A Britain-based nongovernmental organization, Anti-Slavery International, released a report Monday showing that the number of people forced into slavery has risen to an estimated 27 million. The report condemned the trafficking of humans, many of whom are women and children. For example, in the Sindh Province of Pakistan, poverty and starvation force many people to […]
Eight female soldiers training to perform ground sweeps in the mountains of Afghanistan were removed from their Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition squadrons, an Army spokeswoman announced yesterday. The female soldiers were reassigned after the implementation of a Pentagon mandate forbidding women from participating in ground reconnaissance units, a reversal of a Clinton administration policy […]
In court filings yesterday, the Bush Administration asked a federal judge to dismiss a suit brought by wrestling coaches alleging that Title IX discriminates against men. The Administration’s argument, however, did not address the merits of the coaches’ claims, nor did it attempt to defend Title IX. Rather, it sought to have the suit dismissed […]
An eight-member federal jury ruled last week in favor of a Christian nurse who filed suit in December 2000 against Riverside County, California alleging that her employer, the Riverside Neighborhood Health Center, violated her constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of religion in firing her for refusing to dispense emergency contraception (EC) to patients. […]
In an editorial appearing in today’s Washington Post, the newspaper called on the US to withhold aid from countries that are not working vigorously enough to curb sex trafficking and sex slavery. The Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000 establishes global standards for the elimination of sex trafficking and allows the US […]
Police Chief Jerry Oliver of the Detroit Police Department called for improved discipline and scrutiny of his department’s police officers yesterday, stating that there are “criminals” currently working for the department. Oliver criticized the lack of accountability held by many officers, and the assumption that prosecutors and Internal Affairs will grant officers ‘professional courtesy’ and […]
An ad hoc tribunal investigating the involvement of 18 Indonesian military and police officials in massacres resulting in 1,000 deaths during and following East Timor’s 1999 vote for independence heard the first testimony Tuesday from an East Timorese. Dominggas dos Santos Mouzinho, 44, testified that Indonesian soldiers and police witnessed the rape of her daughter […]
Preliminary data collected by the World Health Organization(WHO) found that women worldwide suffer from severe health problems resulting from pervasive violence against women. WHO found that as many as 60 percent of women in rural areas of Peru, Thailand, and Brazil are victims of violence, and in other parts of the world, two in three […]
A Roman Catholic priest from Illinois pled guilty this week to charges that he conspired to make and distribute gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as the “date-rape” drug. Rev. Jeffrey Windy allegedly had a chemical solvent used to make the drug delivered to St. Patrick’s Church in Sheffield, Illinois where he worked and then […]
A lawyer representing anti-abortion extremist James Charles Kopp announced Monday that Kopp will no longer appeal his extradition to the US from France. Kopp will now return to the US to stand trial for the1998 murder of obstetrician/gynecologist and abortion provider Dr. Barnett Slepian. According to his lawyer Herve Rouzaud Le-Boeuf, Kopp intends to prove […]
Early Friday morning, the House of Representatives, passed HR 4775, a $29 billion supplemental appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2002. Voted 280 to 138, the bill removed both the Lowey-Kolbe and Tiahrt provisions on the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The Senate is now set to consider its version of the bill Ð which […]
As the July 1 deadline for the International Criminal Court (ICC) war crime proceedings quickly approaches, the Bush administration continues to insist that US troops and other US officials be exempted from the tribunal’s jurisdiction. According to the Boston Globe, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell last month urged all US ambassadors to pursue international […]
Muslim clergymen in Turkey this month liberalized religious practices to be more egalitarian between men and women. On May 18, Turkey’s Muslim clergymen reversed policies that barred men and women from praying alongside each other in mosques. Muslim women are now also allowed to attend mosque during their menstrual periods. The new policies are voluntary, […]
In a 12-7 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Judge D. Brooks Smith to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. The nomination will now head to the Senate floor for a full vote. Numerous women’s rights and civil rights groups, including the Feminist Majority, opposed the nomination of Smith because of his […]
A directive was issued this week by the Philadelphia Police Department that removes the passage of a lie detector test as a condition of employment. The Department made the decision after reviewing recent studies that show polygraph tests to be unreliable, often measuring a person’s nervousness as opposed to honesty. “I think that there are […]
A Roman Catholic priest from Illinois pled guilty this week to charges that he conspired to make and distribute gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), also known as the “date-rape” drug. Rev. Jeffrey Windy allegedly had a chemical solvent used to make the drug delivered to St. Patrick’s Church in Sheffield, Illinois where he worked and then […]
Preliminary data collected by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that women worldwide suffer from severe health problems resulting from pervasive violence against women. WHO found that as many as 60 percent of women in rural areas of Peru, Thailand, and Brazil are victims of violence, and in other parts of the world, two in […]
An international commission led by former US Agency for International Development (USAID) Director Penn Kemble released a report on Wednesday confirming the Sudanese government’s continued abetment of slavery, despite formal denial of the practice and ratification of numerous international treaties outlawing it. The report found that “The pattern of slave taking that has developed since […]
The Pittsburgh Police Bureau’s 1997 consent decree mandating federal oversight over departmental procedure may be lifted as soon as this summer. The city is currently negotiating a release from the decree, arguing that problems of excessive force, false arrests, and internal affairs corruption have been corrected. Pittsburgh agreed to the consent decree in April of […]
Polly Hanson, a 21-year veteran of Metro Transit Police in Washington, D.C., broke a glass ceiling for women today with the announcement that she will become her department’s first woman chief on July 1st. Hansen, 46, will lead over 350 sworn officers, and will oversee the safety of more than a million bus and rail […]
