Afghanistan Womens Rights

The Taliban in Afghanistan seeks instructors from Pakistan for Afghan youth but denies local teachers job opportunities.

Taliban officials in Kabul have asked Pakistan to send teachers to Afghanistan, meanwhile firing thousands of Afghan professionals and staff members at academic institutions across the country.  The Taliban Minister of Higher Education, Neda Mohammed Nadeem, announced calls to Pakistan to send teachers to Afghanistan. Nadeem requested a meeting with Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan, Obaid […]

Afghanistan Uncategorized Womens Rights

The Taliban shut down teacher training centers, leaving thousands out of jobs. The majority of the student were women. 

The Taliban announced it will shut down teacher training centers throughout the country, leaving 4,000 Afghan professionals running the centers without jobs. Historically, a majority of trainees and aspiring teachers at teacher training centers were women until the Taliban took control of the government. Many of them have been subjected to a ban by the […]

Afghanistan Health Womens Rights

With increasing Taliban restrictions against Afghan women, the mental health crisis worsens. “I feel like an empty shell of a human being.” 

For nearly two years, Afghan women find themselves at the forefront of a mental health crisis over the bleak outlook for their future and the future of their country. Afghan women and girls in Afghanistan are suffering from depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, as a direct result of being forced into isolation by the Taliban.  […]

Abortion

Though most Iowans support abortion access, legislators pass six-week ban

Last month, the Iowa Supreme Court deadlocked 3-3 on whether the state could reinstate an abortion ban around six weeks. The case centered around a 2018 statute that many people believed had “no chance of taking effect,” Justice Thomas D. Waterman observed. Without Court consensus, abortion remained legal until 20 weeks of pregnancy.  That changed […]

Courts

Democrats reintroduce legislation to expand the Supreme Court, set term limits

AP/J. Scott Applewhite The Supreme Court ended its term with decisions that challenged precedent and rolled back rights for the environment, Black and Latino college applicants, same-sex couples, and student loan borrowers. With a 6-3 conservative majority, the Court is making its highest rate of conservative decisions since 1931.Two of its Justices have violated ethics […]

Afghanistan Global

Afghanistan’s neighbors express terrorism concerns; Putin proposes a counter-terrorism center

During the latest Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit, Russian President Putin called for establishing a regional counter-terrorism center to respond to threats in and around the region. Member states emphasized that terrorist groups continue to find safe havens in Afghanistan and that the situation remains volatile.  While member states prioritize combating terrorism, there is a lack […]

Afghanistan Womens Rights

Afghan women barred from beauty salons in latest Taliban edict: “Don’t we have the right to work or live?”

The Taliban has decided in their latest announcement to outlaw women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan. This follows restrictions on many rights and freedoms for Afghan women in education, employment and public spaces.  The order came from Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada and was publicly declared by the Virtue and Vice Ministry. There was no reason […]

Global Womens Rights

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has challenged traditional perceptions of gender, while also exacerbating inequalities

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, gender gaps in education, poverty, and gender-based violence have increasingly widened for Ukrainian women. The war has shifted the traditional understanding of gender dynamics in Ukraine as women fill positions left behind by men being drafted into the military. This has greatly expanded women’s role […]

Reproductive Rights

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act goes into effect

Photo by Laura Ohlman on Unsplash Last Tuesday, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which President Biden signed into law last year, went into effect. This new law will expand “long-overdue protections to ensure that workers experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions have the right to reasonable accommodations in the workplace,” according to the […]

Afghanistan Global Womens Rights

Facing Restrictions on Freedom and Rights, Afghanistan Ranks as the Unhappiest Country in the World

Afghanistan ranks as the unhappiest country in the world another year in a row, in the latest annual Gallup World Happiness Report. The report specifically noted that life for people in Afghanistan one year after the Taliban rose to power has declined. Gallup surveyed adults in 142 countries and areas in 2022 about different negative […]

Afghanistan Womens Rights

Amid the health and economic crisis in Afghanistan, the Taliban refuses to help. Instead, blames the US and others.

Eid al-Adha is usually a time of celebration for Muslims around the world. In Afghanistan, however, people are struggling to afford basic necessities due to the intense economic crisis. After decades of conflict, natural disasters, and other economic challenges, poverty runs rampant throughout the country. As a result, many Afghans are struggling to find jobs […]

Afghanistan Womens Rights

Afghan men demand the right of women to pursue higher education. They say, “we need female and male doctors.”

At a graduation ceremony, 146 graduates from Paktia University Medical School walked the stage. There was not a single female graduate among them. Graduates of the medical school used this day as a moment to call for the Taliban to open up schools and universities for girls immediately, asserting that “girls also have the right […]

Courts

Supreme Court strikes down affirmative action

AP Photo/Gerry Broome In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions programs. In both cases — Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina — college admissions programs considered race as one of many factors in determining an application’s value. The Court ruled that […]

Afghanistan Global

The Taliban Claims that Women Have a “Comfortable and Prosperous Life” in Afghanistan. Its Actions Say Otherwise. 

A recent message from the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, claimed that women in Afghanistan are leading “comfortable and prosperous” lives as a result of Taliban policies. Made public just prior to the upcoming Eid Al-Adha, one of the major Muslim holidays, the message states that necessary steps have been taken “for the […]

Afghanistan Global

Afghanistan’s Neighboring Countries Express Concerns over the Taliban’s Counter-Terrorism Efforts, but the Taliban Dismisses Them

During the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, countries neighboring Afghanistan exhibited a lack of unity and presented diverse views and approaches addressing terrorism concerns from Afghanistan. Tajikistan expressed specific concerns over “concentrated terror groups in Afghanistan,” while China has a different approach to staying engaged with the Taliban. The envoy from Tajikistan listed 6 […]

Courts

Supreme Court explicitly rejects independent state legislature theory

Photo by Ian Hutchinson on Unsplash Voting rights activists around the country are celebrating as the Supreme Court released their decision for the Moore v. Harper case, ruling that state legislatures do not have the authority to set election rules outside the constraints of state constitutions. This is the second time this month we have seen a pro-democracy victory, where the Supreme […]

Courts

Will SCOTUS Uphold Domestic Abusers’ Right to Own Guns?

Photo by Claire Anderson on Unsplash It has now been a year since the Supreme Court issued its first major gun decision in over a decade. In New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, the Court ruled that the constitutionality of gun control laws can no longer be determined solely by state interests. […]