Washington County, Oregon has agreed to pay over $60,000 in two lawsuits that alleged that the county did not do enough to stop a former sheriff’s deputy from sexually abusing two young girls. The County had received a child sexual assault complaint in 1991 against then-Deputy Robert Morrissey but did not properly investigate, according to […]
The Republican National Committee (RNC) has issued subpoenas for a number of labor, women’s rights, civic and environmental groups, demanding fundraising records, documents detailing political strategies, and internal communications, the Washington Post reported today. This tactic represents the most aggressive to date in the battle between proponents and opponents of the McCain-Feingold bill, which outlawed […]
Asserting the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child, the American Medical Association (AMA) this week urged states to pass legislation protecting a woman’s right to breastfeed in public. The AMA, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Surgeon General encourage breastfeeding during the first year of a child’s life. However, breastfeeding “mothers are often […]
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Joseph Biden (D-DE) pushed for the expansion of peace troops in Afghanistan today in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the matter. Testifying before the committee, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage did not commit US support of an expansion of the […]
Tom Green, a convicted Utah polygamist, was convicted yesterday of raping his 13-year-old “wife,” Linda Kunz, in 1986. Green will be sentenced on August 16 and could face life in prison for a conviction of felony child-rape. Green was found guilty in 30 minutes by Fourth District Judge Donald Eyre during a non-jury trial that […]
With the passage of a new California state law, the battered women’s syndrome may now be used to seek the reversal of convictions of women serving time for killing their abusers before 1992, when the argument was deemed lawful. Many of the 442 women currently incarcerated for pre-1992 murder or attempted murder convictions may benefit […]
In the wake of violence and intimidation against human rights advocates in Afghanistan, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing at 10:45 a.m. tomorrow to address the issue of expansion of peace troops in Afghanistan. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz will testify and respond to […]
The United States submitted a draft Security Council resolution insisting that contributing states – not the International Criminal Court (ICC) – have exclusive responsibility for investigating and prosecuting crimes allegedly committed by their nationals during their peacekeeping missions, during discussions last week to extend the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH). The draft […]
A notorious Utah polygamist goes on trial today for raping his 13-year-old wife in 1986. If convicted, Tom Green, who is currently serving a sentence of up to five years in prison on four bigamy convictions, could spend the rest of his life behind bars. Green admits to having sexual intercourse with his second wife […]
Mahboba Hoqooqmal was appointed as the Minister of Women Affairs in Afghanistan today. The appointment of Hoqooqmal, former head of law at Kabul University, vice-chair of the loya jirga commission, and a women’s rights advocate, comes in the wake of threats to outgoing Minister Dr. Sima Samar and concerns that the Ministry might be eliminated […]
In a Rose Garden ceremony last week, President Bush unveiled his International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative, earmarking $500 million over the next five years to 12 African countries and a few Caribbean countries for reducing transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child. “Medical science gives us the power to save these […]
Legislation that could repeal a federal ban on abortions overseas for women serving in the military passed today in the US Senate by a vote of 52-40. Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced an amendment to a $393 billion defense-spending bill that would lift a ban on obtaining abortions at military facilities […]
Los Angeles County was ordered to pay the largest settlement in its history for racial and gender discrimination against a group of more than 500 police officers that patrol hospitals, parks and other facilities. As members of the county’s Office of Public Safety, the predominantly Latino, Asian and African-American department alleged that they were paid […]
Conditions in Afghanistan are described by international aid workers as dangerous and unstable. Delegates returning home from last week’s loya jirga have reported threats and intimidation especially to women. In light of these circumstances, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) restated a continued plea last night to the Bush administration and Congress for expanded US peacekeeping presence […]
After three hours of debate, the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Board Wednesday night voted 14-13 to retain Title X family planning funding and continue providing contraceptives to poor women. At issue were allegations from some local anti-abortion groups claiming that birth control caused abortions. Kenton County Commissioner Barb Black, a member of the health […]
Abortion rights opponents in the House proposed a bill yesterday that would ban the so-called “partial birth” abortion. Congress has previously passed two such bans, but former President Clinton vetoed both. The bill does not contain an exception to the procedure in order to preserve the woman’s health, despite the fact that in 2000, the […]
Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced picks for 14 of his cabinet posts yesterday, only one of which was a woman. In addition, selection of a leader for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs was conspicuously missing from President Hamid Karzai’s list. Dr. Sima Samar, who heads the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in the interim government and […]
In a decision that could have national ramifications for women’s health, the Northern Kentucky Independent District Health Board is set to vote tonight on funding for contraceptives and reproductive health services for thousands of poor women. The board will consider rejecting $170,000 in federal funds provided annually to the district from Title X, because of […]
A Massachusetts grand jury has convened to consider bringing criminal charges against Cardinal Bernard Law and other leaders of the Archdiocese of Boston for putting priests in position to sexually abuse minors, the Boston Globe reported today. Law enforcement sources told the Globe that the grand jury has been collecting evidence for weeks, focusing on […]
After nearly 30 years of Title IX, the federal law barring sex discrimination in education, 30 colleges and universities are still shortchanging female athletes by almost $6.5 million in athletic scholarships annually, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) announced today. “Thirty years after Title IX, our young women are still being shortchanged. Sex discrimination in […]
