The White House announced a plan last week to spend $1.5 billion over the next five years to help poor families have “healthy marriages.” This money will be spent on training couples to develop interpersonal skills that should sustain “healthy marriages.” Women’s groups have expressed concerns about government promotion of marriage. “Such programs intrude on […]
Bypassing the constitutionally required review of the Senate, President Bush on Friday installed embattled right-wing judge Charles Pickering to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals as a recess appointment. Pickering will only serve on the Fifth Circuit until the end of the next Senate session in October unless he is confirmed by the Senate in […]
After months of protest by students and reproductive health advocates, trustees of James Madison University in Virginia voted 10 to 2 earlier this month to reverse their decision to prohibit the campus health center from distributing emergency contraception. The trustees further granted “authority for all future health-related decisions pertaining to students to the administration and […]
The number of women registering to vote in Afghanistan’s upcoming elections has increased. However, according to the UN News Service, overall registration is still low. The Chairman of the Join Electoral Management Body, Zakim Shah, stated, “To achieve a representative government in Afghanistan, we have to work together as a whole nation, one in which […]
The US-backed Iraqi Governing Council has outraged Iraqi women because of its recent vote to cancel current family laws and to place family law under the jurisdiction of Islamic (sharia) law. According to the Washington Post, Iraqi women denounced the decision at various protests and conferences. At one conference, entitled “The Importance of Women in […]
On Monday, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey signed into law the Domestic Partnership Act providing certain domestic partnership rights to gay and lesbian couples. NJ.com reports that the law also applies to heterosexual couples over the age of 62 who often forgo marriage in order to keep their pension income or Social Security benefits. The […]
Carol Moseley Braun ended her historic bid for the Democratic presidential nomination today and endorsed Democratic front-runner Howard Dean. “When women run, when people of color run, we open up the possibility that women and people of color can win,” said Moseley Braun at a press conference this afternoon. “I have a record of building […]
Republicans in the US House of Representatives have written a letter to President Bush urging him to prevent the Food and Drug Administration from approving over-the-counter status for emergency contraception (EC). Led by Rep. David Weldon (FL), the 49 Republicans argued that making EC more available would increase risky sexual practices among adolescents, leading to […]
For the first time in over a decade, a video with footage of a famous Afghan female singer was broadcast on public television. According to BBC News, the footage is seen as a victory for moderates in Afghanistan. The footage of the female performer came just a few weeks after the approval of Afghanistan’s new […]
A Florida Appeals Court ruled on Friday that the state could not appoint a guardian for a mentally disabled rape victim’s fetus. Justice Emerson R. Thompson wrote that “we find no Florida statute or case law that has determined a fetus to be a person,” according to the New York Times. Last spring, Governor Jeb […]
The number of Nepalese women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation is on the rise, while the number of women seeking justice has gone down over the past couple of years. According to the annual report of the Office of the Attorney General of the Kingdom of Nepal, only 54 cases against traffickers were filed […]
Carol Moseley Braun set a new record in her bid for the presidency by making it onto the primary ballot in 20 states. This is more than any other woman running for president, including Sen. Margaret Chase Smith in 1964 and Rep. Shirley Chisholm in 1972. “Carol Moseley Braun is not only making history, she […]
The Islamic government in Malaysia’s city of Kuala Terengganu has banned non-Muslim women from wearing mini-skirts, tight-fitting dresses, and even moderately revealing clothes such as short-sleeved shirts and tight jeans to work. Muslim women are being called to wear a headscarf known as the tudong, which has to be tightly drawn about the face. According […]
After months of pressure by women’s health advocates, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced its decision not to approve silicone gel breast implants at this time. The FDA’s decision rejected the decision of its expert advisory panel, which had recommended approving the implants despite questions about their safety and durability. The FDA will […]
Iraqi women continue to face discrimination in the aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq. Only three Iraqi women were appointed to Iraq’s Governing Council and none serve on the constitutional committee. Dr. Raja Khuzai, a female member of the Governing Council, states that men avert their eyes when she talks and the leaders ignore […]
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) released a report yesterday on audits conducted to examine church procedures for preventing and dealing with sexual abuse of minors by priests. Advocates for victims of priest sex abuse, including the 4,600-member Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), believe the audits to be “fundamentally flawed.” The […]
A study released last week found that Minnesota’s abstinence-only sex education program is not effective in preventing or delaying adolescent sexual activity. The study, conducted by Professional Evaluation Services of Minneapolis and commissioned by the state health department, evaluated Minnesota’s $5 million “Education Now and Babies Later” (ENABL) program from 1998-2002. Though the study found […]
Over 300 Saudi women have petitioned the Saudi Crown Prince for greater rights. The women signatories include academics, intellectuals, and employees from various parts of the country. According to Agence France Presse, the petition calls for new fields and specializations for women in universities and technical schools as well as an end to the need […]
However, Rights Still At Risk From Extremist Judicial Interpretations and Lack of Security Women Loya Jirga delegates and women’s rights and human rights advocates won several important concessions in the new Afghan constitution adopted on January 4 following a three-week constitutional assembly in Kabul. The new constitution contains explicit recognition of equal rights for women […]
India’s Supreme Court has set up special courts to deal with rape cases that will be judged by female judges. According to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), the court has asked that all courts show more responsibility and sensitivity while dealing with sexual assault cases. The female judges will also deal with cases of sexual […]
