REPEATED POLICE BRUTALITY DEMANDS IMMEDIATE CHANGES Studies Show More Women Officers Would Overhaul a Police Culture of Violence LOS ANGELES, and WASHINGTON, DC – Donovan Jackson is not alone. The videotaped image of the mentally handicapped teenager being thrown, punched and pushed by an Inglewood police officer epitomizes an unfortunately frequent occurrence in police departments […]
In light of severe criticism from some of its closest European allies, the Bush administration agreed yesterday to drop its demand for US troops serving in United Nations peacekeeping missions to be declared immune from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Instead, Bush is calling for a one-year exemption from prosecution for US troops […]
After seven months of debate, the President’s Bioethics Council released a report today announcing that the 18-member panel was unable to reach consensus on the highly contentious cloning issue. This indecision reflects a similar split in the Senate that has stalled legislation banning cloning in Congress. While views differ on cloning research for therapeutic purposes, […]
In a statement denouncing the “ordination” of seven women to priesthood, the Vatican yesterday urged the women to repent or face excommunication. Insisting that Romulu BraschiÑthe Argentine bishop who ordained the women from Austria, Germany, and the USÑfounded a schismatic community, the Vatican reasserted its policy banning women from priesthood, saying it “constitutes the simulation […]
The House Constitution subcommittee held a hearing yesterday on the “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2002” (HR 4965) that aims to outlaw or significantly chip away at a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal medical procedure. First introduced by Representative Steven Chabot (R-OH) in June, the bill is another attempt by anti-choice proponents […]
As sexual abuse cases against the Catholic Church continue to pile up, insurance companies are increasingly denying coverage that would shield the Church from millions of dollars in civil judgments. “The insurance companies have taken a very hard line in court in terms of the types of proof needed to prove coverage. In a lot […]
In an insolent statement to the Washington Post, the host of next year’s Master’s golf tournament refused a plea from the National Council of Women’s Organizations to open their exclusive Augusta, Georgia golf club to women. Hootie Johnson, chairman of Augusta National, lashed out at the NCWO after Martha Burk, chairwoman of the NCWO, sent […]
The largest study of hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women was stopped abruptly by the government because of a slight increase in the risk of invasive breast cancer. Concluding that the risks of taking hormones outweigh the benefits for women who have not had hysterectomies, researchers at the National Institutes of Health decided on May […]
Women are increasingly occupying top jobs at the nation’s top universities, the New York Times reported recently. There are three woman presidents at the eight Ivy League colleges and 22 percent of all presidents at 2,000 colleges surveyed are women, according to the American Council of Education. That more than doubles the 9.5 percent of […]
Relations between the US and Burma (Myanmar) are once again strained following a report by Thailand-based human rights activists that charges the Burmese military with using systematic rape of ethnic civilians as a war tactic. In recent months, the Burmese government “aiming to gain favor from the Bush administration” released Nobel Peace Prize activist Aung […]
The Washington Post reported that recent sex scandals plaguing the Roman Catholic Church have decreased the church’s political influence, particularly on issues such as gay marriage, parental consent for abortions, and increasing the minimum wage. “We had an informed-consent bill on abortion recently when the church’s voice might have been persuasive…but their influence with people […]
Despite threats last month to defy the International Criminal Court (ICC) by withdrawing US peacekeeping troops in Bosnia, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield last week said the US has no intention of pulling out its estimated 3,000 troops. On Tuesday, the US proposed a compromise to exempt US peacekeeping troops in Bosnia from prosecution by […]
Fifteen thousand delegates including researchers, activists, and health care professionals, convened in Barcelona, Spain yesterday for the opening session of the six-day International AIDS Conference. Troubled by the pandemic which has infected 40 million people worldwide with HIV, the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nation’s AIDS program (UNAIDS), and the International AIDS Society (IAS) urged […]
A woman who alleges that two Cincinnati police officers raped her while she was intoxicated has filed a lawsuit against the officers. Officers Robert Kidd and Robert Johnson allegedly gave Ms. Kandy Linthicum a ride home from a bar, where she had consumed numerous alcoholic drinks celebrating her 40th birthday. The officers told her that […]
For older women with heart disease, hormone replacement therapy does not protect against heart attacks or strokes and actually increases the risk of blood clots and gall bladder disease, according to a major study published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The latest findings of the Heart and Estrogen/Progestrin Replacement Study (HERS) […]
President George Bush spent the early part of this week traveling on a ” family values” tour in which he solicited support for provisions in the welfare reform bill – including the promotion of marriage and support for religious programs purported to help welfare recipients and people with lower incomes. In Wisconsin, President Bush appealed […]
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has suspended the return of refugees to Afghanistan’s central and northern regions because of deteriorating security as a result of rival warlords. The Feminist Majority, UN, other humanitarian aid organizations and the new Afghan government have issued repeated pleas to the US government to support expansion of […]
District police in Pakistan’s Punjab province arrested six suspects yesterday in connection with the tribal court-ordered gang rape of an 18-year-old girl. District police in Pakistan, notified days after the incident, are pledging justice. “Culprits involved in the case will not go unpunished,” said Officer Farman Ali Chaudhry. Commission Chair Afrasiab Khattak of the Human […]
In 1998, Lima, Peru replaced the majority of its male traffic officers with female officers, after a study determined that they would be less corrupt than male transit officers who were notorious in Lima for corruption and bribery. The city of Lima took prompt action and now has a transit police force composed of 73% […]
Officer Sheryl Paloni has accused the Albuquerque Police Department, of which she is 20-year veteran, of gender discrimination after she was disciplined for firing her sidearm during a pursuit, while male officers guilty of the same error in the same incident were not disciplined. Paloni admits to having shot at the car of a fleeing […]
