuna per week. Even though approximately one-third of the nation’s lakes, estuaries, and wetlands are contaminated by mercury, the Bush Administration has been […]
According to a recent United Nations report, 42 percent of Jordanian women suffer physical abuse and continue to face discrimination in economic and political spheres. The reports states two out of every three women will suffer abuse at least once in their lifetimes, reports the Jordan Times. In addition, the report states that educated women […]
Some 170 prominent scientists, researchers, and scholars have signed an open letter to President Bush criticizing his dismissal of two members of his Council on Bioethics. They charge that the decision to dismiss Elizabeth Blackburn, professor of biochemistry and physics at the US San Francisco and William May, retired bioethics professor at Southern Methodist University, […]
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D) vetoed a bill last week that would have required women seeking abortions to wait 24 hours before obtaining the procedure after receiving information about abortion alternatives. Had the legislation become law, physicians would have also had to provide the probable age of the fetus, the medical risks of having an […]
Leading women’s groups released the third in a series of scorecards rating the Bush Administration on key issues affecting women internationally. The issues covered in this report card include women and the emergency AIDS relief plan and women’s rights in Afghanistan and Iraq. The report card’s grades for the Bush Administration’s record regarding the rights […]
The Bush Administration may be putting warning labels on condom packages stating that condoms do not protect users from all sexually transmitted diseases. According to the New York Times, current condom packages have labels that say if properly used condoms can reduce the risk of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Lawmakers and health advocates […]
The Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped its subpoena against Planned Parenthood affiliated clinics across the country. The subpoena demanded the confidential medical records of women who had undergone certain abortion procedures. Last week, US District Court Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton rejected US Attorney General John Ashcroft’s demand for the records of 2,700 Planned Parenthood patients, […]
An Air Force five-month review found that ninety-two accusations of rape by Air Force personnel were reported to military officials from 2001 to 2003 in the Pacific. According to the New York Times, the report examined how sexual assault is reported, how it can be prevented, and how commanders deal with victims. The report covered […]
Women’s Rights Activist Fern L. Holland was killed in Iraq on Tuesday night. Holland, who worked tirelessly in Iraq to help Iraqi women achieve their rights, became one of the first American civilian employees of the Coalition Provisional Authority to be killed in Iraq. According to KOTV, Holland’s family believes she was targeted because of […]
This week, the United States took a stance against two important international women’s platforms. Firstly, the United States was the only country to cast a “no” vote to reaffirm United Nations family planning convention at the International Conference on Population and Development Latin American and Caribbean regional meeting in Santiago, Chile. Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) […]
(All materials written by Women’s Environment and Development Organization at www.wedo.org). by Sororro Reyes The good news about women’s political empowerment is that 189 governments have promised women “equal access to” and “full participation in” power structures and decision making. And that isn’t all. They have also proclaimed their intentions to “establish the goal of […]
(all materials written by Women’s Environment and Development Organization at www.wedo.org) As the reports in this primer demonstrate, women are using various organizational strategies to overcome the barriers to their participation. These strategies include gender-sensitive campaign training for women candidates, demanding party quotas to broaden women’s electoral participation and providing support services to women legislators […]
