Soroptimist International of the Americas honored Mavis Leno and the Feminist Majority Foundation today with its ‘Women Helping Women Award’ in commendation of the five-year Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan which brought the Taliban’s atrocities against women and girls to the attention of the world. An awards ceremony was held today in San […]
Just as hundreds of Nigerian women at the Escravos oil terminal ended their 10-day standoff Wednesday, women from a rival tribe seized control of four ChevronTexaco flow stations 50 miles east. Protest leader Josephine Ogoba said: “We are going to sit here until Chevron sends its managing director to us, even if it takes two […]
A 911 tape released on Friday has shed light on the final moments of Dorothy Giunta-Cotter, who was killed by her abusive husband on March 26th, 2002 in Amesbury, Massachusetts. The tape reveals that Giunta’s daughter called 911 when her father arrived at the house in violation of a restraining order wearing military fatigues and […]
Another law enforcement officer has pled guilty to sexually assaulting a female inmate. Jose Luis Torres, an Edgewater Park, New Jersey police officer, pled guilty on Friday to second-degree sexual assault and second-degree official misconduct. In exchange for Torres’ guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the sexual assault charge and will sentence him on an official misconduct […]
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on President Bush’s nomination of the ultra conservative Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Nominated in May 2001, Owen is “considered by legal analysts in Texas to be among the most conservative members of the Texas Supreme Court, […]
Women given estrogen-only therapy after menopause may be at higher risk for ovarian cancer suggests a study published by James Lacy of the National Cancer Institute, the New York Times reported today. “While the data from these observational studies do not establish causality, the association between estrogen use and ovarian cancer should be worrisome enough […]
While disability is an issue for nearly half of all single mothers on welfare, only a small percentage receive government disability assistance, according to a recent report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). An analysis of data from 1997 found that single mothers on welfare were nearly twice as likely as higher-income mothers […]
The Wisconsin Supreme Court granted a new trial Thursday to a woman sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband. Debra Head contends that she killed her husband in self-defense, but the first judge to hear her case refused to admit evidence of her husband’s history of violent behavior. In a precedent-setting ruling, the […]
Judge Michael D’Amico ruled yesterday that witnesses in the James Kopp murder trial would receive a protective order to conceal their identities, according to the Associated Press. James Kopp, an anti-abortion extremist, is accused of murdering obstetrician and gynecologist Barnett Slepian in 1998. The protective order is designed to preclude any harassment of witnesses due […]
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee this week is expected to approve the Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act of 2001 (S 104), a bill that requires insurance coverage of contraceptives. Introduced last year by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the bill requires insurance companies to cover birth control pills, Depo-Provera injections, […]
An increasing number of young professors, especially women, assert that their bids at tenure have been denied by collegiality considerations, according to the New York Times. In the past, tenure candidates have typically been judged by their teaching, research, and service to their institution. Some women are being excluded from tenured faculty positions based on […]
Californians who suffered childhood sexual abuse now have more time to bring civil claims against third parties who knew of their abuse but did not take reasonable steps to prevent it. Governor Gray Davis signed a bill recently that allows victims to initiate a lawsuit three years after they discover any psychological injury caused by […]
Defying advice from his own fact-finding team and State Department officials, President Bush will most likely cut $34 million in funds for vital healthcare programs to women and children in 142 countries, Knight Ridder reported Sunday. After signing a bill in January in support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA), Bush froze the release […]
Since the Taliban’s fall last November, Afghan women have flooded Kabul’s 16 district courts seeking divorces, according to a report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). As many as 50 women a day Ñ most forced into marriage with Taliban men Ñsubmit divorce requests despite facing possible detainment, according to Mohammad Usman, chair […]
After more than eight days of protest, 600 unarmed Nigerian women who took over ChevronTexaco’s Escravos oil terminal agreed today to end their siege after the company offered to hire at least 25 villagers and to build schools, electrical and water systems. Early last week, the women occupied the terminal and held 700 workers inside […]
Following the first hearing in eight years on US ratification of an international treaty that will promote women’s rights across the globe, the Senate Finance Committee has scheduled a vote on the United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) for Thursday. CEDAW defines discrimination and gives states a […]
Over the past week, anti-abortion extremist William Purdy has bought 30 Internet domain names that are slight variations of organizations he considers to be pro-choice, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Purdy then links these 30 sites to abortionismurder.org – a site featuring gruesome photographs of purported aborted fetuses. Among the 30 organizations Prudy targeted are […]
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung appointed the country’s first woman prime minister Thursday in a reorganization said to be an attempt to revive the government’s image. This reorganization includes the replacement of seven ministers. The new Prime Minister, Chang Sang, 62, earned a doctorate in philosophy from Princeton University and is currently president of Ewha […]
Four male correctional officers from the Indiana Women’s Prison have been suspended on charges that they raped female inmates. The Indiana Department of Correction says that this is the first such case in two years. A 1999 Amnesty International study, which investigated 17 states and the District of Columbia, found that sexual abuse and rape […]
Two Allegheny County Port Authority women dispatchers allege that the Port Authority and its current chief discriminate against female applicants. The two women, Danielle Stangl and Yvette Koerner, have filed a federal sex discrimination case against the Port Authority and Police Chief William McArdle. The two women allege that McArdle has created a hostile work […]
